The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED), developed by Northern Health, a major provider of public health care in Melbourne, has transformed the traditional concept of the emergency room by diverting lower severity illness or medical conditions away from overcrowded hospital emergency departments, significantly reducing the strain on services. Launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and built entirely on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Australia’s first virtual emergency department was able to resolve 83% of cases remotely, saving many patients a trip to the hospital.
The service allows anyone in Victoria to access free, on-demand consultations from the comfort of their homes 24/7, using either a computer or mobile device. After registration, they speak with a nurse who assesses their condition. Within 30 minutes, they then consult with a doctor via video call who can diagnose their issue and recommend next steps, including home care instructions, a prescription, or additional testing.
“VVED has not only improved patient experience, but also significantly reduces the strain on physical emergency departments (EDs), allowing on-site staff to focus on attending to the highest acute cases that need in-person emergency treatment," said Richard Penberthy, Project Manager at VVED. "Since launch, VVED has supported more than 550,000 patients across Victoria, with our successful virtual model showcasing how the cloud can dramatically enhance healthcare accessibility, setting a new standard for emergency care delivery worldwide and transforming healthcare in Australia.”
Based on the success of VVED so far, the 2025-26 Victorian State Budget has recently funded an additional $437 million to almost triple the current capacity of the VVED. This investment will enable the VVED to handle 1,750 calls per day by 2028-29, or more than 600,000 calls every year.
Making Healthcare Access Easier for Victorian Families
For one patient and her family, VVED has been especially valuable as they can consult with medical staff and address their son's medical concerns from the safety of their home, reducing the risk of healthcare-acquired infections. The mother explains, "Our son has a primary immunodeficiency, which makes every trip to a hospital a potential risk. When we discovered the VVED service, it was like a weight lifted off our shoulders. It's not just about convenience, it's about giving our son the best chance at a healthy life. The VVED doctors are not only highly skilled but also compassionate. They understood our unique situation and provided personalised care that made us feel seen and supported."
Scale, Resiliency, and Security Vital for the VVED Platform
To meet Victoria's need for a unified, highly-available and secure, statewide VVED platform, Northern Health sought a cloud provider that could enable them to rapidly scale, while ensuring security and resiliency were number one priorities. Since launch, VVED has since experienced a dramatic surge in usage, now handling an average of over 650 new patient registrations daily with a 99.9% uptime. Northern Health leverages AWS's advanced security measures and rapid deployment capabilities, enabling VVED to evolve and scale at pace with emerging health crises and patient needs.
"By building VVED on AWS, we were able to build a service designed for 99.9% uptime that could reliably handle demand across the entire state," said Andrew Bowden, Director of Development at Northern Health. "AWS has given us a secure, scalable environment for delivering responsive virtual emergency care to patients wherever they are in Victoria."
Leveraging the Cloud for Continuous Improvement
For Northern Health's development team, migrating to AWS also enabled them to embrace modern DevOps practices such as continuous integration and continuous deployment. This approach lets the team develop, test, and deploy service improvements and fixes quickly—with no downtime for users and better delivery and reliability.
"We've had over 70 deployments in just the past six weeks to further enhance VVED's experience and capabilities," said Bowden. "It's a powerful example of how AWS allows healthcare organisations to reliably develop, operate and iteratively improve digital services that deliver better patient experiences and outcomes."
This collaboration between Northern Health and AWS creates new opportunities for virtual healthcare worldwide. As hospitals face overcrowding and resource challenges, the VVED model demonstrates how digital transformation can improve public health services—delivering better experiences and outcomes for patients.
