Pre-Conference Workshop

Implementing a Successful TeleHealth Service
Telemedicine Services In Remote Communities – Educating And Supporting Patients With Chronic Disease

Ricki Smith, Head of Partnerships and Strategic Alliances, Silver Chain RDNS (SA) Group
Liz Boyd, Support Manager, Silver Chain, Access Care Network Australia


This workshop will cover an overview of the items for consideration in order to implement a successful TeleHealth service, including:

• Equipment selection
• Identifying which diseases to target
• Effective client recruitment
• Challenges to the program
• Fundamentals of project management

TeleHealth is a service provided by Silver Chain who, since 1905, have been providing care within the community and are the largest provider within Western Australia. Silver Chain is a not-for-profit organisation that originally began as a nursing organisation, and has grown to deliver a wide variety of services providing over one million hours of care during the last financial year.

Over the past two years Silver Chain has been conducting trials on effective management of chronic disease in the home with some exciting results, including a 50% average reduction in comparison to the control group for emergency department presentations, hospital admissions, and if admitted, length of stay in hospital.