Telehealth Information for Staff

There are two NSW Health supported platforms - myVirtualCare (myVC) and Pexip which are available to staff to support audiovisual Telehealth appointments for patients.

myVirtualCare (myVC)

myVirtualCare (myVC) is NSW Health’s custom-built web-based videoconferencing platform, designed to help patients, carers and other providers to access and manage healthcare.

myVirtualCare myVC rooms are setup for a department/service as opposed to individual staff members and are intended to replicate the experience of a physical waiting room. Discuss the setup of a myVC room for your department/service with your manager before submitting a request.

Strictly for clinical consultations myVC provides a ‘waiting room’ functionality where patients are provided with a link and login to the ‘waiting room’ at the time of their appointment. Clinicians are able to view patients in the 'waiting room' and connect to their patient. myVC enables a service to have multiple consultations running at the same time with only one waiting room to manage. Additional people (e.g. carers/interpreters/other healthcare providers) can be included in the consultations  added by the clinician to a consultation.

The internet link for the service's myVC room is the same for all consultations. Patients access the room via the link on compatible devices such as PCs, laptops, tablets & smartphones.

Clinicians login to myVC via their stafflink details and will be able to access their allocated waiting room. From the waiting room they can connect to patients at time of appointment.

To request a myVC Room for your service:

To access training and resources:

  • There are self-directed learning and instructor led modules available via My Health Learning. More information is available at the ACI Virtual Care Central Site 

Cheat sheets:

Pexip

Pexip is an audiovisual Telehealth licensed software that is assigned to an individual clinician. There is no waiting room functionality and patients need to use the link specific to the clinician. Pexip is therefore suggested for use by individuals where they are not part of a department or service providing Telehealth appointment options.

To request a pexip account:

Cheat sheets:

General:
Patients:

 

Pexip training from ACI on Vimeo.

 

Virtual Care - Embedding Safety in Practice

is a useful resource to help clinicians consider how virtual care can be integrated as part of their service and outlines clinical & patient considerations when identifying potential patients for virtual care.

 

Additional useful information 

It is recommended that a workstation used to host VirtualCare Consultations has the following peripherals

  • Webcam
  • USB Headset with microphone
  • USB Speakerphone (If multiple participants are involved in the same room)

Order these via the usual procurement process on the Health ICT intranet site

 

Booking a telehealth appointment occurs the same way you currently book a face to face appointment but the Check-In Process differs slightly for telehealth. This is explained below in the guides.

When you book the appointment, there are some additional steps which should occur for telehealth.

  1. Provide the patient with a link to the patient information page on the internet https://www.seslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/services-clinics/directory/telehealth/telehealth-information-for-patients-and-carers 
  2. Provide the patient with the appropriate Virtual Meeting Room link and time of the appointment. You may have a single ‘Departmental Meeting Room’ or you may have individual meeting rooms for each clinician. You have the option to provide this information via the Telstra Integrated Messaging service - please see next section.
  3. It is good practice for the patient to check they can access the software and check their camera and audio connections are working. 

Please see the guides for checking in/out a telehealth patient

 

As for all patient appointments, financial classification details should accurately be reflected in electronic records. .

In addition to support accurate collecting, reporting and billing processes you must ensure the correct Service Contact Mode is recorded. There are four service contact modes that apply for NAP telehealth appointments:

  • (Video) Audiovisual – Clinician End
  • (Video) Audiovisual – Patient End with Clinician
  • (Phone) Audio - Clinician End
  • (Phone) Audio - Patient End with Clinician

The majority of NAP telehealth activity in SESLHD is anticipated to be Audiovisual – Clinician End.

Contact your local eMR trainers if you need any support or have any questions.

The TIM (Telstra's Integrated Messaging) is an internet based SMS Reminder Service that requires no licencing or infrastructure costs to implement. The only costs incurred are for actual text messages sent (Pay-as-you-go).

You can use TIMs as a Service to:

  • provide patients with details of their upcoming appointments including links to their audiovisual telehealth appointment and links to websites with relevant information for their appointment, and
  • Reminder messages for upcoming services such as provided in Outpatient Clinics or Community Health Services, or for surgical procedures.  

To discuss getting setup with TIMs or if you are experiencing any issues using the system, please contact with SWSD on 1300 285 533 or log a request through SARA.

The general privacy and information security requirements of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for remote consultations relating to confidentiality, patient consent and security of patient information and medical records, are the same as the requirements for face-to-face consultations. 

Consider reading the Privacy Checklist for Telehealth Services provided by the Australian Department of Health for additional guidance, and consult your information and technology services provider for advice on meeting these requirements.