Victoria

Archived document

HealthConnect Victoria – What we are doing?

Victoria’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has commenced a strategic and coordinated approach to the implementation of information and communication technology that supports the delivery of high quality, consumer focused health services through a partnership between government and health care providers. HealthSMART is a $323 million technology program operating across the public health care sector to establish a solid baseline of systems that will support the system in meeting current and future demands in Victoria.

HealthConnect Victoria is working with the HealthSMART Program and other e-health initiatives across public and private health providers to bring an integrated approach to health care for all Victorians. New technology and new ways to communicate will bring changes to how some health care can be delivered. This is why clinicians and consumers are being engaged in discussions about these changes.

The HealthConnect Victoria Shared Electronic Health Record Project has been established to prototype a limited SEHR system across a number of Victorian public sector health providers, primary and community care providers in the Bendigo Loddon region. HealthConnect Projects bring benefits for both consumers and practitioners through:

• Improved quality and safety for consumers from shared health information to support decision making
• Less time spent searching for information at the point of care
• Life saving information available in emergencies
• Consumers better able to manage their health care



The HealthConnect Victoria proposal for 07 – 08 seeks to extend the range of health care to deliver an electronic based disease management capability and to engage consumers to actively participate in their health management. HealthConnect Victoria plans to test electronic information exchange to support and monitor service coordination and care management as consumers move across the care continuum.

This will continue Victoria’s journey to establishing and maintaining a range of standardised electronic health information products for healthcare providers and consumers. The implementation will leverage existing eHealth projects and infrastructure and progress towards a national connectivity through compliance with national eHealth Transition Authority and other nationally agreed standards.

HealthConnect Victoria looks to bring together both technical and business solutions to “actively” manage the exchange of health information to be “at the right place at the right time”.