Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Burke for raising this important matter. I welcome the opportunity to outline the current position. I assume the Senator is referring to the clinical and cost effectiveness and patient safety aspects of the teleconsultation services which are remotely delivered online rather than traditional face-to-face consultation. It is important that the value of these services is given the full consideration in view of the increasing availability and also demand for such services. The importance of ehealth or digital health to support health care reform and its role in the delivery of a modern healthcare system has been recognised for some time. My Department published an ehealth strategy in 2013, which outlined a roadmap to improve the deployment of information technology in the health service to support health care efficiency, patient safety and care. Delivering ehealth in Ireland means the digital transformation of a health care model that exploits the digital infrastructure to enable commonly shared capabilities and access to services and information throughout the health system.

Ehealth has the capacity to provide the building infrastructure and the technology needed to facilitate the wider use of technology to enhance patient safety and patient care in any health care setting. As new technologies emerge, they provide opportunity for different approaches to the treatment of patients, offering alternative health care models of integrated care that can contribute to better outcomes, patient safety and achieve coat efficiencies in the delivery of health services. The Sláintecare report, published in 2017, also emphasised the importance of health information and ehealth as critical enablers to implement the change required to deliver an integrated, high quality health system. The report advocates continued strong support of the ehealth strategy and in particular ensuring the necessary funding for the timely roll-out of an electronic health record, EHR, system.

On the use of teleconsultations in healthcare delivery, there is emerging evidence that telemedicine teleconsultations can be implemented to support an integrated healthcare approach. TeIeconsultations between GPs and patients can provide benefits in certain circumstances, such as the provision of care in remote locations or for chronically ill patients, providing a service in alternative settings that are more convenient for the patient. Such consultations offer alternative channels of service and enhance patient choice.

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue and assure him and the House that as this is an emerging area of service provision, it will be closely monitored by my Department.