A care plan can say that someone will receive support at home. It still needs an answer to a very practical question: what happens when that person needs an X-ray or ultrasound and getting to a clinic is difficult?
For aged-care leaders, that question belongs in the same conversation as beds, staffing and service growth. More people receiving care in homes and facilities means more attention to how they reach the clinical services around that care.
Modia Health co-founder Usmi attended CEDA's Shaping the Future of Aged Care QLD in Brisbane on 1 September 2026. The event brought together speakers including Professor Michael Drew, Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls and Mel Metz of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Workforce capacity, access, quality and the connections between health and aged care ran through the programme. This article takes those themes into a question close to Modia's work: how should diagnostic access develop as aged care grows? CEDA event programme
The quick version
- Queensland's older population is growing, with particularly strong growth projected among people aged 85 and over.
- Residential capacity needs to expand substantially, while home-based services also have a continuing role.
- Diagnostic access needs to be planned alongside accommodation, staffing and day-to-day support.
- Mobile imaging can be one option for suitable examinations. Referral, preparation, positioning and reporting still need coordination.
- A useful next step is to map what happens when a resident needs an investigation, including who acts on the result.
The growth is already visible
Queensland had approximately 986,960 residents aged 65 or older in June 2025. The state's 2025-edition projections put that population between 1.41 million and 1.65 million by 2046, depending on the projection series.
The change among the oldest residents is especially relevant to care planning. Queensland's population aged 85 and over was estimated at 111,330 in 2025 and is projected to reach 258,240 to 341,240 by 2046. That is more than double under every series. Queensland Government Statistician's Office, pages 6–7
These are projections, not a count of future aged-care residents or imaging appointments. They do, however, give planners a clear reason to examine whether services are accessible to an older population.
A new aged-care home every three days
The national construction task gives a sense of the scale. The Independent Review of Residential Aged Care Accommodation Pricing, released in 2026, estimates that Australia needs at least 10,600 additional operational residential places each year for two decades. Using an average home size of 83 places, it describes a requirement equivalent to a new home every three days.
Recent growth has been much slower: approximately 1,470 net additional places a year between 2020 and 2025. The comparison concerns net operational capacity. Replacing places lost through closures adds to the construction task. Independent review, page 5
The same review makes another point worth retaining: home care cannot replace the level of residential support everyone needs. Some people require care around the clock. Expansion therefore needs to consider different settings together, rather than assume that one setting will absorb all the demand.
Staying at home still requires access to healthcare
The Australian Government's Support at Home programme is designed to help older people remain at home for longer. It replaced Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care on 1 November 2025. About Support at Home
That policy direction raises a practical service-design question. A person may have support with daily activities and still need access to investigations requested by their treating clinician. The care plan needs to account for how those investigations will happen.
Consider a person who needs assistance to stand, a resident who finds unfamiliar settings difficult, or someone whose carer cannot accompany them to an appointment. These are planning considerations, not reasons to assume mobile imaging is always appropriate. They are reasons to ask about access before a booking becomes a problem to solve at short notice.
Nor does the existence of a home-care programme establish that it pays for a particular scan. Clinical suitability, referral requirements and payment arrangements need their own checks.
Access depends on the work around the scan
Portable equipment changes where an examination may be performed. A workable visit also needs the right information and people around it.
In the operational account Ivan Szaks has provided for Modia, preparation includes confirming the resident will be on site, coordinating the visit with the facility and identifying whether staff or mobility equipment will be needed for positioning. Questions about Medicare card details and who is responsible for payment also need to be resolved.
Those details matter when planning capacity. A facility may know that a mobile provider visits its area, yet still need a clear process for contacting the provider, supplying the referral and making the resident available. A home-care coordinator may need to establish who will be present and who can help with practical arrangements.
Our interpretation is that diagnostic access should be assessed as a complete pathway. The number of appointments available tells only part of the story. It also matters whether a person can use the appointment and whether the result reaches the clinician responsible for the next decision.
Mobile imaging has a defined place
Queensland Health's RACF pneumonia pathway provides a concrete example. It says to consider mobile chest X-ray, where available, when the diagnosis is uncertain or the response to therapy is inadequate. The examination sits within a broader clinical assessment and management pathway. Queensland Health pneumonia pathway
That distinction matters. The presence of a mobile service does not decide whether a resident should remain at a facility. The treating team needs to consider the person's condition, goals of care, the question being investigated and what support is available.
If someone deteriorates, the appropriate escalation pathway takes priority over an imaging booking. Mobile diagnostics cannot provide every investigation or the full assessment and treatment available in hospital.
Put diagnostic access into the growth plan
For a facility leader, GP practice or home-care organisation, a useful review starts with five questions:
- Which residents or patients face practical barriers to attending a clinic?
- Which investigations may be available locally or on site, and under what conditions?
- Who coordinates the referral, preparation, access and any positioning assistance?
- Who receives the report, and who checks when an expected result has not arrived?
- What happens if the person's condition changes or the planned examination cannot proceed?
These questions can be tested against the actual services available in each location. A statewide population forecast cannot establish local provider coverage, staff availability or appointment capacity.
From where Modia sits
Our part of this work is mobile diagnostic imaging and the coordination around the visit. The facility or household knows the person's environment and day-to-day support needs. The treating clinician owns the clinical question and decisions that follow. A useful service makes those responsibilities easier to connect.
As Queensland plans for a larger older population, diagnostic access deserves an explicit place in that planning. It is one of the practical requirements for making care closer to home work.
If your facility is reviewing its imaging arrangements, contact Modia about the referral and visit requirements. The companion article, The Invisible Workflow Behind One Mobile Imaging Visit, follows those steps in more detail.
Common questions
Does an ageing population mean everyone will need residential care?
No. Population projections describe age groups. They do not determine an individual's care needs, preferences or living arrangements.
Can mobile imaging replace a hospital visit?
It may offer a way to obtain a suitable examination on site. Whether hospital assessment is needed is a separate clinical decision. A mobile booking should never delay escalation when a person deteriorates.
Does Support at Home automatically cover the cost of imaging?
The programme's existence does not establish payment for an individual examination. Check the referral, applicable funding rules and payment responsibility for the specific service.
General information for service planning, not individual medical or funding advice. Follow the treating team's assessment and escalation instructions. Statistics and public sources checked on 5 September 2026.
