Improving health service delivery through telehealth expansion in Queensland—strategy, clinical implementation, challenges, opportunities, and future directions

The Queensland health system is a complex mix of public and private funders and providers [1]. Queensland Health is a large public service organisation, with a workforce of more than 60,000 people [2]. While Queenslanders generally have good health [3], there are a number of challenges facing the delivery of health services, including a growing, ageing, culturally diverse and geographically dispersed population [4]. Also, attracting and retaining skilled professionals, especially specialist services in rural and remote areas is a key challenge [5]. Aims and objectives: Improving health service delivery in rural and regional communities by expanding the capacity and increased usage of telehealth technologies [5] is a key strategy for Queensland Health. Queensland Health has an established network of over 800 end points in over 260 sites. However, it is recognised that more can be done to realise Queensland Health’s vision to embed telehealth into everyday services as an accepted enabler of health care. Discussion: This paper outlines the Queensland Health experience in supporting the expansion and adoption of telehealth, including its strategy, clinical applications, challenges, opportunities, and future directions within a complex, dynamic health service environment.