Strengthening virtual care quality
Strengthening virtual care quality is one the Commission’s four priorities of high quality digitally enabled care.
To achieve this objective, safety and quality standards are being developed to support high quality virtual care across health care settings.
What is virtual care?
The Commission defines health care as:
“the prevention, treatment and management of illness and injury, and the preservation of mental and physical wellbeing through the services offered by clinicians, such as medical, nursing and allied health professionals”
Building on this, we define virtual care as:
"any interaction between a patient and a clinician, or between clinicians, occurring remotely with the use of information technologies"’
Many organisations use the term ‘telehealth’ to describe virtual care services.
Virtual care is delivered in a range of ways, for example:
- telephone and videocall, such as a consultation with a general practitioner or medical specialist including the long-term management of chronic health issues
- the provision of routine prescriptions through a portal and other prescription request channels
- remote patient monitoring with the use of medical devices or imaging for diabetes or long-term wound care
Virtual care can be delivered either synchronously (real-time) using telehealth (e.g. audio or video) or asynchronously (not real-time) through a virtual remote monitoring platform.
Safety and quality standards for virtual care
The Commission leads national efforts to improve the safety and quality of health care. We develop national standards in partnership with the healthcare system and community representatives.
Our National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards set the requirements for delivering high-quality care across all parts of the healthcare system.
As virtual care becomes more widely used, the Commission is developing specific safety and quality standards for virtual care. These will align with the third edition of the NSQHS Standards, which are based on the new National Model for Clinical Governance.
Timeline
The development of the virtual care standards commenced in June 2026. It is anticipated they will be released in late 2027.
Engagement
We will seek views from across the health system by:
- Undertaking a national consultation process to review and comment on draft virtual care standards – currently scheduled for October 2026
- Using the expertise of the Commission's Digitally Enabled Care Advisory Committee and the Australian Digital Health Agency’s Virtual Care Expert Advisory Group
Governance
The Commission will utilise its existing governance structures to review the virtual care standards. Following the public consultation, the standards will be finalised and reviewed through the Commission’s standing committees:
- the Inter-Jurisdictional Committee,
- Private Hospital Sector Committee, and
- Primary Care Committee.
The standards will then be submitted to the Commission’s Board for approval and subsequent publication.
Contact
For questions and to provide feedback on the development of the virtual care standards, contact the Digital Health Team.
Stay in touch
Keep up to date with project updates, including consultation information and how you can be involved.