Pegasus partners with ProCare to run New Zealand’s largest Telehealth service
After purchasing 50 per cent of Homecare Medical Limited (known as HML) in March 2014, Pegasus Health and Auckland PHO ProCare formed a partnership under the brand of Homecare Medical to enhance the delivery of 24/7 nurse lead telephone triage in New Zealand.
When the government announced the formation of a new national telehealth service that brought together the existing Healthline, Poison Line, Immunisation Advisory Centre, Quitline, Alcohol and Drug Helpline, Depression and Gambling Helplines, Homecare Medical responded to the tender with a model involving a collaborative of these help and advice lines and Homecare Medical as the lead provider.
This successful bid saw Homecare Medical named the Ministry of Health’s provider for the development and delivery of a new enhanced and integrated, national telehealth service.
Pegasus Health Chief Executive Vince Barry says that over the coming months Homecare Medical, will collaborate with technology providers and the other health agencies to provide a more integrated and personalised service for callers that will go live on 1 November 2015.
There will be little noticeable change for the public, who will continue to use the same phone numbers for Healthline, Poisons Line, Immunisation Advisory Centre, Quitline, Alcohol and Drug Helpline, Depression and Gambling Helplines. The 24/7 nurse triage for General Practice will also remain the same.
“The current phone lines are working well but there are opportunities for them to better connected and for us to significantly improve the services that they offer,” Vince says.
A number of initiatives are already underway including access to shared records, working with St John to connect patients to their General Practice and other projects that support new models of care. Telephone advice is also being made available 24/7 for depression, gambling and poisons issues.
Vince says better use of online tools and technology will be among the keys to improving the service, which will be founded on a platform of after hours nurse triage, run from Christchurch and Auckland. “As well as using phones, websites, emails and texts, the telehealth service may in future provide opportunities to connect via video calling or mobile applications.We want access to the service to be as easy as possible and for people to use it in a way that best suits them.”
Care provided through the service will also become more personalised. “In the future, we envisage the type of scenario where someone with a chronic condition calls the telehealth service and finds that their general practice has left directions for their overnight care. Or if appropriate, that a caller is linked to a pharmacist, counsellor or other health professional near their home.”
The suggested adjustments to the telehealth service are the result of consultation with a wide range of people, prior to Homecare Medical submitting their proposal to the Ministry of Health in February 2015. Current service providers, consumer organisations, nurses, pharmacists, doctors, counsellors and other health professionals were among the groups that gave their views on the best design for the service.
Vince says, “The level of collaboration and goodwill from everyone involved in establishing Homecare Medical has been outstanding. We are all committed to ensuring that the service is working at its very best and that users receive consistent service, no matter where or how they make contact.”
The population-wide benefits of the enhanced telehealth service are expected to include less acute and unplanned care, which will reduce emergency department admissions and pressure on ambulance services. Other predicted outcomes are improved health and wellness support for users; better health literacy; more care delivered close to home; more self management; and getting the right advice from well-trained staff.