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Your first steps: planning a rollout

A simple, staged plan to get virtual care running in your service.

What this is: a staged plan for getting virtual care running, from first conversations to a working service.

Who it's for: clinic and nurse managers, ACCHO leaders, and the person leading the rollout.

Start small and build

The services that do this well do not switch everything on at once. They start with one or two use cases, prove the model with a small pilot, then grow. The stages below are a guide, not a fixed timetable. Move at the pace that suits your service and your community.

Stage 1: Talk with your community first

In a community-controlled or remote setting, this comes before anything technical.

  • Talk with your community, and where relevant your Elders and board, about what virtual care is and how it would work.
  • Listen for what matters locally: who patients trust, how consent should work, and what would make care feel safe.
  • Agree how the community will stay involved as the service runs, not just at the start.

This is not a box to tick. It shapes everything that follows, and it is the foundation of a culturally safe service.

Stage 2: Choose your first use cases

Pick one or two clear, common needs where virtual care will obviously help. Good starting points include:

  • Chronic disease check-ins, for example diabetes or heart disease monitoring.
  • Specialist follow-up that would otherwise mean a long trip.
  • Support for your clinic between visits from a doctor or visiting clinician.

Start where the benefit is clearest and the risk is lowest. You can add more once the team is confident.

Stage 3: Get the basics in place

  • Set up a private, accessible and culturally safe room.
  • Test your connectivity in that room, and sort a backup.
  • Get the equipment your use cases need, and store it where staff can find it.
  • Confirm your consent process and have interpreter support ready.

The readiness audit covers each of these in detail.

Stage 4: Train your team

  • Make sure everyone who runs a consult has practised with the equipment first.
  • Include a clear pathway for Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners, not just nurses and GPs.
  • Run through a structured handover, such as ISBAR, so the local team and the remote clinician work smoothly together.
  • Agree what to do when the technology fails, and who to call.

Stage 5: Run a pilot

  • Start with a small number of patients and a set day or session each week.
  • Keep it simple and let the team find its rhythm.
  • Check in with patients, families and staff about how it felt, not only whether it worked.
  • Fix the small problems as they come up.

Stage 6: Review, then scale

  • Look at what worked: how many consults ran, what travel you avoided, what the team and patients said.
  • Capture the results you will need to show your funder.
  • Add use cases, sessions or sites once the model is steady.
  • Keep your community involved as you grow.

A realistic first 90 days

A sensible first three months looks like this: spend the first few weeks on community engagement and the basics, train and pilot through the middle weeks, and review near the end before you decide what to add. If something is not ready, hold the start date rather than launch on shaky ground. A confident, well-supported start is worth more than a fast one.

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Visionflex acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.