Have you seen the impending telehealth guidelines?

As technology continues to advance and the demand for remote healthcare services grows, the latest guidelines, written by the Medical Board of Australia, are designed to ensure that the standard of care provided through telehealth consultations remains safe.

Whilst presenting as more comprehensive than the existing guidelines, the Australian Podiatry Association (APodA) encourages podiatrists to read these impending guidelines within the context of APodA’s growing library of telehealth resources.  

These resources include: 

• ‘Telehealth Consultations Guide for Podiatrists’  
• ‘Telehealth for podiatry’ podcasts  
• ‘Telehealth webinar; Questions and Answers 
• ‘Online Podiatry – Accessing Health Experts with Telehealth Technology‘ 
• ‘RACGP telehealth video consultation guide‘ 
• Information on third party payers who are currently funding Telehealth 
• Suggested software platforms 

If you want to learn more about telehealth, and your role in its service provision, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that. For example:  

1. Ahpra has created a guide for practitioners which reflects, amongst other issues, on telehealth in the context of the code of conduct.
2. In addition to the APodA resources listed above, this article by Coviu offers interesting insights in the meantime on the concept of ‘efficient telehealth’ – and how to support this outcome in your practice.
3. To read up on an example of telehealth working in practice, the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research published this recently released paper.
4. If you’re into podcasts, this short podcast shares an interview with the CEO and founder of Coviu, Dr Silvia Pfieffer, who discusses how the CSIRO helped to shape the future of telehealth.  

Remember to keep an eye out on future telehealth updates from APodA which will arise from a series of collaborative and member-driven projects that are currently taking place.