A collaborative study between Bond University and Intel Australia that may lead to improved treatment for chronically ill patients in remote and regional areas will receive $100,000 in State Government support.
Minister for State Development John Mickel announced the one-off grant for a Clinical Pathways and Community-based Care project at Bond University's postgraduate graduation ceremony on February 5, where he delivered the occasional address. He said the grant would enable Bond University and Intel to conduct a study into the use of e-Health and wireless communication technologies for the delivery of health services.
"The Beattie Government is committed to developing Queensland's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities," Mr Mickel said.
"Queens and's ICT industry is already very strong, employing more than 62,000 people, and our e-Health sector is making its mark at a national and international level.
"It's important that we support projects such as this because it's an opportunity to bring a progressive International company together with a leading Queensland University.
"It brings research providers and research users together on a joint mission to provide new ways to provide high quality health and medical services to the Queensland community."
Mr Mickel said the study will be conducted over several months and will examine how e-Health technologies can improve the electronic transfer of critical medical information between health care providers and patients more efficiently and effectively.
The project will focus on patients with chronic pathological conditions in regional and remote areas of the state and the use of the new generation technologies such as WiMAX, an innovative wireless broadband communication system.
A medical practitioner in a distant western Queensland regional location confronted with a chronic care patient in a diabetic induced coma could, for example, automatically receive critical health care records from a major hospital and the patient's health-care provider simultaneously, without errors or delays.
"As the 'Smart State', Queensland embraces emerging technologies and I believe Bond University and Intel will find novel ways to use these emerging technologies across a broad range of sectors including health and education," Mr Mickel said.
"This study will particularly analyse benefits to the patients, the quality of care, the risk factors, relative costs and the degree of improvements in the information flow between care providers.
"The success of the project will also determine the worth of such collaborations.
"Bond University and Intel are considering the establishment of a Bond Communications Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast aimed at fostering the growth of Queensland businesses in providing innovative products and services for a global market," he said.