Australian Health Information Technology

The Numbers Never Lie. The Federal Commitment To E-Health Seems To Be Weakening.

2012-05-24T16:30:00.000+10:00

----- The Following is A Draft Article For a Print Magazine - Comments welcome. In mid May 2012 we had the most recent Federal Budget released. Along with seeing just how the promised surplus was to be achieved, not surprisingly, my main interest was to see what had been done with e-Health Funding over the next financial and the three out years. To get a full picture of what is being planned there are a couple of ways it is important to view the announcement(s). first consider, in isolation what has been announced for the next financial year. Here is the specific e-Health funding for 2013/13 from the Ministerial Press Release: “eHealth spending in the 2012-13 Budget comprises – $161.6 million to operate the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system for the next two years, including registration and customer support, adoption support and benefits monitoring and evaluation; $4.6 million to maintain safeguards for privacy-related aspects of the PCHER system....

This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.

Here Are Two Speeches You Really Must Read and Think About. Shows You Where The Battlelines Are.

2012-05-23T16:30:00.000+10:00

The Committee for the Economic Development of Australia had a ½ day session recently (May 16, 2012). Here are the speakers: PROGRAM OUTLINE Keynote address: The Hon Tanya Plibersek Federal Minister for Health Session 1 - Policy and progress: the road to health reform Dr Steve Hambleton President, Australian Medical Association Elizabeth Savage Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney Pam Williams Director - Policy Coordination and Projects, Department of Health (Victoria) Session 2 - Health and Productivity: Gains for the workplace and society Allan Fels AO Chairman, National Mental Health Commission Emma Hossack Chief Executive Officer, Extensia Wayne Kayler-Thompson Ambassador, Workhealth Here is the link: http://ceda.com.au/events/eventdetails/2012/05/v120516?EventCode=V120516 As it was there was a lot of discussion of e-Health. Here is the full transcript of what the Health Minister said (important...

This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.

Talk About Being Treated Like Mushrooms - Kept In The Dark and Fed BS - That Is The Way The Federal Health Minister Is Treating The E-Health Community.

2012-05-22T16:30:00.000+10:00

The following article appeared in the Australian Financial Review today. eHealth to save $11bn for budget David Ramli 22nd May, 2012 The federal government has claimed its troubled electronic health programs will save more than $11 billion over the next 15 years as it guns for a budget surplus. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek made the comments during a speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Melbourne last week. “The national eHealth records system will mean better, more efficient, more convenient healthcare,” she said. “We estimate eHealth will save the federal government around $11 billion over 15 years. However you look at it, that’s pretty good bang for your buck.” The savings target, which would equate to more than $733 million a year, comes as Labor stakes its economic reputation on a $1.5 billion surplus by 2012-13. In a copy of her speech, Ms Plibersek attributes the figures to an unpublished 2010 Deloitte report. ..... Dr Southcott...

This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 21st May, 2012.

2012-05-21T16:30:00.000+10:00

Here are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment. General Comment This week started slowly and got more interesting as we moved through the week. We had a speech from the Federal Health Minister (Tanya Plibersek) which can be found here: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/23EC1FAE627A2282CA257A00000F673C/$File/TP044.pdf and we had the formal killing off of HealthSMART with an admission of failure. All in all a lot happening when you consider the marketing thrust now being rolled out for the NEHRS - especially when all you will be able to do is to register to access an essentially empty...

This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.

AusHealthIT Poll Number 122 – Results – 21st May, 2012.

2012-05-21T14:24:00.003+10:00

The question was: Do You Think The Funds Provided For The NEHRS (PCEHR) In The Recent Budget Are Enough To Sustain And Grow The Program? For Sure - 0 (0%) Probably - 5 (18%) Neutral - 3 (11%) Probably Not - 8 (29%) No Way 11 (40%) Votes 27 Really fascinating - less than 20% thought that the budget allocation was enough to sustain the system. It is really the money that seems to talk and tell the truth. Again, many thanks to those that voted! David.

This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.