Linda Cuskelly 1
1 Telehealth Coordinator, Metro North Hospital Health Service, Clinical Operations Strategic Implementation, MNHHS, Level 13, Block 7, RBWH, Butterfield Street, Herston Qld 4029
Telehealth & Outreach Service Model Tool
MNHHS was successful in obtaining seed funding to develop a model tool that can calculate cost and potential PTSS savings for providing a telehealth service.
In collaboration between Healthcare Improvement Unit and MNHHS, Linton Curley, Manager Reporting & Business Analytics, MNHHS has recently developed a Telehealth & Outreach Service Model Tool. This activity and costing model is able to calculate Weighted Activity Units (WAU). Activity Based Funding (ABF), Own Source Revenue (OSR), Labour and Non-Labour costs associated with a proposed telehealth clinic.
This model will be managed by the Telehealth Support Unit, Healthcare Improvement Unit and will be available to all QHealth Telehealth Coordinators within the state to use when considering new Telehealth proposals.
The model aims to provide an overview of the revenue, cost, activity and PTSS implications of creating a new Telehealth service or changing an existing clinic arrangement to Telehealth. This model tool will be used to provide stakeholders with a relatively thorough insight into the impacts beyond the obvious benefits to the patient being treated locally.
The model has an embedded guidance document that provides detail regarding selection choice, impacts, assumptions and scope of the tool.
The model has protected underlying macros and reference sheets that store ABF non-admitted Tier 2 price weights, MBS item numbers, MBS billing eligibility map & distance calculator, administration and clinician wage rates, teleconferencing equipment and levy and travel costs associated with outreach services.
The model also has the capability to calculate average potential savings for Patient Transport Subsidy Scheme using annual volume of patients expected to attend the proposed telehealth service.
The telehealth coordinators complete a questionnaire for;
- What clinical service area and specialty is considering delivering telehealth
- Who will be delivering this service from both the provider site and recipient sites
- Is the proposed service a new or existing service
- When will the service commence
- Is the intention to provide private or public telehealth services or both
- Is the recipient site outside of the RA1 eligible area if providing private MBS services
- How many new and review cases will be seen in the telehealth clinic
- What is the duration of a new and a review appointment
- Will the clinic be solely telehealth or a mixture of telehealth and face to face
- Does the service proposal include Outreach visits to the recipient site
When the questionnaire is completed a summary of the telehealth proposal will populate. This includes graphs that show the projected revenue and expenditure for both the providing and recipient sites.
