Establishment of NTWC Allied Health Telehealth Virtual Office to Promote Telehealth Service Provision in the Allied Health Departments in NTWC

Abstract Description

Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :

Clinical Safety and Quality Service I (Projects aiming to improve efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery to meet international standards)

Authors (including presenting author) :

Wan S(1), Yeung KL(1), Chow WS(1), LI KK(1), Mak MY(1)

Affiliation :

(1) CSC(AH) Office, NTWC

Introduction :

In alignment with HA’s strategic goal on providing smart care, telehealth becomes prevalent in Allied Health (AH). By adopting telehealth, our service delivery is no longer restricted by the physical space or distance. Structured telehealth service models have been developed in AH so that patients could receive telehealth services which are comparable to the usual care. In NTWC, CSC(AH) Office is committed to facilitating the application of telehealth to patients by establishing the NTWC AH Telehealth Virtual Office.

Objectives :

(1) To identity challenges on providing telehealth services;

(2) To promote and monitor telehealth services;

(3) To facilitate experience sharing on telehealth services among AH Departments in NTWC.

Methodology :

CSC(AH) Office established the NTWC AH Telehealth Virtual Office in Nov 2023 and identified challenges in telehealth which are (1) frontline staff engagement and training; (2) patient education on using HA Go; (3) patient verification process via HA Go; (4) promotion of telehealth services to patients and (5) achieving the service deliverables.



NTWC AH Telehealth Virtual Office executed the following action plans. (1) Staff training on HA Go TeleHealth as well as live demonstration of telehealth service by the pioneer department to other AH Departments were organized. Besides, designated team of clerical staff (1 FTE) was formed in TMH to support various AH Departments in NTWC on (2) educating patients to use HA Go TeleHealth; (3) giving reminder calls with clear instructions to patients to access HA Go TeleHealth before appointment and also verifying patients’ identity before tele-consultation; (4) designing telehealth promotional materials and (5) preparing telehealth service report for timely monitoring on the service deliverables.

Result & Outcome :

Till 31 Dec 2023, NTWC AH Telehealth Virtual Office successfully assisted AH Departments including Diet, OT, PT and ST in CPH, TMH, POH and TSWH to deliver telehealth services. 123 patients were assisted and verified by the designated team of clerical staff for enjoying the telehealth services. NTWC AH telehealth attendance in Nov to Dec 2023 was increased by 48% when compared to that in Sep to Oct 2023 which was the highest across all clusters in HA.



Conclusion:

NTWC AH Telehealth Virtual Office was successful in promoting telehealth service provision in the AH Departments in NTWC.