Unlocking the promise of virtual care in hospitals: the Smarter Hospitals Project protocol

Introduction: Virtual models of care comprise consultation by telephone, video-conferencing and remote-monitoring of health conditions, which are supported by digital patient information and wearable devices. Integration of virtual and in person care across health systems is a priority to create and sustain healthy nations by improving access to services, along with healthcare experiences, efficiency, and outcomes. Our collaborative project between health services, agencies, consumers, and clinicians across Australia seeks to provide the required evidence and solutions to optimise the integration of virtual care in hospital outpatient settings Methods and analysis: Our five-year project contains three embedded sub-studies that use a multi-method approach. Firstly, linked hospitalisation data will be used to produce fundamental new knowledge of patterns of virtual outpatient care use and the associated health service outcomes, including for priority populations. The second sub-study will use realist evaluation to determine the context, circumstances, and populations in which virtual care is used successfully, and economic impact of virtual hospital care for communities. We will then test the effectiveness of a co-designed Specialised Change Methodology for improving workforce change readiness and capability for integrating virtual models of care compared to current practice within health redevelopment settings. Statistical and qualitative analytic techniques will be applied with the resulting data to address the project aims. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been obtained (Study 1: HREC/97793/DOH-2023-383794; Study 2: 520231303852269; Study 3 520231586954286). Research dissemination will be channelled through established communities of practice in Australian states with whom the project is connected to reach networks of clinicians, consumers and health managers. Further targeted outputs will be devised in collaboration with the projects consumer, clinician and health system partners to guide the implementation and use of virtual modalities in outpatient hospital care, with equity as a central consideration.