Cutting-edge mapping technology being trialled by health providers in the US could help Australia tackle its growing hospital crisis, according to a visiting international geo-health expert.
Angelica Baltazar, a Geographic Information System (GIS) health and human services specialist at technology giant Esri, has been invited to Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane this week to advise health organisations and providers.
Ms Baltazar is available for interviews and photo opportunities throughout the week – see details below.
Her visit comes following reports that health systems in Australia’s capitals are at ‘breaking point’, with patients in South Australia and Victoria forced to spend hours on stretchers and in corridors waiting for beds, while chronic understaffing recently led to attacks on nurses by patients in a Canberra mental health unit.
Ms Baltazar said, like their US counterparts, Australia’s health decision-makers could use a ‘new generation’ of intelligent mapping technology to reform their ailing systems.
“Health-care providers in the US are currently trialling GIS technology-enabled systems to make better decisions about how to assign patients to beds and rooms, and monitor the discharge process,” Ms Baltazar said.
“Downey Regional Medical Centre in California is currently trialling this approach to help manage their existing infrastructure more efficiently.
“There is no reason why the same approach would not work to address issues here in Australia.”
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