Released 17/06/2019
Healthcare in Canberra is set to be transformed with the ACT Government moving to mature its digital health footprint.
As part of the 2019-20 ACT Budget $106 million will be invested over eight years to introduce a new Digital Health Record across the public health system.
The major investment follows the release of the ACT’s new Digital Health Strategy in May and the $41 million delivered in last year’s Budget (2018-19) to position the ACT to take advantage of new technologies and advances in health care into the future.
The funding also adds to the investments the ACT Government is making in state-of-the-art health infrastructure, such as the SPIRE Centre.
Minister for Health and Wellbeing Meegan Fitzharris said effective healthcare is timely healthcare and a key part of delivering a territory-wide health system – from our hospitals to our Walk-in Centres and Community Health Centres – is through a fully integrated digital health environment.
“We want our healthcare system to provide the best possible care to patients. That means, ensuring we can adapt new digital technologies as they evolve to improve health services and clinical care,” Minister Fitzharris said.
“The new Digital Health Record will be centred on the person, rather than focused around clinical speciality or treatment location.
“It will give our doctors, nurses and other health professionals access to the most up to date patient information, enabling them to make more timely and accurate decisions at the point of care.
“People will also be able to access their own information through a portal or mobile app to enable them to manage their interactions with the public health system. In the future this may mean people may be able to talk to their healthcare team through virtual appointments, review or schedule appointments, access patient education and contribute information to their record.
“The Digital Health Record will ensure health information is at the fingertips of those that need it and is an investment the Government is making to future-proof our health care system.”
Chief Information Officer for the ACT Health Directorate Peter O’Halloran welcomed the funding.
“The Digital Health Record project will completely transform our health system. It is not only an exciting development but a critically important one, when it comes to maintaining a modern, sustainable health system,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“ICT systems – through innovations in medical technologies – have evolved so rapidly that over time more than 250 different systems have been established here in the ACT.
“These rapid and innovative changes mean we have not been able to take full advantage of new technologies as they become available because our digital environment can be quite complex to navigate.
“That’s why, this investment in one comprehensive Digital Health Record will be fundamental to our future health system.
“It will ensure one system of recording patient information across our hospitals and health services and support other recent digital systems that we have put in place and that have significantly improved clinical practices and processes.”
Canberra Health Services Chief Executive Officer Bernadette McDonald said the new Digital Health Record would make a big difference to patients and clinicians.
“The Digital Health Record from my experience is a huge change, allowing us to capture all the patient’s information in one place,” Ms McDonald said.
“It will provide us with real-time data that we can turn into clinical improvements and feed into research, which will improve patient care.”
The Digital Health Record project will be rolled out over an eight-year period to ensure a smooth transition of clinical information into one system for clinicians, staff, patients and carers.
A key factor in progressing this project will be meeting the community’s expectations about privacy of information and managing patient confidentiality, which is high priority for success. The ACT was one of the earliest adopters of the My Health Record and as digital systems become increasingly sophisticated, so too do the privacy functions which are increasingly building up the protections consumers expect in this digital age.
- Statement ends -
Meegan Fitzharris, MLA | Media Releases
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