Mobile Phone Applications Could Help Revolutionise Health Care in Australia
Accessing a patient’s record may be as easy as using a mobile phone application as the Government’s investment in e-Health revolutionises health care in Australia.
View by date:
Previous MinistersPDF printable version of Mobile Phone Applications Could Help Revolutionise Health Care in Australia (PDF 16 KB)
30 November 2010
Accessing a patient’s record may be as easy as using a mobile phone application as the Government’s investment in e-Health revolutionises health care in Australia.
A demonstration iPhone app has been developed to show how Doctors could access a patient’s record easily with e-Health records including x ray results and allergies, making diagnosis quicker and safer.
“The mobile application is an example of how we want to make it easier for patients so that wherever they are in the country, doctors and nurses can see their medical history.
“Allowing doctors instant access to a patient’s health record will mean that any conditions such as allergies can be quickly discovered and that can save lives.
“It will cut down on medication errors which account for 190,000 admissions to hospital each year.
“In years to come, the Government’s e-Health investment will be considered as one of the great technological advances in medicine and like the invention of the stethoscope, the x-ray and the vaccine will be part of routine healthcare.
“e-Health will have great benefits, take for example the case of a young mother whose two children suffer from asthma.
“She would have their medication history at her fingertips which means that if the children were to be hospitalised with an attack, the emergency department teams won’t be working blind – they will be able to know the history and current drug treatments.
“The iPhone app is in the concept stage, but is a good example of how we can harness technology to help health professionals deliver better patient outcomes.
The Minister today opened the e-Health conference where over 400 clinicians, industry and consumer representatives gathered to help plan the next steps needed to make a national e-health system a reality.
The Government’s $466.7 million investment over two years in a national personally controlled electronic health record system is due to start operating from July 2012.
The conference's plenary proceedings will be streamed live throughout the two-day forum and can be accessed at: www.ehealthconference.gov.au
For all media inquiries, please contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.