HSAGlobal project wins Victorian Healthcare Association Award

Latrobe Community Health Service (LCHS) has won the 2011 Victorian Healthcare Association Award for its Mobile Wound Care service. The project was recognised as an outstanding collaboration that demonstrates new approaches to health service delivery.

It was a joint project between LCHS, health IT company HSA Global, the Department of Health, Monash University's Department of Rural and Indigenous Health, Fujitsu, and 17 healthcare agencies in Gippsland.

The project, implemented across the Gippsland Region of Victoria, allows generalist practitioners treating patients with wounds, such as community nurses in regional communities, to be remotely supported by a specialist wound consultant. Assessments including photos of wounds over time are shared using software provided by HSAGlobal and hosted by Fujitsu.

Regional wound consultant, Marianne Cullen, acts as a central reference point for community nurses throughout the region. She has remote access to every patient file enabling her to provide expert wound management advice across 42,538 square kilometres. In the first 12 months, 12,775 assessments were performed on 824 clients presenting with 1,227 wounds.

"This reduces the time spent travelling, allowing Marianne to prioritise on-site reviews and spend more time with clients and supporting staff," LCHS Executive Director Ambulatory Care Nicole Steers said.

"This is a terrific example of how technology can help people in regional areas. It means that clients can access expertise that would otherwise be unavailable to them."

The project was run as a pilot from April 2010 to April 2011 and then received an additional 12 months funding from the Victorian Department of Health.

Participating healthcare organisations included large regional hospitals and community health services, through to small rural bush nursing centres.

The target population was all clients with wounds in Home and Community Care, funded District Nursing Services and Public Sector Residential Aged Care Services.

"Mobile Wound Care was a unique opportunity for Gippsland health services to participate in a collaborative research project using technology to positively impact health outcomes of clients across the region," Ms Steers said.

"As more demand is placed on the healthcare system, we need to find smarter ways of delivering care," says Matt Hector-Taylor, CEO, HSAGlobal. "The mobile wound care project is an excellent example of using technology to change the way that health services are provided. Generalist practitioners in regional communities are supported by a specialist consultant. This collaborative and integrated approach leads to greater efficiencies in the healthcare system and better care for clients across the region."

HSAGlobal is also providing the technology behind the New Zealand National Shared Care Pilot in the Auckland region and Project Chain in Canterbury.