D I G I TA L H E A LT H

The Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC) is working with medical and industry partners to revolutionise some reconstruction surgery techniques.

Better for you Sarah Keenihan discovers how digital health, improved data integration and innovative manufacturing are making Australians healthier.

Research usq.edu.au/research

“You can’t do digital health without industry,” says Shaw. “Working in the CRC environment helps us to be more nimble, more agile, and to focus on innovation without being bogged down. But we’re still powered by academic expertise.”

AG E D CA R E , A N D H E A LT H AT A D I S TA N C E

Assisted aged care is a health area ready for innovation through technology. With partners Aged and Community Services Australia and the Aged Care Guild, the Digital Health CRC recently created the Living Better Lab to trial technologies to improve delivery of aged care services. Enhancing the health of Australians living outside our main cities is another key focus for the CRC. “It’s a question of equity”, says Professor Suzanne Robinson, Flagship Director for the Rural and Remote team. Relatively low access to health services partially explains why Australians living in rural and remote areas have shorter lives and higher levels of disease and injury. “We’re working to apply digital technology

to help all Australians access health services,” says Robinson. “The CRC provides the right environment to pilot ideas for managing health outside urban centres.” The Digital Health CRC is working with the WA Country Health Service to expand technology application through their telehealth platforms. Long-distance sharing of digital images and patient records between urban and rural Exploring the viability of kangaroo tendons in human patients.

The University of Southern Queensland is a research-intensive regional university with a focus on developing innovative solutions to real world problems. USQ’s research performance is built on the foundations of long-standing relationships with industry, business and end-users to ensure that our research delivers impact to the communities that we serve.

Images: Bone Ligament Tendon / Allegra Orthopaedics

COVID-19 has accelerated Australia’s demand for digital health delivery. But even before this change, Professor Tim Shaw was pressing for greater integration of everyday technologies into healthcare. “It’s crazy we don’t use simple technologies for better health management,” says Shaw, who is Director of Research and Workforce Capacity at the Digital Health CRC. “There are simple technologies we can apply, and most of these already exist .” The Digital Health CRC is working with industry partners — such as healthcare solutions company HMS — to deliver personalised healthcare messages for patients with chronic heart conditions. They are developing interactive voice response systems for this purpose and also plan on utilising text messages and emails. More broadly, the CRC aims to improve the use of data for informed decision-making by doctors, and refine services and models of care in general practice and hospitals. “Data can empower teams on the floor,” says Shaw. “We want to equip clinicians with access to useful information.” The Digital Health CRC has 80 industry partners, including 16 universities.