The Australian Digital Health Agency has begun exploring new solutions to improve the maintenance of the nation’s digital health records system.
It recently submitted a request for information on available “technical or process-driven advancements and/or innovative service solutions” to better support, maintain and improve its digital health applications, including My Health Record (MHR), and ensure that they “contemporary, adaptable and prepared for the future.”
The information it will receive will serve as the basis for the tender for application support and maintenance services (ASM) next year.
“ASM services are likely to involve collaboration with other suppliers and solutions, in line with the tenders recently published by the agency,” it added.
THE GREATER CONTEXT
In June, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) released its report on how the ADHA managed the MHR National Infrastructure Operator (NIO) contract with Accenture. Accenture has held the said contract since 2012 extended for the third time in 2022.
ANAO concluded that the ADHA was “partially effective” in obtaining and managing Accenture’s NIO contract, given its “poor procurement planning”.
“Contract variations within the existing contract term were arrived at with insufficient assessment of risks, consideration of materiality and justification of value for money,” the report underlined. The contract value is now A$746 million (about $490 million).
The ANAO recommended that the ADHA assess the risks associated with the procurement and management of MHR and update the contract management plan annually.
After Accenture’s contract expired at the end of June next year, the Auditor General also recommended drawing up an internal procurement plan and conducting an open tender.
“The (ADHA) when approving expenditure through procurement should ensure that decisions are supported by a clear value for money assessment, taking into account the financial and non-financial costs and benefits of the procurement,” the ANAO also advised.
The ADHA has since accepted all 13 of the ANAO’s recommendations.
To date, more than 24 million Australians have their digital health records on MHR. However, among clinical users According to the latest research by a trade association, almost a third of general practitioners do not or rarely use the system. The ADHA is currently leading the modernization of MHR, one of the federal government’s most important initiatives 10-year digital health blueprint.