ASH 2019 Interview - Dr Nada Hamad - Connecting City-Rural Health Teams and The Rural Patient

Dr Nada Hamad – Electronic Record to Connect City-Rural Health Teams and The Rural Patient
St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia
ASH meeting 2019, Orlando, USA

Dr Nada Hamad, Consultant Haematologist, specialising in bone marrow transplant, clinical and laboratory at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Dr Hamad spoke with Donna Gairns, National Nurse Manager with Lymphoma Australia during the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2019 meeting.

Dr Hamad provided a poster presentation during the meeting highlighted a pilot study that was conducted between St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and Griffith Hospital in rural Australia. The study looked at improving patient outcomes and experience by introducing technology that would allow health professionals from both sites to access patient information, including test results easier via a computer program in real time.

As patient outcomes are improving after a transplant, patients are able to go home to their home that is 571km away from Sydney. Patients are now able to receive follow up care closer to home, while keeping in close contact with their transplant team. Staff working in Griffith are also able to be updated, able to communicate with the team and ultimately feel more supported. Studies will now look at the patient experience outcomes.

Moving forward, more ways of using telehealth so that clinicians and patients can communicate better and provide holistic care. Novel therapies will be able to be done for patients close to home and less travelling.