Media Releases and Communiques
New Council a vital link to future health information management in Australia
The inaugual meeting of the Australian Health Information Council has been established to provide advice on long term directions and national strategic reform issues for information management and technology in health.
28 November 2003
Joint Communique
New Council a vital link to future health information management in Australia
Australian Health Ministers have welcomed the inaugural meeting yesterday of the Australian Health Information Council (AHIC). The Council has been established to provide advice on long term directions and national strategic reform issues for information management and technology in health.
AHIC has an esteemed membership. It is chaired by Professor Andrew Coats, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney. Membership is also broad based. Health providers and consumers are represented, as well as health educators and researchers, and the allied health professions.
Set up by Health Ministers in July 2003, AHIC will work closely with the newly established National Health Information Group in order to increase the effectiveness of IT investment in the health sector. It will ensure that IT enables health care reform and better clinical outcomes for the community.
The Council will focus on information sharing and building partnerships with the private health, IT and other industry sectors to promote the more effective and efficient use of information management and technology in the health sector.
This 'e-health revolution' will prove vitally important in the delivery of health care reform and improve the quality of health care in Australia.
Media contact: Kay McNiece, Media Adviser, AHMC 0412 132 585
or
Professor Andrew Coats Dean
Faculty of Medicine
University of Sydney
02 9351 4579
0413 132 324
Dr Robert Wooding
First Assistant Secretary
Information and Communications Division
Department of Health and Ageing
02 6271 8076
0412 108 384
Attached: AHIC Members List
AHIC MEMBERS - 27 November 2003
Professor Andrew Coats (Chair)
Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, NSW
Ms Patricia Faulkner
Secretary, Victorian Department of Human Services, VIC
Chair, National Health Information Group
Dr John Aloizos
General Practitioner, Upper Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD
Mrs Margaret Brown
Chair, Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia, SA
Professor Helen Christensen
Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, ACT
Mr Chai Chuah
Chief Executive, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand
Professor Enrico Coiera
Co-Director, Centre for Health Informatics, NSW
Professor Ric Day
Department of Clinical, Pharmacology, St Vincent Hospital, NSW
Mr Rob Durie
Executive Director, Australian Information Industry Association, ACT
Ms Sally Goold
Chair, Council of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Nurses, QLD
Ms Helen Hopkins
Executive Director, Consumers' Health Forum, ACT
Professor John Horvath
Chief Medical Officer, Australian Department of Health and Ageing, ACT
Ms Jill Iliffe
Federal Secretary, Australian Nursing Federation, ACT
Professor Michael Kidd
Discipline of General Practice, The University of Sydney, NSW
Dr Andrew Perrignon
Chief Executive Officer, Northern Health, VIC
Dr Michael Price
Geriatric Medicine Department, Westmead Hospital, NSW
Mr John Rimmer
Chief Executive Officer, National Office for the Information Economy, ACT
Professor Bill Runciman
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA
Professor Fiona Stanley
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, WA
Associate Professor Peter Stewart
Royal College of Pathologists of Australia, NSW
Professor David Wilkinson
Pro Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences Division, University of South Australia, SA
