Queensland Health Telehealth Program

The Queensland population is the most decentralised of any mainland state in Australia. More than half or (approximately 56 per cent) of Queensland’s population live outside the Brisbane metropolitan region and about 34 per cent live outside the South East corner, predominantly in towns along the eastern seaboard. Almost 18 per cent of the Queensland population live in areas classified as outer regional, remote or very remote.

Within this environment Queensland faces a range of health service delivery challenges which include:

• A growing, ageing, and culturally diverse population.
• Increasing prevalence of chronic conditions.
• Access to services for people in rural and remote communities and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Attracting and retaining skilled professionals, especially for specialist services in rural and remote areas.
• Managing growing demand for health services within the economic and financial environment.
• Healthcare infrastructure and workforce focussed in areas of high population density.

In addressing these challenges the Department of Health and Hospital and Health Services are increasingly being forced to seek ways to extend service delivery capacity and reach within the constraints of the supply environment. International insight coupled with the experience of the Department and Hospital and Health Services is showing that telehealth is one mechanism which may enable some Queenslanders to have the best possible access to high quality health services and outcomes.