What's in Australia's 10-year digital health blueprint?
The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care will focus on several initiatives that will enhance the digital capabilities of Australia's healthcare system.
It has recently been Digital health blueprint for the next decade, outlining the government's vision for digital health: “trusted, timely and accessible use of digital and data supports a personalized and connected health and wellbeing experience for all Australians.”
The blueprint was developed through consultation and research with consumers, clinical healthcare providers and non-clinical healthcare professionals four key target outcomes, each with specific areas of action:
Australians have a choice in how they manage their health and wellbeing and can navigate the healthcare system knowing their story is following them.
Australia's healthcare workforce is digitally enabled to confidently deliver connected care when and where it is needed.
Data and information are shared and reused securely to achieve a sustainable learning healthcare system.
Modern digital foundations support and strengthen a collaborative, standards-based healthcare system that is secure.
According to DOHAC, these results – guided by four principles: person-centered, collaborative, trusted and sustainable – “must be combined with new and improved care models that can leverage these capabilities.”
An accompanying one Action plan lists all initiatives that are/must be taken, spread over three horizons (short, medium and long), to achieve the intended results. This will be continually updated to reflect the changing nature of the digital healthcare landscape, the department said.
WHY IT MATTERS
Based on recent findings from a study commissioned by DOHAC to EY Sweeney, Australians are now looking for healthcare services that are personalized and give them more choices. About seven in 10 of consumer respondents in the survey said technology gives them “more control” over their daily lives.
Meanwhile, healthcare professionals surveyed expect digital healthcare solutions to streamline access to health information, improve care delivery and align with their workflows. About eight in ten of them considered digital health technologies necessary for healthcare providers.
In realizing its vision and achieving its intended outcomes, the Department of Health emphasized “genuine” collaboration between healthcare system stakeholders, including state and territory governments, the digital health sector, researchers, health and care providers and consumers. “We have a clear role in managing and supporting the development of Australia's national digital capabilities for the healthcare system. But we cannot do this alone,” the DOHAC said.
THE BIG TREND
The Digital Health Blueprint represents a “major step” toward consolidating the federal government's long-term investments in digital health. In the For Budget 2023, the government has made significant investments in digital health, amounting to A$951.2 million (approximately $640 million), over four years. This includes a budget for the Australian Digital Health Agency, modernizing My Health Record, renewing the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Digital Health and improving electronic prescribing.
Furthermore, the ten-year blueprint complements the National Digital Health Strategy, which is now in place redefined after six years. It also aligns and supports the country's broader digital transformation agenda, health reforms under the Long Term National Health Plan, and ongoing state and territory-wide collaboration between government and private providers under the National Health Reform Agreement this.
ON THE RECORD
Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler said in a press release that Australians now expect to interact with “connected and trusted” healthcare services as they have become accustomed to a digital way of life.
“We need all parts of our healthcare system to seamlessly connect patients and their caregivers to help Australians live healthier lives. Our Digital Health Blueprint will enable our healthcare system to deliver more personalized and connected healthcare to all Australians, wherever they live. “
In a separate statement, the Medical Technology Association of Australia welcomed the publication of the Digital Health Blueprint, saying that “establishing funding pathways, similar to those in other countries, will be important in making cutting-edge health technologies available to Australians.”