The brief is to monitor and measure progress of the personally controlled e-health record (PCEHR) program through an analytical and evaluation framework.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the successful bidder would have a key role in ensuring the system delivered real benefits to patients.
“The organisation will put in place a framework underpinning the development of e-health records,” she said. “It will analyse the benefits as they are progressively delivered, and evaluate the system’s growing capability.”
Alison Verhoeven, Senior Executive at Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), told FutureGov Asia Pacific that the web site is expected to introduce a new level of transparency and accountability in Australia’s healthcare sector.
Users of the portal will be able to search for hospitals by name or use an interactive map to find information on services offered by each provider and the accessibility of the hospital.
Weiterlesen: Australia: MyHospitals promises new accountability in healthcare
Existing services will be expanded and new videoconferencing facilities built to boost access to doctors and nurses in the bush -- and also ease pressure in cities through innovations such as home care for the elderly, remote monitoring of chronic conditions and routine tele-health check-ups.
And the Gillard government isn't waiting for the National Broadband Network to push the initiative, despite committing a further $4 million for telehealth trials at "first release" sites in NSW this month.
Weiterlesen: Australia: Doctors ready for online consultations
Recent experience is showing us that investing in an ICT initiative is one of the highest risk activities the public sector could be involved with. It is surely the case when headlines like ‘millions wasted’, ‘years late’, and ‘minister resigns’ becomes the public’s corporate memory of a complex ICT project. So why does the public sector keep looking for ‘silver bullet’ ICT solutions when the available evidence shows continued under-performance, under-scoping and under-estimation of complexity and risk?
The answer may lie in the way we humans think when we are faced with risk, adversity, ambiguity and complexity. In those circumstances we tend to rely on hope, more than evidence. And if we are senior and powerful, we also tend to believe that somehow, through sheer force of will, we can change the risk environment to suit our wishes.
Weiterlesen: Australia: Public sector still challenged by ICT 'silver bullets'
Dr Pesce said that the AMA has long been a supporter of the Government’s e-health agenda but it is time that people started seeing some results.
"The Government should concentrate all its efforts on getting pathology results, diagnostic imaging results, hospital discharge summaries, and medications dispensed information onto an electronic medical record,” Dr Pesce said.
Weiterlesen: Australian Medical Association plan to get the ‘e-health revolution started