Goulburn Valley Health

Jennifer Coller

In an interview, Jennifer Coller, clinical director of cardiology at Goulburn Valley Health, discusses about her experience of being a healthcare professional in times of Covid and the challenges the healthcare sector faces.

What are some of the major challenges and trends impacting the Healthcare industry lately?

The most significant challenge has been severe workforce shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in remote and regional areas. This has had substantial flow-on effects on patient care delivery within hospital-based and primary care. We are also seeing more patients presenting with advanced diseases following lockdowns. For example, a reduction in face-to-face consultations decreased the potential for detecting important conditions such as atrial fibrillation, leading to an increased risk of stroke or heart failure. The resultant mismatch between demand and healthcare delivery is significant, and growing steadily.

Digitization and artificial intelligence are developing at a rapid pace and hold real promise to develop new ways of meeting patient demand. Patients are also expecting more from their healthcare providers, researching clinicians before they commit to a consultation, or requesting a review from a clinician they perceive as being aligned with their expectations and values. They are becoming more discerning and determining the direction of their referrals.

What keeps you up at night when it comes to some of the major predicaments in the Healthcare industry?

My main concern, even prior to the pandemic years, has been the mismatch between service delivery and the sheer scale of cardiovascular disease within Australia and globally. Healthcare services struggle to meet the demands of existing cardiovascular disease, let alone being able to focus on the prevention of these conditions through aggressive risk factor modification.

Another primary concern is the provision of equitable and accessible cardiovascular care. Socio-economic determinants of health significantly impact the risk of having cardiovascular disease and the ability to afford cardiac care. A major challenge is, therefore, to build healthcare systems designed to actively address these disparities in care to be equally accessible to all. Furthermore, there are limited resources and advocacy for those who face additional barriers to accessing care – such as those from indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities – and may have more limited health literacy.

Can you tell us about the latest project you have been working on and what are some of the technological and process elements that you leveraged to make the project successful?

The big project I am working on right now is my private practice, Connected Cardiology, which was established at the end of 2019, shortly before the first COVID-19 lockdown. The practice has a specific focus on providing equitable and accessible healthcare. At the time, the uptake of telehealth to deliver cardiovascular care within regional Australia was very slow. I designed a practice to actively leverage the power of telehealth, alongside regular outreach services from metropolitan centers to regional areas, to provide the best outcomes to patients.