Considerations for design and implementation of a Virtual Hospital
This study aimed to inform UnitingCare Queensland about considerations, barriers and enablers to establishing an Australian private virtual hospital
Research Project Team
Lead Researcher
Dr Olivia Fisher
Research Team
Dr Caroline Grogan
Kelly McGrath
Dr Shanthi Kanagarajah, Queensland Physician Care
Dr Ian Smith, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital
Sue-Ellen Smith, BlueCare Community
Andrew Barron
About this Research Project
In September 2022 UnitingCare Queensland engaged Wesley Research Institute to conduct some initial exploratory research on establishment of a private virtual hospital. The research team conducted a context assessment to identify considerations, barriers and enablers to inform the potential development and implementation of a virtual hospital.
This project involved:
- 37 interviews between February and July 2023 with
a. Patients and family carers
b. Staff of UnitingCare Queensland
c. Staff of The Wesley Hospital, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, St Stephen’s Hospital, and Buderim Private Hospital
d. Staff of BlueCare Community and BlueCare Residential Facilities
e. Queensland Health stakeholders. - Review of patient clinical and demographic information from the UnitingCare Hospitals.
- Review of key documents such as legislation, strategy documents, and policies.
A summary of the results of this research were presented at a series of co-design workshops. A detailed internal report with considerations and recommendations for design and implementation of a virtual hospital was presented to UnitingCare Queensland
Publications & Reports
Fisher, O. J., Grogan, C., McGrath, K., Kanagarajah, S., Smith, S-E., Smith, I., Martin, E., Cockshaw, W., Moshi, B., & Barron, A. (2024). UnitingCare Queensland Virtual Hospital Context Assessment and Co-Design: Confidential Internal Report. Wesley Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland.
Fisher, O. J., Grogan, C., Barron, A., Kanagarajah, S., Smith, S-E., Smith, I., & McGrath, K. (2024 Pre-print). Considerations for establishment of a private virtual hospital: Using an implementation science approach to identify pre-implementation barriers and enablers, 18 July 2024, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4683764/v1