The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is set to improve access to health information between healthcare participants quickly and securely with the launch of Health Connect Australia and the release of the Health Connect Australia Strategy, Architecture and Roadmap.
Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM said Health Connect Australia would address the evolving needs of Australians and healthcare providers.
"Our goal is to establish national capabilities and standards to facilitate health information sharing across existing and future systems," Ms Cattermole said.
"This initiative is not a singular product but rather a collection of capabilities designed to transform and better connect the healthcare ecosystem.
"Health Connect Australia builds on the successes of My Health Record and other Agency products and services, laying the groundwork for the future of healthcare in Australia."
The strategic goals of Health Connect Australia include:
- Improving access to health information - for the right people at the right time
- Enabling Australians to control their healthcare journeys
- Enhancing national digital health infrastructure and tools to support healthcare
- Ensuring information is secure, high quality and addresses privacy concerns
Agency Chief Clinical Adviser (Medicine) Dr Amandeep Hansra underscored the positive impact Health Connect Australia will have for the relationship between Australians and their healthcare providers.
"The frustration for consumers having to constantly retell their story and clinicians trying to find information such as pathology and diagnostic imaging results, is real, and Health Connect Australia will ensure that a person's health information moves with them though the system, enabling seamless care," Dr Hansra said.
"It will enable all parts of the health system to invest in solutions that work together, improving care, reducing duplication and giving Australians more control over their health information."
Agency Chief Digital Officer Peter O'Halloran said that core to the effective implementation of Health Connect Australia is increasing the adoption of open national and international digital health standards.
"With evolving technology and an ever-changing healthcare system, new and updated digital health standards are essential to enable health information to be accurately generated, shared and interpreted across systems using consistent data and terminology frameworks," Mr O'Halloran said.
"Efforts are also underway to develop robust legislative and policy settings to support the seamless exchange of health information across jurisdictions."
Health Connect Australia will be rolled out in several phases:
- Foundations Phase: The establishment of a national directory for seamless access to provider and service information.
- Sharing Phase: Enabling secure communication of health information between providers and improving consumer access to health documents.
- Discovery Phase: Developing a record discovery service to locate and access healthcare information.
- Enhancement Phase: Introducing value-added services, such as digital baby books and data sharing from medical wearables.
