Last month, residential aged care staff from across Western NSW came together for the region’s inaugural Digital Health Symposiums in Dubbo and Orange.
The events were designed specifically for staff working in residential aged care. The symposium focused on empowering aged care staff through technology, innovation, and workforce capability with the goal of strengthening digital readiness across the sector.
Through a series of expert-led presentations and demonstrations, the symposium promoted awareness, education, and adoption of digital health and virtual care technologies that support safe, high-quality, and connected care for residents.
Hosted by Western NSW Primary Health Network (WNSW PHN) supported by leading digital health innovators, the symposium featured expert speakers from the Department of Health, Disability and Aging, WNSW LHD, WNSW PHN, Sydney University’s Woundview Project Team, Robots4Good, and Visionflex.
Key Highlights:
- Driving digital transformation through aged care reform- understanding & preparing for new compliance, reporting and IT system requirements, benefits
- Adoption & implementation of My Health Record and eNRMC transition to conformancein residential aged care- improving safety, communication & continuity of care, streamlining workflows
- New virtual care models including VirtualADULTS and Aged Care Outreach Service (ACOS) – VirtualADULTS offers an alternative emergency care pathway via telehealth, while the Aged Care Outreach Service (ACOS) aims to reduce hospital admissions and improve transitions of care. Both models rely on aged care staff having access to video consultation capabilities and digital readiness.
- Virtual care innovations OhmniCare telepresence robots by Robots4Good- An introduction to autonomous telehealth robots that enable remote clinicians to connect virtually at the bedside for consultations, education, and discharge planning—expanding workforce reach and care flexibility
- Introduction of the WoundView Project, a collaboration between the University of Sydney, CSIRO, Coviu, AI-powered telehealth solution to support remote wound assessment and monitoring using standard cameras and platforms.
- Visionflex – a leading provider of virtual care solutions showcased their portable telehealth cart and clinical-grade peripherals, demonstrating how residential aged care homes can become fully connected clinical spaces, augmenting in-person care with real-time diagnostics and video consultations, reduce unnecessary transfers and enhancing resident outcomes.
Participant feedback
“This has given me the confidence to utilise technology in every day delivery of care.”
“I’ve learned the importance of getting digitalised to make work easier for everyone”, “Visionflex and Woundview interested me so much.”
“I’ve learned the way interconnecting of services enhances the optimum delivery of care”
“VirtualAdults and Virtual Outreach for RACHs will positively affect HITH services” I would definitely want to incorporate Visionflex in how I deliver care to our residents”
The symposium underscored the importance of building digital skills and digital capability in aged care and highlighted digital tools and virtual care models that can be implemented today.
Facilities are encouraged to explore virtual care solutions, review their digital readiness, and engage with local health networks to shape future services.
