Victorian Virtual Emergency Department

What Victorian Virtual Emergency Department does

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (recently rebranded to Victorian Emergency Department, or VED) is a publicly funded telehealth service delivering free, 24/7 video consultations with emergency clinicians to residents of Victoria, Australia. It was established in October 2020 as a pilot at Northern Hospital Epping — making it the first virtual emergency department in Australia — and has since scaled to serve the entire state. The service is operated by Northern Health, a Victorian public health service, with the support and funding of the Victorian Government.

VVED is staffed by approximately 60 clinicians and operational staff, including emergency doctors, paediatric emergency doctors, paediatricians, GPs, medical registrars, nurse practitioners, and nurses, providing triage, assessment, treatment advice, prescriptions, and direct referrals into hospital or specialist pathways where required. The technology underpinning the service is a video consultation platform accessed by patients directly or via referral from partner organisations. Recent extensions include ADHD prescription refill support, signalling movement beyond purely acute emergency triage into ongoing condition management.

The business model is publicly funded and free at the point of use. There is no commercial pricing; the service is sustained by Victorian Government health budget allocations routed through Northern Health. Go-to-market is a hybrid of direct-to-consumer access (statewide) and B2B referral channels, including Ambulance Victoria, Victorian hospitals, residential aged care facilities, general practices, urgent care centres, and Primary Health Networks (PHNs). Customer segments are the general Victorian population for direct access and institutional healthcare providers for referral pathways.

Name

Victorian Virtual Emergency Department

Legal name

Northern Health

Website

https://vved.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

VVED is a publicly funded telehealth service providing free 24/7 video consultations with emergency clinicians to all Victorians. Operated by Northern Health with Victorian Government support, it serves the statewide population via direct access and healthcare provider referrals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Virtual Emergency Healthcare Services

NAICS

Freestanding Ambulatory Surgical and Emergency Centers (621493), Home Health Care Services (62161)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Urgent Care & On-Demand Virtual Visits (HLALAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

24/7 On-Demand Urgent Care Virtual Visit Platforms (HLALAJAA), Virtual Urgent Care & On-Demand Teletriage Services (HLAFADAJ)

Keywords

• Virtual emergency care
• Telehealth consultations
• Urgent care services
• Video consultation platform
• Public health services

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government-Funded Healthcare: Publicly funded health service operated by Northern Health and supported by the Victorian Government. Service is provided free to all patients regardless of Medicare status.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department provides free, 24/7 video consultations with emergency doctors and nurses for Victorian residents and visitors with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions. Operated by Northern Health and supported by the Victorian Government, the service requires no Medicare card, GP referral, or appointment. It also supports healthcare providers including Ambulance Victoria, Urgent Care Centres, residential aged care facilities, and GPs through dedicated referral portals and direct consultation pathways.

Product overview

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department is a single, unified telehealth platform operated by Northern Health and supported by the Victorian Government. It provides free, 24/7 video consultations with emergency doctors, paediatric emergency doctors, paediatricians, general practitioners, medical registrars, nurses, and nurse practitioners. The service treats urgent but non-life-threatening conditions and offers interpreter services, ADHD prescription refills for children under 18, and direct referral pathways to hospitals and GPs. No Medicare card or GP referral is required.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VED) A free, 24/7 telehealth service providing video consultations with emergency doctors, paediatric emergency doctors, paediatricians, general practitioners, medical registrars, nurses, and nurse practitioners for urgent but non-life-threatening health conditions in Victoria. No Medicare card or GP referral is required. Includes interpreter services, ADHD prescription refills for children under 18 with an existing diagnosis, and direct referral pathways to hospitals and GPs.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Northern HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2020Northern Health is the operator of the Virtual Emergency Department service. The service originated as a pilot project at Northern Hospital Epping in October 2020 and has since expanded to serve all of Victoria.
• Victorian GovernmentcoreOthersThe Victorian Government supports the Virtual Emergency Department as a statewide public health initiative.
• Ambulance VictoriaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to enable paramedics to refer patients who require timely medical review but do not present with high acuity symptoms. Includes AV Paramedic, AV at Aged Care, AV Triage, and AV First Responder pathways.
• Hospitals (Victoria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner hospitals work with the Virtual ED to ensure better access to care across the state and provide referral pathways for patients requiring in-person care.
• Residential Aged Care Facilities (Victoria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with aged care homes to provide video consultation services for elderly residents with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions.
• Urgent Care Centres (Victoria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrgent Care Centres can refer patients to the Virtual ED for specialist emergency advice and fast referral pathways.
• GPs (Victoria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeneral Practitioners can access the service for patient consultations and receive follow-up referrals from the Virtual ED after video consultations.
• Primary Health Networks (Victoria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to ensure better access to care across Victoria and coordinate healthcare delivery across the state.
• Northern Health Public Affairs TeamminorOthersNorthern Health handles media enquiries for the Virtual Emergency Department via [email protected].

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Emerging players

• Eucalyptus: Australia-headquartered digital healthcare group operating telehealth clinics across multiple specialties. Comparable as a venture-backed Australian telehealth operator pursuing consumer-paid virtual care at scale.
• Doctor on Demand (Included Health): US virtual care platform offering 24/7 urgent care, mental health, and primary care via video. Comparable as a video-first virtual urgent care service operating at scale across a large population.
• Carbon Health: US hybrid virtual and in-person urgent and primary care provider. Comparable as an emerging player combining virtual urgent care with physical clinic footprints, relevant to VED's role in diverting low-acuity cases from physical EDs.
• K Health: US-based virtual urgent care provider combining AI triage with clinician consultations. Comparable as an emerging player delivering on-demand virtual urgent care through a digital-first, consumer-paid model.
• Updoc: Australian digital health startup offering on-demand telehealth consultations and prescriptions. Comparable as an emerging consumer telehealth provider targeting the same low-acuity urgent care use cases through a paid, app-based model.

Broad incumbents

• Medibank Health Solutions (Medibank Telehealth): Major Australian private health insurer that has historically operated telehealth services for members. Comparable as a private-pay virtual care channel competing for the same low-acuity urgent-care demand that VED serves.
• Telstra Health: Australia's largest dedicated health technology provider, operating telehealth platforms, electronic medical records, and consumer health services. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering competing virtual care and urgent-care pathways across Australia.

Direct peers

• Healthdirect Australia: Australian government-funded telehealth and health advice service providing 24/7 nurse-led triage, video, and helpline access. Directly comparable to VVED as a publicly funded, free, national virtual front door for urgent but non-life-threatening health concerns.
• NSW Health (Virtual Care / Virtual Hospital): NSW Government's virtual care programs provide hospital-grade care at home and remote monitoring across the state. Highly comparable as a state-government-run virtual emergency and acute care alternative operating in an adjacent jurisdiction.
• NHS 111 Online (NHS England): UK's publicly funded online urgent-care triage and consultation service. Closely comparable as a government-run, free, 24/7 virtual front door for non-life-threatening conditions, providing a useful international benchmark.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ved.au
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vvedau
• Instagraminstagram.com/virtualemergencydepartment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Victorian Virtual Emergency Department