THE arrival of the National Broadband Network will expand the potential of online counselling services, according to health care providers.
Loddon Mallee Murray Medicare Local primary health care services director Jag Dhaliwal said once the NBN was implemented, it would open up a wealth of opportunities in the field of health.
“Our hospital systems do have access to some pretty good technology around video conferencing and other infrastructure, but the NBN will enable additional community access,” he said.
“It certainly will be a positive thing for Swan Hill — there are a range of potential health and well-being benefits in enabling people in rural communities to remain connected.”
Two developing initiatives in the health service are tele-health and e-health, which have been touted as future solutions to health care gaps.
Last month Bendigo Health cut back on some after-hours on-call crisis services to small towns throughout the region.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The
Guardian (20/03/13).
