NeHTA’s immediate future was decided at a meeting of the Standing Council on Health in Brisbane this month, although there is no commitment to a long-term role for the organisation.
No public announcement has been made and the level of funding is yet to be agreed.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has been slow to commit to further funding for the e-health program beyond the launch of her personally controlled e-health record (PCEHR) system on July 1.
Forward budget allocations for e-health programs drop from $433 million in the current financial year to $35m annually in each of the next three years.
A spokesman for Ms Roxon yesterday said the health ministers were "continuing to consider" NEHTA’s future funding.
Taxpayers have spent more than $1 billion on NeHTA and related activities since the joint federal-state government corporation was established in 2004 by former health minister Tony Abbott.
Around $830m was spent on e-health in the six years to 2010, while NeHTA has received more than $200m in base funding and contracts for its 18-month implementation of the PCEHR.
NeHTA’s future has been uncertain as it awaited a Council of Australian Governments' decision to renew funding.
But a survey of state and territory health ministers by The Australian has revealed agreement was reached on November 11 at SCOH, a new COAG council that replaces the former Australian Health Ministers’ Conference.
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said a nationally co-ordinated approach to connecting primary, community, private and public care settings was essential, "and NeHTA is best placed to develop and communicate the standards required to do so".
"As agreed by the SCOH, NSW will continue to contribute towards NeHTA’s funding post-June 2012," she said.
"This fresh commitment builds upon a significant contribution made over the past six years."
NSW Health was also working with the other states, NeHTA and the federal government to agree on an approach to funding the PCEHR in future.
"NSW will be capable of adopting the PCEHR from next July onwards," Mrs Skinner said.
"Lead sites in Greater Western Sydney, Hunter New England and at St Vincent’s and Mater Health Sydney, are establishing the foundations which will enable sharing of electronic health records between healthcare providers.
"NSW will work with NeHTA on a joint roadmap and transition plan, taking an incremental approach to implementation, focusing firstly on the wave one and two lead site investments to ensure the benefits are delivered and expanded as originally envisaged."
Mrs Skinner said the journey to statewide coverage "and critical mass adoption" would take several years.
"We recognise that NSW Health will require additional investment to introduce the system - the scope of that is still to be quantified," she said. "A business case is currently being prepared."
A spokeswoman for ACT's chief minister Katy Gallagher said the funding of the PCEHR across the states' public health services "is still to be confirmed by both amount and scope".
"The contribution and participation by the ACT in the national system will be progressive and staged," she said.
"The total cost has not been finalised and cannot be confirmed until after the final PCEHR specifications are published by NeHTA, hence the ACT has not yet allocated funding for it."
But the ACT was committed to the NeHTA program and delivery of the National e-Health Strategy.
"The ACT government believes significant benefits can be realised through investment in e-health systems and has in fact provided $90m for our own health-e future program, which commenced in 2009," the spokeswoman said.
"It has implemented electronic referrals, discharge summaries, a local health services directory and clinical portal providing a single view for medical staff.
"There are a number of projects in progress including a patient master index which provides a single identifier for ACT consumers, a renal e-medical record, an electronic medication manager, community electronic clinical record, shared e-health record and consumer portal."
The ACT Health Directorate has begun implementing individual healthcare identifiers and will store them in its master index.
"Local implementation of the services directory will support the identifiers for individual medical providers and healthcare organisations," she said. "These projects align with the national foundations provided by NeHTA."
Queensland Health chief information officer Ray Brown said NeHTA had done a good job of progressing its mandate.
"The PCEHR is a great initiative that will make a real difference to the lives of many Queenslanders who find themselves using health services," Mr Brown said.
"We are working very well with the federal government to resolve outstanding details of the PCEHR rollout and will have more to say on the subject as it proceeds."
Northern Territory Health Minister Konstantine Vatskalis said the territory supports targeting the existing PCEHR sites as early implementation footprints for a national system.
"The NT’s shared electronic health records service is being further expanded as part of the current wave two funding,” he said.
"We seek the participation of the territory’s residents and healthcare providers in the national system, and subsequent connection to our shared record repository.
"In return for the additional investment (in NeHTA), NT residents will be among the first to benefit from the national PCEHR."
Mr Vatskalis said the work underway in South Australia and Western Australia "under a minimalist implementation approach" would support cross-border patient flows.
Tasmania’s Health chief information officer Belinda Quinn said the state recognised the value of the national e-health work program.
"Tasmania has been an early adopter of Healthcare Identifiers and is continuing to work with NeHTA to identify the future work necessary to connect to the national PCEHR system," Dr Quinn said.
"Tasmania is considering all healthcare funding to ensure a sustainable public health system for the future.
"It is important that future investment in e-health and the PCEHR delivers value for money and safer, more efficient services for Tasmanians."
NeHTA had an operating deficit of $9m during the last financial year.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Karen Dearne
Quelle/Source: Australian IT, 23.11.2011
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