SALK push online consultation hours – salzburg.ORF.at
Health
The Salzburg State Clinics (SALK) are expanding their range of online consultation hours. Conversations via video telephony partly replaced on-site consultations. The project was launched during the CoV pandemic and offers several advantages, it is stressed.
The new system helps the state clinics, especially in relation to another wave of corona or flu, so as not to have too many people in the hospital at the same time. The online consultation hours save patients time and stress, says project coordinator Alexander Kollmann.
“It’s mainly about regions from which it may be more complicated or difficult to get there. It’s about providing the best possible care for patients and being able to “pick up” them in their own home environment. A number of patients have already confirmed to us that they feel more comfortable doing this than when they come into the hospital and are thus ‘torn’ out of their surroundings, so to speak.”
System has been in intensive use since early 2022
Nurses use the online consultation hours primarily for diabetes and breastfeeding advice. Doctors from the relevant areas have also been using the system since the beginning of 2022. It works best in combination with personal discussions, says Kollmann.
“In cases where, for example, palpation of the patient is necessary for the medical assessment, the visit to the hospital cannot be as easy as an online conversation.”
Other clinics are to follow
A number of departments in Salzburg are already using the system, such as the clinic in Hallein. Other clinics in the country, such as Tamsweg, are now following. Project manager Kollmann emphasizes that it is also a matter of compensating for the more difficult accessibility from some regions in winter.