Ramsay’s hospital in the home service reaches milestone

MedTech News: Ramsay Health Care’s hospital in the home service, Ramsay Connect, has celebrated its first anniversary, revealing its priorities for the next 12 months will include focusing on regional locations and bolstering the allied health and nursing workforce.

Ramsay Connect has grown from strength to strength since it was launched in March 2020 – on the same day as the start of Australia’s seven-week COVID-19 lockdown. 

Ramsay Connect Chief Executive Officer, Ian Galvin, thanked staff and referring doctors for helping the service reach this special milestone, particularly given the health challenges presented during its first year of operation. 

“There’s no doubt Ramsay Connect faced a very complex 12-months with the COVID-19 pandemic, border closures and lockdowns; but despite these challenges we now have 40 referring Ramsay facilities across four states, which has helped us to enrol almost 1,900 patients into our program,” Mr Galvin said. 

“More than 400 medical specialists now refer their patients to Ramsay Connect to help them make that very important transition from hospital to home.” 

Under the Ramsay Connect program, ‘care coordinators’ are the important link between the patients, doctors and Ramsay hospitals. They oversee the implementation of each patient’s individualised care plan so the team can deliver the highest quality care. 

Patients can receive treatments such as physiotherapy, nursing, occupational therapy and personal care in their own home. Care coordinators can even help facilitate other services such as domestic cleaning or meal delivery during the patient’s recovery and rehabilitation. 

Mr Galvin said the Ramsay Connect team was looking forward to the next 12 months. 

“We are committed to visiting more Ramsay Hospital sites to better understand doctor and patient needs and build important links with our workforce and care coordinators.  We also want to refine the referral process and I’m looking forward to piloting virtual care solutions in integrated care,” Mr Galvin said. 

Ramsay Connect is a joint venture between Ramsay Health Plus and Remedy Healthcare.