It is my absolute pleasure to be here today for the launch of a project that demonstrates the digital revolution taking place in healthcare.
Congratulations to Precedence Health Care, Barwon Health and all of the partners in this very impressive project.
This project is at the forefront of a radical change in medical services.
It points to a future when digital technologies enabled by broadband will commonly assist and enhance the provision of patient care.
The Chronic Disease Management Network — or CDM-Net — has received funding under the Government’s Clever Networks program.
You may be aware that the Government recently called for funding proposals under our new $60 million Digital Regions Initiative, which seeks to expand further on the benefits enabled by high‑speed broadband.
CDM‑Net should be viewed as a great example of the type of scalable solutions we are thinking of to support service development in regional, rural and remote Australia.
CDM-Net highlights the very real capacity for emerging technology and broadband to change the way we think about healthcare.
Allowing care teams and patients to develop and track personal care management plans — in real-time — offers great opportunities for more efficient and targeted treatment.
I understand this innovation could slash the time for needed for creating and managing a care plan from more than an hour to a matter of minutes.
These types of projects — simply enabling the better use of information — have significant positive implications for the economics of health care and patient welfare.
Chronic disease accounts for 70 per cent of Australian health care costs and significantly impacts on workforce productivity.
I trust that this solution will be a significant driver of efficiency in the future.
CDM-Net has been successfully trialled in the Barwon South-Western Region of Victoria and the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia with more than 700 patients.
Those trials have demonstrated a 200 per cent increase in the use of care plans and 300 per cent increase in collaboration between care providers.
In doing so the project has overcome obvious but significant challenges in relation to scalability, reliability, security, and privacy protection.
From today, CDM-Net and its core Chronic Disease Management Service, will begin rolling out nationwide and I wish all the partners the very best as they drive its expansion.
Enabling e-health projects like CDM-Net is a key objective of the Rudd Government’s investment in the National Broadband Network.
I spoke recently at the National E-Health Conference in Canberra where I received a clear message that the health sector is ready and willing to drive forward with these sorts of developments.
It is worth noting the views of iSOFT, the world’s second biggest health software provider, that the NBN could pay for itself ‘twice over’ thanks to the e-health benefits.
Specifically it suggests that integrated patient records could save $8–10 billion a year — equating to a 10 per cent saving in sector spending.
It says the NBN will resolve obstacles to connecting the health care industry, such as large file transfers of CT scans and video conferencing.
As you will be aware, digital health solutions are also the focus of a range of recommendations in the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report.
The report makes a strong point about the importance of the National Broadband Network and recommends further action in areas such as:
- transferable personal electronic records,
- a national e-health policy, and
- an open technical standards framework.
As the Health Minister has said, digital technologies should play a key part in our efforts to create a more patient-centric healthcare system.
The Government will be responding to the Reform Commission report in the months to come.
Today, of course, we are here to celebrate some of the great digital, broadband-enabled innovation already delivering improved outcomes for patients.
CDM-Net is a fine example of a collaborative approach to development.
It tackles a key problem in the management and prevention of chronic disease by creatively applying digital technologies enabled by broadband.
It gives us a clear view of the type of services we can expect to be driving greater health care efficiency and better patient services in the future.
Congratulations to the team and may I wish you all the best as CDM-Net is rolled out across the country.
Thank you.
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Quelle/Source: the Gov Monitor, 07.09.2009
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