What is telehealth?
Telehealth uses videoconferencing to connect you with your healthcare provider.
Telehealth lets you stay home or visit a nearby hospital or health centre to see a healthcare professional from another location.
Ask your health professional if you can use telehealth.
How we use telehealth
We use telehealth for:
- outpatient appointments
- inpatient ward rounds
- clinical handovers
- palliative care
- at home patient appointments
- emergency support and advice.
Telehealth emergency support helps rural clinicians and patients. Patients get expert advice in their local community, reducing the need to be transferred to a bigger hospital.
Your telehealth appointment
A telehealth appointment is like a face to face medical appointment. You'll see your health professional on the video screen and hear them through your speakers or headphones. Your health professional will see and hear you.
You can ask a family member, carer or friend to sit in on the telehealth appointment with you.
At home
If you're doing your telehealth call from home, you'll need:
- a computer, tablet or smartphone
- internet or Wi-Fi
- a webcam, headset or speakers.
The clinic will send you an email or SMS appointment with a video link for you to click on the day of your appointment.
There will also be a test link in the email. Please make sure you click on the test link before the day of your appointment. This will confirm that your webcam and audio is working.
At a clinic or at your GP's office
If you're going to a Queensland Health rural facility or your GP's office, staff will help you with the video conference equipment. A nurse may sit in the room and help you during your video appointment.
Before your appointment starts, the nurse will tell you what to expect during the video call. They may also take your blood pressure, temperature and do other tests.
Your health professional will update your medical records after your appointment.
Telehealth appointment support
Your telehealth appointment will be through Queensland Health or Telecare. Our outpatient department will tell you which one. It won't change your appointment or care.
Queensland Health telehealth
If your telehealth appointment is with Queensland Health and you have questions call 07 4885 6000. Ask to talk to the telehealth coordinator for:
- the specialist outpatient department
- the children and women’s outpatient department
- virtual health.
You can also learn more about telehealth on the Queensland Health website.
Telecare
If your appointment is with Telecare:
- To book or cancel call 07 4837 8014 or email hello@telecare.com.au.
For healthcare questions call Mackay Base Hospital on 07 4885 6790.