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Is your service ready? A readiness audit

A practical check across people, place, connectivity, governance and community.

What this is: a readiness check you can work through before you start virtual care, or use to find the gaps in a service you already run.

Who it's for: clinic and nurse managers, ACCHO leaders, and the person tasked with getting virtual care going.

How to use this

Work through each area below. For anything you cannot tick off, note who owns it and when it will be ready. You do not need every item in place to start a small pilot, but you should know where your gaps are.

People and roles

  • You have named who will be the local hands at the patient end: a nurse, Aboriginal Health Worker or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner.
  • You have named the remote clinicians or hub your team will connect to.
  • Staff know their scope of practice for virtual care and what they can do on behalf of a GP.
  • Someone owns day-to-day coordination: scheduling, consent, and following up results.
  • You have backfill or a plan for when a key person is on leave.

Place and space

  • You have a private room where a consult cannot be overheard.
  • The space is accessible and welcoming, and culturally safe for the patients you serve.
  • Lighting and seating let the camera show what the clinician needs to see.
  • You can run a consult without constant interruptions.

Connectivity

  • You have tested your internet speed and stability in the actual room, not just at the front desk.
  • You have a backup if the main connection drops, for example a mobile hotspot.
  • You know who to call when the connection fails mid-consult.
  • For outreach and mobile work, you have checked coverage at each site.

Equipment

  • You have the virtual care equipment and peripherals your use cases need, such as a camera, digital stethoscope, otoscope and vital signs devices.
  • Equipment is charged, clean and stored where staff can find it.
  • Staff have practised using each device before the first real consult.
  • You have a simple troubleshooting guide on hand.

Clinical governance

  • Virtual care sits inside your existing safety and quality systems, not alongside them.
  • You have a clear escalation pathway for when a patient needs more than the consult can provide.
  • You use a structured handover, such as ISBAR, between the local team and the remote clinician.
  • Incidents and near-misses are recorded and reviewed the same way as for in-person care.

Community engagement and consent

  • You have talked with your community, and where relevant your Elders and board, about how virtual care will work.
  • Patients can choose virtual care or face-to-face care, and can change their mind.
  • Your consent process is clear, in plain language, and available in the languages your patients speak.
  • You can arrange an interpreter when one is needed.

Privacy and data sovereignty

  • You know where patient data is stored and who can access it.
  • Your platform and devices meet recognised security standards.
  • For community-controlled services, you have considered who owns and governs the data your system creates, in line with Indigenous data sovereignty principles.
  • Staff know how to report a privacy breach.

Funding

  • You have looked at which Medicare items your consultations may attract, and confirmed the current rules.
  • You know which grants, incentives or Primary Health Network support your service may be able to use.
  • You have a rough view of the cost to run the service and how it will be covered.

If you are mostly ready

You do not need a perfect score. If your people, your space, your connection and your consent process are sorted, you can start a small pilot and build from there. The next article shows you how.

Need help?

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