Dr Ian Reinecke Resigns – Oh Happy Day!

In a really fabulous announcement the greatest block to e-Health progress in Australia, in my view, has finally announced his resignation from NEHTA.

Founding CEO to leave NEHTA

31 March, 2008, Dr Ian Reinecke, the founding Chief Executive Officer of the National E-Health Transition Authority, has announced his decision to leave NEHTA.

Chair of the NEHTA Board Dr Tony Sherbon thanked Dr Reinecke for his leadership of NEHTA since October 2004.

Dr Reinecke was responsible for establishing NEHTA as a company in 2005 and the subsequent development of a work program that now involves more than 150 staff working on a range of complex e-health projects.

“Following funding support from COAG, Dr Reinecke has negotiated the contract to establish unique health identifiers for all Australians as well as their health care providers,” Dr Sherbon said.

“This project is now well underway and Dr Reinecke's efforts will prove to be of great benefit in the near future to millions of Australians.

"Dr Reinecke has also overseen negotiations for Australia to join the world's most significant alliance for the international coordination of clinical terminology development. This development has significantly accelerated the development of information standards throughout Australia.

“Under Dr Reinecke’s leadership NEHTA has taken the evolution of e-health in Australia to a new level where much of its work is ready for implementation to improve the quality of electronic health information for clinicians and consumers,” Dr Sherbon said.

Dr Reinecke will leave NEHTA on Friday 4 April 2008 to resume his career as a consultant and corporate adviser.

"The Board of NEHTA wishes Dr Reinecke the very best for the future and looks forward to his successful pursuit of his new career direction ", Dr Sherbon said.

Dr Sherbon said he was pleased to announce Andrew Howard would act as Interim CEO of NEHTA while an international search was conducted to recruit Dr Reinecke's replacement. Mr Howard is currently the Chief Information Officer of the Victorian Department of Human Services. Mr Howard has an extensive background in e-health and 15 years international consulting experience with Accenture.

"I am confident that the NEHTA program will continue on its current course under Andrew Howard's leadership," Dr Sherbon said.

“The staff of NEHTA are extremely capable and are focused on delivering the key outcomes set by all of the Australian governments.

“The Board will continue to work closely with management towards the delivery of further e-health reforms expected in the coming months," he added.

I must say the reason for the resignation looks pretty obvious.

The following press release from last year is the clue.

----- Begin Release

NEHTA HERALDS E-HEALTH MILESTONES

and announces its action plan for adoption success

17 December 2007

Australia's e-health reform agenda took a forward step today with the release of an action plan by the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA).

The Board of NEHTA also endorsed a business case for developing a national platform for personal electronic health records to be put to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) early next year.

The NEHTA action plan outlines key areas for ensuring the successful adoption of measures to improve the electronic communication of critical health information.

"After working to build foundations for electronic health since the organisation was established in 2005, we are now in a position to begin to deliver some concrete applications of our work," NEHTA's Chair Dr Tony Sherbon said.

"The new Federal Government has signaled health reform and improvements in state and federal relations as major policy objectives," said Dr Sherbon. "Given also the government's emphasis on

the provision and use of broadband communications, NEHTA is well-positioned to play its role in advancing e-health as part of this new agenda," he said.

"The recent independent review found NEHTA had made significant progress on our goals to date and made a number of recommendations about NEHTA's future. The action plan we are announcing today flows directly from our acceptance of all the recommendations in the review," Dr Sherbon said.

Dr Sherbon identified the action plan as also being an acknowledgement of where NEHTA now needs to go in order to expedite e-health reform in Australia.

"We have come to a point where many of the foundations to enable e-health are in a position where we can now move towards implementation and adoption. Seeking funding to establish a national system of personal electronic health records is also on our immediate horizon. The action plan that we have released will assist this process," he said.

Dr Sherbon said the case for personal electronic health records was compelling. "The safety and quality benefits are manifold. We understand the issues of equity and privacy and firmly believe that

the approach developed by NEHTA will address these to the satisfaction of all our stakeholders and the Australian public."

NEHTA's Action Plan for Adoption Success and the independent review of NEHTA conducted by the Boston Consulting Group are available on the NEHTA website at www.nehta.gov.au.

----- End Release.

He failed to get these funds for his Board from COAG last week, so with his major Shared EHR strategy in tatters, he has been given the flick. That is sure how it looks to me!

Can’t say I am in the least bit sorry. Now maybe the blog can focus on more educational and supportive activities!

The good thing I see in all this is that National E-Health Strategic Planning as to what to do next can now happen without a NEHTA 'elephant in the room'

David.