St Vincent's announces virtual and home care commitment

Not-for-profit health and aged care services provider St Vincent’s has committed to delivering half of its care in people’s homes and through virtual and digital platforms by 2030. In the context of the announcement, CEO Chris Blake said, as Australia’s health and aged care system passed through a once-in-a-generation transition, St Vincent’s was determined to “lead from the front”.

“St Vincent’s is building Australia’s largest virtual and home care system,” Blake said. “Our ambition is that within five years, St Vincent’s clinicians and support workers will be delivering half of our total care in people’s homes — including nursing homes — either face-to-face or virtually.

“That includes hospital-level care: from pre-admission through to recovery,” Blake said. “By making this transition, we believe St Vincent’s will be able to add an additional one million virtual patient interactions by 2030.” Blake added: “Bringing care directly to people in their homes will enhance recovery, improve outcomes and take pressure off the health system, giving our hospitals capacity to do more.”

Across its two major public health networks (Sydney and Melbourne), 10 private hospitals, and 25 aged care facilities in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, St Vincent’s currently experiences around two million connections with patients and residents each year. In a statement, St Vincent’s said it already provides the equivalent of 200 virtual hospital beds.

St Vincent’s also stated that it “will begin its transition over the next 12–18 months by developing a central ‘command centre’ model to allow a dedicated virtual care team to engage in 24/7 observation and tracking of patient data through the use of wearable devices and other monitoring”.

Also noted in the statement is a selection by the federal government last week for St Vincent’s to design and deliver the new $217m Medicare Mental Health Check In service; a platform aimed at improving mental health access for any Australian seeking support, regardless of where they live. The provider said the platform offers Australian-first digital mental health support.

“With rising costs, an aging population, growing chronic illness, and overwhelmed services, many Australians are struggling to get the help they need, when they need it. At the same time, frontline workers are exhausted,” Blake said. “Meanwhile, medical science and technology are changing the way we work. We know that innovations such as wearable technology and artificial intelligence are bringing a host of new possibilities.

“People’s expectations are also shifting. People want their care personalised, and either online or in their homes — when and where they need it — as much as possible,” Blake added. “We have a tremendous opportunity here. We can utilise technology to meet people’s preferences. And in doing so, we can alleviate the pressures that are undermining our hospital and health system.”

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