IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Tender documents released to the market reveal that Immigration authorities are seeking to buy commercial-off-the-shelf technology that will allow them to scan through and cross match potentially millions of people to make sure they are claim they say.

To that end, the government set aside A$467 million and targeted an ambitious launch date of July 1, 2012.

Medical groups such as the Australian Medical Association lauded the notion, asserting that a shared electronic health record would help doctors deliver better care as they’d have access to a patient’s full clinical records no matter where he was treated. Health and consumer advocates were equally effusive. The proposed system would yield improved health outcomes, reduce medical mistakes and provide confidential health records.

It would be easy to think that the notion of a "digital divide" is now outdated. Whose life isn't digital in some respect these days?

As shown in the recent Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) report, Australians' digital lives, 92% of Australians use the internet across a range of technological devices. This suggests only a small minority of Australians are not using the internet. Perhaps they can't due to lack of availability or they don't out of choice.

Aged and palliative care are two of the key focus areas for a $20.6 million pilot program announced by the federal government in April. The national broadband network enabled Telehealth Pilots Program will provide funding for innovative schemes over the next two years.

The government hopes that the ability to harness technology to support high quality palliative care in home or aged care settings could deliver massive economic benefits, while responding to patient preferences regarding their ability to die in their own homes.

According to Dr Terry Cutler, chairman of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) and principal of Cutler & Company, a nationwide e-health platform could help overcome looming staff shortages and rising costs in the healthcare sector.

“National health budgets are escalating out of control and we are spending $100 billion a year on healthcare,” says Dr Cutler. “Health experts predict that we will face major skills shortage in the sector - but employing more staff is not the answer, as there is little correlation between the number of doctors and health outcomes.

Australia’s peak health industry bodies have warned of the Federal Government’s e-health solutions becoming “siloed” without greater attention to standards surrounding implementation of technology for doctors and practitioners.

Both the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) expect there to be little in the way of further funding for e-health initiatives in Tuesday’s federal budget, following the government’s $467 million pour in to personally controlled electronic health records (PCEHR) last year. The government has also committed nearly $400 million to subsidising telehealth services from 1 July next year.

"There are some good smaller commitments in this budget that focus on citizen engagement and building community confidence; however, we need to deliver much more," Australian Information Industry Association CEO Ian Birks said.

"The 'tell us once' whole-of-government contact initiative through the Department of Finance, Attorney-General's program to deliver regional legal assistance via video link, and the extension of the Broadband for Seniors initiative, are all good ways to create a national approach to technology that will avoid the pitfalls of developing separate programs in isolation," he added.

In 2010, $466.7 million of funding was allocated for a period of two years to launch a personally-controlled e-health record (PCEHR) system for all Australians from 1 July.

Funding for the program was scheduled to run out this year, however the program has been given a $233.7 million boost in the 2012-2013 Federal Budget.

There are plenty of cuts to keep the IT industry on tenterhooks in an austere 2014 Federal Budget, which has no big ticket ICT projects.

iTnews has combed the budget papers find out what Joe Hockey's first budget means for technology:

Plus plenty of money for government services.

The government has revealed its broad plans to support Australian technology and innovation in the 2021-22 budget with tax incentives, the introduction of a digital cadetship program, and big spending on government services.

In his speech on Tuesday night, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the past year helped the government better understand our reliance on technology.

Australia will conduct a trial of government service delivery via video conference, after A$6.2m was allocated to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for a trial of “high definition video conferencing access to DHS specialist services, such as social workers and financial information officers, from a customer's home, a DHS customer service centre or from a third party organisation.” The trial is intended to “explore the potential of the new technology to provide services to all Australians, regardless of their geographical location.

The Internet Industry Association (IIA) has predicted that ICT investment will be cut back in today’s federal budget.

IIA chairman, Bruce Lin, told Computerworld Australia that he does not “expect to see anything significant” coming out of the budget in terms of ICT investment.

“I think we’ll see cutbacks in several government programs in the next 12 months in order to achieve this must-have surplus,” he said.

The ceo of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Ian Birks told iTWire; “There’s not an awful lot in this budget for our industry.” However he acknowledged that there could be some programmes in other sectors which would have a residual flow on effect for ICT companies given the foundation role that information systems play in all modern businesses.

He nevertheless believed the 2011-12 Budget delivered a “solid platform” particularly in terms of continued support for the National Broadband Network and e-health initiatives.

The call follows an international report which found while the United States government was spending billions of dollars in incentive payments to encourage doctors to adopt electronic health records, those records could in some instances threaten patient safety.

The Institute of Medicine in the US is now recommending an independent agency be set up to monitor health information technology.

All Australians should be automatically signed up to the national health records system, according to a patients lobby group.

Consumer Health Forum, which represents more than 2 million consumers, says Australia should “bite the bullet” and make joining the system automatic unless patients choose to opt out.

The peak consumer body has turned to the Joint Select committee inquiry into Cyber-Safety for Senior Australians to raise additional concerns, including clarification around notification of data breaches on PCEHR records.

Some items have yet to be properly tested, which means complete rollout will take a few more months.

The opt-in PCEHR scheme allows consumers to enter personal information, medical history and medication details. They can choose which healthcare organisations can see and edit their record, and view a log of those who have accessed and added information to the record.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has been given until October 2011 to create standards for video consultations with GPs.

The college revealed late Friday that it had been engaged by the Department of Health and Ageing to develop the telehealth standards.

College president Claire Jackson said the creation of nationwide telehealth standards were important, "given Medicare rebates and financial incentives for video consultations [with] patients in outer metropolitan, regional and remote Australia, across a range of specialties, will be available from 1 July 2011."

The $3.4 million digital information system replaces handwritten bedside notes and complements a similar system used in the wards.

It captures, displays and stores information about a patient's progress, assessment and treatment.

Health Minister Katy Gallagher says the new system will improve patient safety and clinical outcomes by reducing transcription and documentation errors.

The trial 'telehealth system' uses over-bed cameras, microphones and speakers to allow doctors in Canberra to assess critically ill patients in emergency departments at Queanbeyan, Moruya, Batemans Bay and Cooma.

The Federal Government has provided over $2 million for the trial which is being rolled out in selected south-east New South Wales sites.