The Geri-Connect program has resulted in 89 per cent of residents being able to reduce the number of medications they were taking.
Bendigo Health’s Geri-Connect telehealth program will expand into the Hume Region, giving residents in aged care facilities improved access to specialist health services.
Supported by the Better Care Victoria innovation fund, the program provides geriatric medicine telehealth assessments and consultations to residents and those receiving respite care.
The existing Loddon Mallee program, which connects with 46 aged care facilities across the region, recently held its 1200th consultation, just over two years after it began.
The program resulted in 89 per cent of residents being able to reduce the number of medications they were taking.
Bendigo Health chief executive officer, Peter Faulkner said the change was positive for healthcare in Northern Victoria.
“Anything that improves the access to specialist services for older Australians in rural and regional areas is a good thing and we’re delighted to provide the service,” he said.
Mr Faulkner said Bendigo Health will initially support 12 public health facilities in the Hume Region.
“The existing service has been well-utilised, with just under half of residents in public aged care facilities in the Loddon Mallee region using the program,” he said.
Bendigo Health clinical director of geriatrics and rehab medicine, Marc Budge said the program has drastically reduced residents’ wait for access to geriatric medicine services.
“We’re seeing residents a lot faster. Residents who were previously waiting two months for an appointment now get seen within two weeks,” he said.
“A lot of the people we see are aged over 65, with high care needs, which makes it difficult for them to travel.”
Six geriatricians at Bendigo Hospital run clinics on three days per week.
They provide advice to GPs, residents, and also conduct aged care assessments, for people requiring residential care, or those coming in for respite care.
Bendigo Health also runs a telehealth weekly fracture clinic in Swan Hill and Echuca. The clinic connects a patient with an orthopaedic surgeon and a physiotherapist.