Department of Health & Ageing “DOHA” has made public the eHealth MoU which commenced 25th June 2013 and expires 30 June 2014. The MoU is between the Commonwealth and the States/ Territories in relation to Developing an Effective National eHealth Capability. A copy of the MoU can be found here…DOHA’s eHealth MoU.
coreplus is watching this space and continuing to evolve inline with government standards and regulations. As you may know we have a strong interest in supporting Allied Health & Specialist providers under Medicare with online health practice management and we’re well aware that Allied Health has not necessarily been top of mind historically as the GP Sector has been the focus of reforms and incentives aligned to those reforms.
In our view, this is not acceptable any longer. Allied Health MUST be on an equal footing if this MoU is going to achieve it’s purpose and this will require a concentrated effort from all the peak & professional bodies representing Allied Health and their members to speak up, lobby and ensure the strategy around effective national eHealth capability is unified and ultimately Australian people can access health care at the right place and the right time.
We encourage you to take an interest in what is happening in line with this MoU as your time is now to ensure you are represented.
Key areas to focus on are the “Long term vision, outcomes and guiding principals”, “interim priorities and current investment”, “guiding principals” and “interim priorities and investment” contained within the MoU.
The following table summarises the contributions to joint investment to fund the further Tabled Initiatives:
|
Jurisdiction |
Contribution for 2012-13 and 2013-14 combined ($million) |
| Commonwealth |
67.5 |
| New South Wales |
22.3 |
| Victoria |
16.6 |
| Queensland |
13.6* |
| Western Australia |
6.8 |
| South Australia |
4.93 |
| Tasmania |
1.54 |
| Australian Capital Territory |
1.08 |
| Northern Territory |
0.7 |
| INITIATIVE | INTERIM TWO YEAR GOALS |
| Specifications and StandardsA standard establishes uniform criteria, methods, processes and practices, while a specification is a set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product or service.Specifications and standards enable the meaningful and secure exchange of information, ensure a common approach to accessing the information generated by different health care providers, and allow both local and internationally developed systems to be used in Australia. | Commonwealth, States and TerritoriesIncremental adoption of standards by public and private healthcare providers in the following priority areas requiring a common approach:- critical infrastructure:
– priority systems and communications:
Compliance with standards and specifications when investing in new information systems. |
| Clinical TerminologyClinical Terminology is a structured vocabulary used in clinical practice to accurately describe the care and treatment of patients.Clinical Terminology improves confidence that information that is recorded, sent and retrieved supports continuity of care for patients across different times, settings and care providers. | Commonwealth, States and TerritoriesWork towards implementing a national approach to Clinical Terminology, including:- migration of AMT into SNOMED-CT AU;- SNOMED CT-AU / AMT (Australian Medicine Terminology) integrated into priority specifications and services; and- Taking steps towards incorporating SNOMED CT-AU / AMT into new clinical systems and upgrades.Work towards integrating Clinical Terminologies into priority areas.
Specify the inclusion of standard terminology functions when procuring new systems or replacing existing systems. |
| Authentication for Service ProvidersAn appropriate authentication service is the means by which healthcare providers are authenticated to access the national eHealth system. It provides confidence around the security and authentication of access to eHealth systems, and around the secure delivery of messages (information) between systems. | Commonwealth, States and TerritoriesPlan for the implementation of an appropriate authentication service over the next three years.Take steps towards adoption of an appropriate authentication service when investing in new information technology systems.All organisations which are using PCEHR are to obtain an appropriate authentication certificate. |
| Healthcare IdentifiersThe Healthcare Identifiers service is a national system for consistently identifying consumers and healthcare providers.It provides a way of ensuring that an entity that provides, or an individual who receives, healthcare is correctly matched to health information that is created when the healthcare is provided. | Commonwealth The universal provision of identifiers to all consumers of health services in Australia.Encouraging the incremental adoption of Healthcare Identifiers by service providers in areas of the health system where the Commonwealth Government has policy and funding responsibility, such as primary healthcare, private medical specialists, and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.States and TerritoriesThe incremental adoption of Healthcare Identifiers for patients (IHIs) into electronic record systems of public healthcare services, such as when:- new patients are added to electronic record systems (including new births);
– investments in new or replacement systems are made, such as new patient administration systems; and – the reliability of matching legacy healthcare identifiers to the new national Healthcare Identifiers is improved. Take steps towards Healthcare Identifiers being used in public hospitals so that: – inter-provider communications of health information can use Healthcare Identifiers; and – Healthcare Identifiers for healthcare provider organisations are more broadly adopted across health sectors (HPI-Os). |
| National Product Catalogue and e-ProcurementThe NPC is a central repository of data for the accurate identification of healthcare products in both supply chain and clinical applications within health departments in each State and Territory. The e-Procurement solution specifies the best practice in the electronic generation of business to business transactions.The NPC has benefits including increasing supply chain efficiency and supporting electronic trading, while the e-Procurement system will reduce order errors, improve compliance, and improve payment processes. | Commonwealth, States and TerritoriesThe NPC will be utilised by States and Territories as appropriate in each jurisdiction.Integrated processes implemented for acceptance of a medicine or medical device on to the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) that are aligned with the National Product Catalogue.Integrated processes implemented for listing of prostheses onto the national DoHA Prosthetic Rebate List that are aligned with the National Product Catalogue.States and TerritoriesAll State and Territory health departments will use the NEHTA eProcurement solution as is appropriate in their jurisdiction.
All states and territories consider the use of improved medical product and device recall systems. |
Please circulate (using the share buttons below) this information among your colleagues and take an interest directly, via your professional bodies or by contacting coreplus with your thoughts/ feelings. We are investing more time in understanding these reforms and are active in considering whether Allied Health is getting a fair go.
The coreplus team.
