When Are We to Hear From AHIC Again? It Had Better be Very Soon!

Well over two months ago we learned that the Australian Health Information Council (AHIC) will be holding a summit on June 18 (evening) and 19, involving AHIC and the National Health Information Management Principle Committee (NHIMPC).

We also learned that in AHIC’s role of providing advice to inform national policy direction for health information to the Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Committee (AHMAC), AHIC wished to look strategically at the development of the national health information program out to 2013.

To ensure wide coverage by the summit, the consultants that were engaged to conduct a survey, were asked to develop a systematic analysis of:

• what’s worked and what hasn’t up until now
• where Summit participants and your constituencies (if relevant) stand on the health policy imperatives moving forward
• what should be in place by 2013 (or before) in terms of e-Health infrastructure and specific IT and communications tools to serve those health policy goals, and
• what might be the right model(s) moving forward.

We were also told the survey would be collated and presented in advance of the summit.

Well the survey was conducted and there were a range of thoughtful submissions – including a very thorough one from the Health Informatics Society of Australia. This can be downloaded here.

The Summit has also occurred I am told.. and all went very well I am also assured.

BUT – essentially two months later, who other than the members know what went on, what was decided and so on.

Since suddenly being resurrected (in very early 2007) AHIC has now had at least three meetings and conducted a Summit. All the taxpayer has seen is consulting bills and a one page say nothing communiqué (released in April 2007).

I am sorry but it just defies belief that release of at least some background information on the directions work is pursing and what are the expected outcome(s) has not happened by now. This committee makes the National Security Committee of Cabinet seem transparent by comparison!

As noted in the spin laden release from NEHTA Chair “There is widespread agreement across the health sector that the pursuit of e-health in a nationally coordinated strategy is crucial for Australia. Agreement about the importance of this national agenda is shared even by those individuals and organisations that may from time to time critique NEHTA’s work.”

It seems to me that, in part at least, this is a central part of what AHIC is meant to be doing.

AHIC has a responsibility not to repeat the mistakes that have been made by NEHTA and which have successfully alienated virtually all worthwhile contributors to e-Health in Australia. It must be open, communicating and transparent in all its processes and lead in a way that makes the Health Sector feel it is understood! It must also communicate promptly, not months after the event.

Wake up AHIC team (and Chair, Professor Prof James Angus, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Melbourne University in particular) before you find you achieve levels of irrelevance you can only dream of, and are swept away in the tsunami of a change of Government never to be heard from again!

David.