For communities such as Walgett getting an ultrasound scan of this type would require an almost six hour round trip to Dubbo.
Melissa Nathan from Walgett Aboriginal Medical Services was among the first clinicians to receive training at Nepean Hospital and describes the new service offering as invaluable.
“We see a lot of chronic and complex clients who are afflicted with cardiac, diabetes and renal problems. Performing a procedure like this is well beyond the normal scope of services here at Walgett,” says Melissa.
“The technology is very intuitive and lets us know how we can perform the task better to get the desired results. Once everything is captured it gets sent to a cloud-based server for a specialist to then interpret.”
Bridging the gap
Dr Faraz Pathan, cardiologist and cardiovascular imaging specialist at Nepean Hospital explains that this technology is just another way in which we can improve access to health care to some of the most remote communities across the country.
“We are very fortunate to have at Nepean such a driven team that wants to build upon the capacity of this technology,” says Faraz.
“We have a world-renowned clinical education program and we want to share the spoils of our labour. Through the development of tools such as the AI assisted echocardiogram, we can deliver our expertise to clinicians near and far and give them the confidence to perform more advanced procedures such as this to those people who are in desperate need.”
“From Woollahra to Walgett, Bondi to Bourke, Darling Harbour to Dubbo, we understand that there are health disparities for urban and regional areas. We’re proud to take up the challenge to upskill and empower colleagues in rural and remote regions to bridge the gap and create better health outcomes for all.”