Virtual care can help improve GP access for residential aged care residents, but poor integration, patchy workflows and limited training continue to get in the way, according to a University of Sydney study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
The study looked at the rollout of virtual care technologies connecting residential aged care homes with general practices in the Sydney North Health Network region, covering 103 aged care homes, about 9000 beds and 288 general practices.
Sydney North Health Network supported the implementation of a virtual care suite that included videoconferencing, secure document and image sharing, remote monitoring for vital signs, and connected devices such as a digital stethoscope, otoscope and urine analyser.
Researchers interviewed 32 participants, including GPs, residential aged care nurses, practice managers, residents and carers.
They found virtual care was seen as improving access to care, reducing unnecessary hospital visits and saving GP travel time.
However, the barriers were substantial. Participants raised poor system integration, usability issues, unreliable networks, inconsistent processes between aged care homes and practices, and limited staff training.
The study also raised concerns about resident involvement, including communication difficulties, interruptions during consultations and the risk residents could be excluded from discussions about their own care.
The authors said virtual care could support more timely and higher-quality GP services in residential aged care, but only if implementation addressed workflow, organisational, technical and funding barriers.
This study was funded by the Royal Australian College of General Practice (RACGP) and Medibank foundation.
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