Aussie cancer patients to get health care online

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A new telehealth program will enable cancer patients to regularly consult their doctor even if they are hundreds of kilometres away.

The $20.6 million pilot program starting in July will use the national broadband network to deliver health services to older Australians with cancer and those in palliative care.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy said patients in the first NBN rollout areas would find the high-speed broadband network more reliable in delivering e-health services.

They said the network would ultimately transform the way health care was delivered in Australia, particularly for rural and remote areas.

Ms Plibersek said the NBN telehealth pilot program would offer innovative services.

"These will include having health indicators monitored remotely - for instance, your doctor being able to take your blood pressure online while you are at home - or receiving medical consultations and healthy living support in the home," she said in a statement on Sunday.

The government's eventual plan for the telehealth system is that it will connect homes, doctor surgeries, pharmacies, clinics, aged-care facilities and allied health professionals.

It will use the trial program to get feedback on how it and other health care measures can be delivered nationally.

Applications to participate in the program will open in the next two months.

- AAP