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A new telehealth service has been launched to provide access to testing and treatment to the remaining people living with hepatitis C in Australia.
The telehealth service is part of HepLink, the national hepatitis information and linkage service operated by Hepatitis Australia together with community hepatitis organisations nationwide.
HepLink, funded by the Australian Government Centre for Disease Control, is powered by MediRecords' cloud-based practice management and EMR system, integrated with Coviu's telehealth platform and AI scribe. Through this system, healthcare professionals can arrange tests, conduct virtual consultations, and issue electronic prescriptions where appropriate.
The telehealth service, which received a community grant from Gilead Sciences Australia, places Australia alongside Canada among the only countries offering national virtual access to hepatitis C care.
WHY IT MATTERS
While Australia has made significant strides in eliminating hepatitis C over the past decade, treatment rates have slowed down in recent years as remaining patients became harder to reach, according to Hepatitis Australia.
Since antiviral medications became widely available via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2016, nearly 100,000 people have been cured of the virus, while almost half of the treatments are now prescribed in primary care settings. However, an estimated 63,000 Australians are still living with hepatitis C, with many unaware they have it or yet to receive care.
Given that, "our focus must now shift to ensuring more people can access that same cure," said the organisation's CEO Lucy Clynes.
Clynes noted that people living with hepatitis C commonly struggle with stigma, misinformation, cost, and geographical location when accessing care.
"Our remote telehealth service links people directly to a nurse-led team that is experienced in hepatitis C treatment, supported by community hepatitis organisations," she told Healthcare IT News.
"By providing a complete hepatitis C treatment service, including ordering blood tests, talking through results, and providing hepatitis C prescriptions, patients can often access their hepatitis C prescriptions on the same day as their first appointment with us," she added.
Community organisations can also provide peer navigation and stigma-free support.
In its first 12-24 months, the HepLink Telehealth Service is expected to steadily expand its reach by engaging patients alongside community hepatitis organisations and healthcare providers. "This includes a strong focus on high-need and underserved populations, supported through partnerships with primary care and community services," Clynes said.
THE LARGER TREND
New virtual care services being tested and introduced across Australia include a remote specialist hospital service in Victoria and a virtual counselling line for women in regional and rural communities in Queensland. Last year, the Department of Health and Aged Care launched the virtual aged care nursing trial, delivered by Amplar Health.
Meanwhile, Healthdirect, Australia's national virtual health service provider, has recently rolled out a patient consultation summary generation application in its video call platform.
A national committee within the Australian Digital Health Agency has been set up to guide the federal government on the safe use of telehealth, as well as AI and other emerging technologies in healthcare.
