Telemedicine

I have over twelve years telemedicine research experience, and a long-standing special interest in the role of telemedicine in neonatal and paediatric critical care. Starting in 2004, I developed and evaluated a novel real-time telemedicine application to support remote clinical consultation between a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit and peripheral hospitals.

This application, known as ‘NEMO’ (Neonatal Examination and Management Online) was evaluated between the Grantley Stable Neonatal Nursery at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and four referring hospitals. This research was conducted in partnership with the Dr Tim Donovan, neonatal paediatrician at the RBWH, and was recognised by two awards – the  Better clinical practice: better patient outcomes award and the Health Minister’s award for innovation, at the 2011 Queensland Health Healthcare Improvement Awards.

Between 2010 and 2016, I co-ordinated Health-e-Screen4kids, a community-based ear and hearing health program for Indigenous children. The program uses telemedicine to integrate screening and surveillance with ENT specialist review,and surgical outreach services. The program commenced in late 2008 and now provides regular assessments, review and referral for children at 39 schools in the South Burnett Region, helping to address a serious public health problem for Indigenous children. In 2015, the cumulative number of children recruited to the program exceeded 3,000.

More generally, I am interested in the nature of evidence in telemedicine. While it is not a new field, the formal evidence base remains limited. It is still unclear what constitutes useful evidence for clinicians and policy makers, how that evidence should be generated, and how it may be best disseminated to influence practice and policy.