Well I spoke to soon!
Look what appeared in the Australian today!
ID management key to health portal
Jennifer Foreshew | March 18, 2008
THE South Australian Department of Health expects to go to tender in the next six months for an identity management system that will be part of its $375 million electronic health records program.
The program aims to link all clinicians and patient information within 10 years.
SA Health Department chief information officer David Johnston said biometric technology would deliver twin-factor authentication that would serve as a legal signature.
"The goal is to have twin-factor authentication and digital legal signatures for access to all systems," Mr Johnston said.
A web-based portal, known as careconnect.sa, would provide health professionals with access to all the information needed to do their job.
The health sector had been so scattered it was difficult to deliver electronic health information, Mr Johnston said.
"When we are replacing these outdated systems we are doing so on a state basis and ... using consistent configurations using consistent business processes," Mr Johnston said.
The first enterprise system announced under the program last week was the $17 million delivery of a web-based information system to give nurses and midwives instant access to patient records.
Sydney-based Emerging Systems has developed a system to integrate patient records in the state's public hospital system to improve the speed and safety of healthcare delivery.
The system will be installed in all SA metropolitan hospitals and four big country hospitals.
"Once we have done that, the business will consider whether we do another phase and come back and pick up some of the smaller hospitals."
More here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23391561-5013040,00.html
Later on we learn of all sorts of other systems which are to be rolled out or are being procured.
Now this is all good stuff as far as it goes but one really does have to wonder why there is no public roadmap of all this published to assist all those interested (developers, suppliers, GPs Specialsists etc) have an idea of what is coming up.
I have just checked the SA Tender web site and I note the Pathology System Tender closed a month or so back so there will be an announcement soon I guess.
The issue I have with the piece-meal best of breed maybe approach is the risk of having a just humongous integration task down the track and winding up either supporting a legion of different platforms or maybe restricting the available choices to severely. I have seldom seen much good of this sort or approach.
An approach that defined a strategy, developed an enterprise architecture and then minimised the number of different providers and technologies seems to me to be more sensible.
I must say I am also wondering just what the NEHTA Identity Program thinks of the choices being made for the portal. Is twin-factor authentication with biometrics where NEHTA is going? Nothing I have seen to date suggests that. Does SA know something we don’t or is NEHTA just being ignored?
We certainly live in exciting times!
David.
10 comments:
It is very good news that SA is developing an Identity Management System which must inevitably mimic NEHTA’s plans for UHI’s. Very good news indeed. Perhaps other States have similar plans in the pipeline.
As UHIs are the very highest development priority for NEHTA we have to assume that NEHTA is welland truly ‘in the know’ and that SA and NEHTA have collaborated closely on the Identifiers.
There is no way SA would go it alone and thumb its nose at NEHTA on this one - NEHTA wouldn’t allow it for one thing. The other reason is that as one of the 9 jurisdictions funding NEHTA there is no good reason why SA would keep pouring its money into NEHTA if it was going to develop its own ‘Identifiers’ without NEHTA’s involvement. Is there?
I think someone in SA mentioned this a few weeks ago. Thought you might be interested with the flurry of activity going on upstairs: -
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/mymedicalrecordscom-collaborates-with-google-on-personal-health-records,317925.shtml
BTW someone mentioned MedicAlert yesterday. I'd be interested to find out more about their solution if anyone out there knows. I've been on their website and I can't seem to find any mention of PHRs?
NEHTA is probably just being ignored. If the other states are doing their own thing why shouldn't SA. Although it would be politic to do what others do and pay some lip service to NEHTA in the RFT to offset any possible flack like:
.... "Tenderers should indicate a preparedness to embrace existing and emerging national standards produced by the National e-Health Transition Authority (NeHTA)".
That flurry of activity must be a long way upstairs - can't find anything on the earthtime link you gave us - it might be worth checking and giving it to us again.
Try this:
http://www.medicalert.org/Gold/
What is MedicAlert Gold?
MedicAlert Gold is a premium service that gives you the ability to consolidate all of your personal health records - directly from the source of the information (e.g. your doctor’s office), along with all of the traditional MedicAlert membership benefits (e.g. 24 hour Emergency Response Service, Family Notification Service, Emergency Wallet Cards, Personal Health Record (PHR) Summary).
With MedicAlert Gold, you can take control of ALL of your medical information, even if your medical history is scattered among physicians, insurance providers, or specialists - wherever they may be in the world.
MedicAlert Gold gives you the power to store, upload, and manage your essential medical information using our secured, US-located, Document Center.
MedicAlert Gold’s personal health record management and organization system is customizable, easy to use and is accessible worldwide, 24-hours a day through the internet.
I'm still dusting off the numerous task force reports from period 1998-2004 and putting new covers on and resubitting them hoping something happens ;-)
Don't trust any pronouncements until you see an action plan, miletones and actual achievement!
The current roadmap was designed in Canbera with lots of rondabouts?
Well with Medicare Australia not having to deliver a proof of concept and pilot IHI architecture until Jan 2010 ( 4 months past the original NEHTA deadline), there will be vacuum that States and others have to fill do any meanigful connectivity until mid 2010. But it would bbe good to see uniform statement of direction by the jurisdictions.
Posted by Aardvaark
I'm still dusting off the numerous task force reports from period 1998-2004 and putting new covers on and resubitting them hoping something happens ;-)
Don't trust any pronouncements until you see an action plan, miletones and actual achievement!
The current roadmap was designed in Canbera with lots of rondabouts?
Sorry, it looks like the url paste might be too long for the blog window. Here's the paste of the article: -
LOS ANGELES, CA -- 03/17/08 -- MyMedicalRecords.com, Inc. ("MMR"), a leading provider of Web-based Personal Health Records ("PHRs"), announced that it will be integrating with the Google Health platform, which is expected to be launched later this year.
Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, previewed Google Health at the annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) held last month. The company also announced that it is testing the Google Health product in a pilot program with the Cleveland Clinic.
MyMedicalRecords.com is collaborating with Google Health to build a two-way interface that will enable users of Google Health to transfer information from their Google Health account into an MMR account and vice versa.
MMR is a highly-secure, easy-to-use, and comprehensive personal health record (PHR) that uses proprietary, patent-pending technology to give patients and healthcare providers the ability to upload images, such as x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs, fax medical records and other important documents, and to have doctors' notes dictated into an account. The information is then accessible from any Internet-connected computer anywhere in the world with no special hardware or software. An Emergency Login feature enables an Emergency Medical Provider to access important information in the event of a medical emergency.
"Once launched to the public, we believe Google Health will enable healthcare providers and patients to share vital information," said Robert H. Lorsch, CEO of MyMedicalRecords.com. "We are excited to have the opportunity to integrate with Google Health and look forward to individuals using MyMedicalRecords.com in conjunction with all the features and benefits of Google Health."
Wow! If the MedicAlert PHR is what they say it is AND they already have a relationship with the Department - makes you wonder why they haven't been called in for a wee chat?
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