Residential Aged Care Facilities virtual care grants

Background

COORDINARE - South Eastern NSW PHN is supporting the Australian Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Report (2021). The Royal Commission examined the complex issues faced by senior Australians at the junction of the primary and aged health care systems, in particular the lack of access to general practitioners in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs), difficulties accessing after-hours care, and inappropriate transfer of residents to hospital. All these issues are implicated in poor health outcomes for senior Australians, and places increased pressure on RACFs and more widely, the health care system.

The use of telehealth has become widespread as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Australian Government’s expansion of telehealth services to reduce community transmission of the virus. Telehealth will continue to provide benefits in aged care beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing availability and use of telehealth care for aged care residents is a critical component to developing integrated models of care and subsequently improving the health and wellbeing outcomes.

Promoting interoperability and/or accessibility for healthcare providers to interact with aged care facilities and integrating key national digital health infrastructure such as the My Health Record, electronic National Residential Medication Charts, Secure Messaging technologies and Provider Connect Australia into models of care, will facilitate greater innovation in the sector and a better coordinated health system for older people. Health care will be provided to older people more efficiently, addressing health concerns early and potentially avoiding preventable hospital admissions.

Grant funding

COORDINARE is commissioning grants to assist RACFs in the South Eastern NSW region to increase availability and use of telehealth care for their residents. The intention of the grant funding is to support RACFs to better integrate with the rest of the health system and to develop a highly skilled, digitally enabled and connected workforce, so residents receive the best care possible. The specific objectives are to:

  • assist RACFs to have appropriate telehealth facilities and equipment to enable their residents to consult virtually with their primary health care professionals;
  • increase RACFs capabilities to assist residents in accessing virtual consultation services; and
  • promote the use of enablers of digital health (such as My Health Record, National Residential Medication Charts, Shared Care Planning Tools, and Secure Messaging).

This grant can be used to purchase or contribute to the following:

  • equipment necessary to undertake high quality virtual consultations;
  • infrastructure necessary for equipment outlined above to operate effectively; and
  • training necessary to use the equipment or infrastructure purchased though these grants.


For more information read the grant guidelines here.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications for the RACF virtual care grants have now closed.


Eligible providers will have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST. Providers will be funded by the Commonwealth as a Residential Aged Care Facility with care staff and also be located in one or more of the local government areas within South Eastern NSW.

Providers will agree to:

Telehealth known supplier register

A known supplier register is available to assist eligible organisations in finding and purchasing the infrastructure and equipment to improve their telehealth capacity. The register can be used to contact the identified suppliers during the application process.

You will need to create a log in account on our Connect with COORDINARE website to access the register. Please select you are a ‘health professional’ and then ‘Residential Aged Care Facility staff’ and complete the necessary details. Once your account is created, we will be able to provide you access to the telehealth known supplier and products register.

Background

COORDINARE - South Eastern NSW PHN is supporting the Australian Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Report (2021). The Royal Commission examined the complex issues faced by senior Australians at the junction of the primary and aged health care systems, in particular the lack of access to general practitioners in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs), difficulties accessing after-hours care, and inappropriate transfer of residents to hospital. All these issues are implicated in poor health outcomes for senior Australians, and places increased pressure on RACFs and more widely, the health care system.

The use of telehealth has become widespread as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Australian Government’s expansion of telehealth services to reduce community transmission of the virus. Telehealth will continue to provide benefits in aged care beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing availability and use of telehealth care for aged care residents is a critical component to developing integrated models of care and subsequently improving the health and wellbeing outcomes.

Promoting interoperability and/or accessibility for healthcare providers to interact with aged care facilities and integrating key national digital health infrastructure such as the My Health Record, electronic National Residential Medication Charts, Secure Messaging technologies and Provider Connect Australia into models of care, will facilitate greater innovation in the sector and a better coordinated health system for older people. Health care will be provided to older people more efficiently, addressing health concerns early and potentially avoiding preventable hospital admissions.

Grant funding

COORDINARE is commissioning grants to assist RACFs in the South Eastern NSW region to increase availability and use of telehealth care for their residents. The intention of the grant funding is to support RACFs to better integrate with the rest of the health system and to develop a highly skilled, digitally enabled and connected workforce, so residents receive the best care possible. The specific objectives are to:

  • assist RACFs to have appropriate telehealth facilities and equipment to enable their residents to consult virtually with their primary health care professionals;
  • increase RACFs capabilities to assist residents in accessing virtual consultation services; and
  • promote the use of enablers of digital health (such as My Health Record, National Residential Medication Charts, Shared Care Planning Tools, and Secure Messaging).

This grant can be used to purchase or contribute to the following:

  • equipment necessary to undertake high quality virtual consultations;
  • infrastructure necessary for equipment outlined above to operate effectively; and
  • training necessary to use the equipment or infrastructure purchased though these grants.


For more information read the grant guidelines here.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications for the RACF virtual care grants have now closed.


Eligible providers will have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST. Providers will be funded by the Commonwealth as a Residential Aged Care Facility with care staff and also be located in one or more of the local government areas within South Eastern NSW.

Providers will agree to:

Telehealth known supplier register

A known supplier register is available to assist eligible organisations in finding and purchasing the infrastructure and equipment to improve their telehealth capacity. The register can be used to contact the identified suppliers during the application process.

You will need to create a log in account on our Connect with COORDINARE website to access the register. Please select you are a ‘health professional’ and then ‘Residential Aged Care Facility staff’ and complete the necessary details. Once your account is created, we will be able to provide you access to the telehealth known supplier and products register.

Page last updated: 23 May 2023, 12:41 PM