Australia’s vast distances, rugged terrain and highly urbanised
population means many rural and regional communities are a long way
from centralised health resources and specialist hospitals.
This has accelerated the development of Australia’s digital health
industry. Advancements in mobile health (mHealth), telemedicine,
telehealth, and remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems are enabling the
decentralisation of health care.
Australia ranks second for global digital connectivity, behind only South
Korea on the world stage. [6]
Australians are technology-savvy and are willing to adopt and buy new
technologies, ensuring market connectivity. The average Australian
household has 17 connected devices in 2018 - this is forecast to grow to 37
by 2022.
[7]
Proven capability
Australia’s telemedicine market is moving towards integrated platforms and
hardware-independent, vendor-neutral solutions.
The telemedicine market in Australia and New Zealand is expected to record
an exceptional compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44 per cent from 2015
to 2019.
[8]
Recent examples of international partnerships include Ellume, an Australian digital diagnostics company, that has partnered
with German-Dutch company QIAGEN
to develop a new tuberculosis (TB) testing solution. Ellume’s detection
technology is powered by a quantum dot nanoparticle, which integrates
optics, electronics, biologics and software into an intuitive and
high-performance digital platform.
Research collaboration in this space also includes a
Japan-Australia partnership
to solve common social challenges in aged care through creating and
commercialising technologies. Bringing together Dimension Data Australia,
its parent company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Deakin
University and Western Sydney University, one area of focus is research and
development into smart homes for the elderly and the disabled.
Examples of digital health applications in Australia include:
-
Attend Anywhere
– a video consulting specialist providing remote consulting technology
to allow patients to access healthcare providers
-
Patient Admission Prediction Tool
– a patient flow application developed by the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
-
University of Canberra
– research on using mHealth applications to help empower people with
type 2 diabetes
- ePrescriptions such as SafeScript, that can reduce the
risk of medical error, fraud, theft, overmedication and detect prescription
drug abuse
-
The
Emergency Telehealth Service
run by the WA Country Health Service in Western Australia provides
systems for sharing clinical information
-
VisionFLex
– assisting remote diagnosis by providing crystal clear medical images,
even in the most remote locations.
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