National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) clinical lead Christopher Pearce and head of the clinical unit at NEHTA Mukesh Haikerwal said a national system had the potential to improve health care provision and cut costs.
“The use of electronic health records (EHRs) may bring significant cost benefits from improved efficiency and increased quality, which will accrue as the EHRs become more comprehensive,” they said.
However the authors noted the state and federal governments faced the challenge of meeting the demands of their electorates by providing immediate solutions rather than long-term fixes.
“Funding more beds or more ‘machines that go ping’ has more immediate and readily apparent beneficial consequences.
“However, longer-term thinking suggests that using modern electronic technologies in health care would allow more effective and efficient care and would reduce the trajectory of demand for new beds and overall expenditure,” they said.
Dr Pearce and Dr Haikerwal said the development of the e-health system needed to come from the “middle-out”, allowing governments to build on existing systems and adopting a national standard.
The two authors added there has been confusion over funding streams for e-health, with a “multiplicity of funding streams and jurisdictions and the lack of an implementation strategy”.
They added health reform and sustainability of the health system were about maintaining good health care and making improvements into the future.
“Good health care is quality health care, and e-health certainly has the potential to ease the patient journey, improve quality and reduce costs.
“However, governments need to acknowledge the initial investment required to purchase, implement, train for and maintain the technology,” the said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nick O'Donoghue
Quelle/Source: Pharmacy News, 05.10.2010
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