• Kavisha Shah, Nicki Newton, Emma Charlston, Miranda Shaw, Jagdev Singh, Adam Johnston, Owen Hutchings, Chenyao Yu, Pearl Wang, Aaron Jones, Angus Ritchie, Rebecca Davis, Fiona Robinson, Jennifer A Alison, Melissa T Baysari, Meredith Makeham, Sarah Norris, Liliana Laranjo, Emma Nicholls, Clara K Chow, and Tim Shaw.
• University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.
• Med. J. Aust. 2024 Dec 9; 221 Suppl 11: S49S56S49-S56.

ObjectivesTo identify research and development priorities for virtual care following the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic from the perspective of key stakeholders (patients, clinicians, informaticians and academics).DesignQualitative study using a modified nominal group technique.SettingOnline semi-structured interviews and workshops held in November 2022 and February 2023.ParticipantsHealth workers involved in delivering virtual care in two metropolitan local health districts and one specialty statewide network, and people who had received care from these sites, were recruited using passive snowball sampling. Research and academic staff from a tertiary institution were also invited to participate.Main Outcome MeasuresPriorities to support a translational research agenda for virtual care.ResultsTwenty-five individuals participated including 18 innovation deliverers, two innovation recipients and five implementation facilitators. Stakeholders identified several key priorities for developing virtual care models and for sustaining and scaling virtual care services. These included demonstrating the economic and societal value of virtual care, developing a common framework to support evaluation and comparison of virtual care services, ensuring virtual care services integrate acute and primary care, and defining which models of care are most appropriate for virtual care delivery.ConclusionAs the health system recalibrates with the return of in-person care, there is a growing need to demonstrate the value of virtual care models to patients, the health system, and society at large. Demonstrating this value while also demonstrating improvements to health outcomes will future-proof virtual care, enabling it to be used to address broader challenges of health care delivery. In addition, sustaining virtual care will depend on robust operational structures and workforce training and education. As services evolve, research and development priorities must be revisited to ensure that translational research aligns with stakeholder interests.© 2024 AMPCo Pty Ltd.

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