Australia appears to be in the midst of a debate on the cost of building a national broadband network. According to the NBN Co which is buildng the network, the aim is to provide broadband to every home, school and workplace by the end of the next ten years. Nick Ross writing in ABC’s website suggests that just the ability to deploy telehealth and telecare nationally over such a network would save Australia enough money to more than pay for the network.
The arguments for deploying telehealth in Australia are no different to those in other parts of the developed world. The Australian healthcare budget is 10% of GDP (9% in UK) and growing at twice the rate of GDP, according to the very comprehensive article.
With a $967 price tag for a single night’s hospital stay, the economic benefit identified for using telehealth to monitor patients at home after earlier release from hospital or to avoid hospital admission altogether are very familiar. Add to that the use of telecare to allow older people to stay in their own homes for longer and Nick Ross’s article has covered all the elements for supporting telehealth and telecare.
Read the full article here.
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