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Background: Rapid uptake of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has opened a gateway to improving access to mental health care. However, existing platforms are not fit-for-purpose, resulting in poor treatment engagement. Virtual worlds (VW) are an innovative technology whereby users can meet and interact in real time using personally tailored avatars within 3D virtual environments. VWs may improve engagement and access to youth mental health care by offering a fun and interactive social space, with customizable features capable of supporting delivery of psychosocial treatment. The aim of this study was to develop a purpose-built VW designed to support delivery of youth mental health care. Method(s): A user centred design framework was employed to develop a prototype of Orygen Virtual Worlds (OVW) across 8 sessions with 8 young people with lived experience. Sessions progressed from basic concept validation, through to persona and journey mapping, and finishing with several user testing sessions to iteratively develop the prototype. Result(s): End users (young people) were overall very positive about the potential for VWs to supplement youth mental health services. Iterative feedback and testing identified core features needed to ensure the platform was usable, safe and capable of delivering effective individual, group and peer interventions. Conclusion(s): This presentation will showcase the development of this innovative new platform for delivering engaging, accessible and effective youth mental health care for hard-to-reach youth. Results will be discussed in context of the unique development approach informed by user centred design principles and implementation science.
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INTRODUCTION: New Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth item codes were added in 2020 to allow Australians to gain access to medical services during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Previous studies have been conducted on the utilisation of specific MBS item codes however none have been conducted on all medical practitioner telehealth item codes. OBJECTIVE: This retrospective epidemiological analysis aims to determine the utilisation rate of newly introduced medical practitioner telehealth MBS item codes and compare them with the usage of existing in-person item codes METHODS: The utilisation of 319 MBS item codes were extracted from the Medicare Statistics Database between March 2020 to March 2021. Using count and population statistics a population adjusted rate was generated and a linear regression analysis undertaken. RESULTS: A total of 199,059,309 in-person and telehealth services (Male, n=84,007,935;42.2%, Female, n=115,051,374;57.8%) were utilised during the study period. 147,697,104 were in-person compared to 51,191,898 telehealth services. In-person usage decreased by 27.5% while telehealth increased by 358.8%. In-person utilisation increased by 32.4% as the year continued while the telehealth utilisation decreased by 40.7%. There was a non-significant increase in total in-person item code utilisation (p=0.76) and a non-significant decrease (p=0.32) in the total telehealth item codes used CONCLUSION: There was initially increased usage of telehealth especially during lockdown restrictions. However, when lockdowns eased, usage of telehealth decreased while in-person increased. Regardless, telehealth item codes continued to be used despite changes to eligibility criteria and lockdown restrictions easing. Hence, it appears that patients are accepting of telehealth as a healthcare delivery method.
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Introduction: Telehealth usage increased especially in the coronavirus pandemic. Objective: To determine whether oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMS) believe that telehealth is an adequate substitute for in-person consultations. Methods: OMS were interviewed. These were transcribed and themes and subthemes coded. Quotes were selected to create narratives about themes and subthemes and a frequency table generated. Results: 20 OMS were interviewed. There were 200 positive, 215 negative, 9 neutral and 256 unstated comments. Major themes were diagnosis, accessibility, patient-centred care, technology and finances. 34 sub-themes were identified. OMS were most satisfied with accessibility and most dissatisfied with diagnosis. Conclusion: OMS had mixed opinions regarding telehealth. While it can improve access, the technology, interventional capacity and diagnostic ability are limited. Face-to-face was preferred. Further studies are required to improve telehealth.