Pulling E-Health Together, Not Tearing it Apart

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PDF printable version of Pulling E-Health Together, Not Tearing it Apart (PDF 16 KB)

16 September 2011

The following article by Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon was published on 6 Minutes.

This week we took eHealth to the Federal Parliament, demonstrating to politicians how records will make a real difference to patient care in the hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies in their electorates.

The same demonstration will soon travel to different parts of the country, helping clinicians, consumers and others in the health system understand how connecting the patient journey will make a real difference.

What we were able to show to politicians is that this is not a technology system – it is a health system. It will improve care for patients, reduce medication errors and avoid unnecessary tests.

The display also demonstrates how eHealth is real, and no longer a vague plan for the future. We now have over a million healthcare identifiers downloaded to be used, lead implementation sites underway, secure messaging being used and patient consultations being undertaken through videoconferencing.

And from next July, Australians will be able to register for an eHealth record.

Yesterday we released the finalised plans for the service which will be built by our infrastructure partners. These were released following long and detailed consultation with clinicians, health consumers and ICT industry professionals across the country.

Now that we’re getting on with the job, it is important that people who want eHealth to be delivered get behind the program. I am buoyed by the enthusiasm that there is for eHealth across the spectrum of professional groups and the community.

Over the past decade of inaction it was easy for everyone to agree – because since nothing was being done, no decisions had to be made.

But now that the Gillard Government is actually getting on with the job – it creates the environment in which differing interest groups want to get their hands on the steering wheel. That’s obviously impossible.

For instance, we’ve seen the AMA saying we’re not listening to doctors. This couldn’t be further from the truth. They should try telling that to the College of GPs that has endorsed the plan, the leaders of the program include former Presidents of the AMA and RACGP, and the over 50 clinical leads that are closely engaged in the program.

The truth is that while the AMA haven’t won every single discussion about how the records will work, we agree on most of the design of the system. We’ll never be able to agree on every single detail because the Government has to take all the right advice and make decisions that are in the overall interest of the community and patients, not one professional group.

What the AMA needs to consider is whether they will be a partner to deliver eHealth, or whether they will act in opposition and miss this once in a generation opportunity.

By working for the collective good, everyone can help us deliver a solution to benefit patients and clinicians. The alternative option is to try and tear apart consensus on this program and leave a legacy of mountains of paper in hospitals and GP surgeries – unconnected and stuck in a luddite time warp.

It would be a waste to miss this opportunity to transform our health system.

For our part, we will continue to push ahead with this program in a way that engages our hard working clinicians, but unapologetically also making sure that this is a system that has patients at its heart.

For more information, contact the Minister's Office on (02) 6277 7220