Home, Monitored, and Thriving: Queensland’s Virtual Care Shift

A Queensland study shows home treatment can safely replace thousands of hospital bed days

21 Nov 2025

Queensland’s latest assessment of its Virtual Hospital in the Home scheme offers a glimpse of how supervised home treatment may reshape Australia’s health system. The study, released this year, examined 3,192 patients treated between December 2021 and November 2022. Many had moderate covid-19, though the service covered a broader mix of conditions. Analysts estimate that the model avoided 15,273 bed days; another review, covering 3,240 admissions, put the figure at 16,651. The difference reflects data boundaries rather than any change in results.

The evaluation found reassuring safety levels and generally positive patient responses. Many valued being monitored daily by clinicians while staying in familiar surroundings. Born in the pandemic, the scheme has since become a test case for whether virtual care can shift from crisis tool to mainstream service.

Firms in digital health are watching closely. Providers such as Telstra Health, which reports lower readmissions in its own hospital at home efforts, see scope for more integrated platforms to support wider virtual pathways. Analysts expect growing demand for monitoring devices, engagement software and triage tools as health systems pursue hybrid models that blend physical and remote care.

Yet the hurdles are clear. Clinicians working in similar services argue that digital records remain too fragmented, slowing workflows. Patchy connectivity still shapes access in rural areas. Policy groups are therefore developing national standards for virtual care, hoping to bolster safety and public trust.

Even with these limits, Queensland’s results are timely. They show that structured home based care, deployed at scale, can relieve hospital pressure without compromising outcomes. As Australia looks for ways to deliver treatment more flexibly and to stretch scarce staff and infrastructure, virtual models may become a sturdier part of the system. The task now is to ensure that the technology, rules and workforce keep pace.