title: The broadband-enabled innovation program: a working demonstration of the effective use of technology in community-based patient care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Given the socioeconomic demands of the Australian society, both now and in the future, the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) has identified the importance of exploring suitable commercial forms of telehealth technologies to enable robust and sustainable models of care for their clients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this article is to illustrate the practical application of technology in community-based patient care through an overview of a project that the RDNS has trialled to provide remote medicines management.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this project demonstrate that technology can be successfully applied in community-based patient care to enhance the capacity of RDNS to deliver medications management for clients. It showed benefits in terms of increasing the efficiency of service delivery as well as staff and patient satisfaction. On the basis of this success, the program is being expanded and undergoing further evaluation to assess its impact.
authors.affiliation: RN, BApSc AdvNsg, CertIV TAE, Clinical Lead, Telehealth, Project Management Office, Royal District Nursing Service, St Kilda, VIC.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Towers
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tyler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D055118:Medication Adherence; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D049269:Videoconferencing