Instead, education was the big IT winner. But while Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd promised to deliver internet access to the nation's schools at speeds of up 100Mbps, it seems there is no such plan to link doctors, hospitals and other medical providers to the proposed fibre-to-the-node network.
Advanced broadband capabilities are needed to support new medical imaging and diagnostic tools, remote support through telemedicine, patient record-sharing and population health initiatives.
The lack of specific announcements on health IT will disappoint many observers, including the Health Informatics Society of Australia which, frustrated by the absence of a national vision for transforming healthcare, has today released its own e-health blueprint.
More than 200 of the nation's leading health information experts say an agreed vision and "appropriately resourced plan" are urgently needed to beat a looming crisis due to an unprecedented bulging in demand and simultaneous reduction in availability of staff.
HISA says the federal Health Minister Tony Abbott, shadow minister Nicola Roxon and Australian Medical Association president Rosanna Capolingua seem to think that "health informatics is merely an enabling technology, with the presumption that if you get the other plans in place, e-health will somehow sort itself out".
"We, on the other hand, believe this to be a major and complex engineering project on the scale of a Snowy Mountains scheme that can only happen with a good plan and the resources to implement it," HISA said. "Too often, there has not been a good understanding of what needs to be done, and the constancy of purpose required to get it done.
"Australia needs political champions who can provide the necessary leadership in collaboration with the healthcare community to move us quickly to a new healthcare system."
HISA's blueprint outlines a strategy built on engaging consumers, transforming care delivery at the point of care, improving population health, aligning financial and other incentives and managing privacy, security and confidentiality concerns.
"Policy development and implementation bodies, both government and private, need to deliver clear leadership of e-health programs," it says. "They also need a deep understanding of the cultural and operational complexities and to ensure programs are properly structured."
Autor(en)/Author(s): Karen Dearne
Quelle/Source: The Australian, 14.11.2007
