Well, as they say, the time to leave is on a high.
That is where the blog is and that is why I am stopping it.
The statistics from yesterday tell the story.
Australian Health Information Technology
VISITS Total 113,744
Average Per Day 206
Average Visit Length 3:15
Last Hour 6
Today 90
This Week 1,442
PAGE VIEWS Total 187,474
Average Per Day 375
Average Per Visit 1.8
Last Hour 7
Today 170
This Week 2,626
From here we also see:
FeedBurner Reader Count
1165 readers:
Pretty cool! I never imagined Health IT was so interesting.
The blog has been online since March 2006 and it seems to me 3.5 years is long enough to cause me stop giving myself a headache by repeated banging of my head on a hard object!
It seems to me the failure of the Australian National Government to have to capacity to get its act sufficiently together to even enunciate a policy for the deployment of Health Information Technology in Australia is a total failure of governance and leadership. The case for action is totally clear, they (the Government) are just incompetent and worse, they are killing patients through inaction.
NEHTA is an absurd money-wasting joke, the reasonable and the not too expensive National E-Health Strategy (which pays for itself in the medium term and which would make a major difference) has been ignored and instead we see wacky ideas from the likes of Peter Fleming about how important a commercial focus is, and what a wonderful thing it would be to have Google and Microsoft help. (Even thought Google at least wants no part of it at present)
The investment in NEHTA now well exceeds $200M and nothing has been returned that anyone can see.
After 1000 posts it is time for some-one else to carry this forward and for me to get on with listening to music (Handel especially) and spending time working out how to spend the rest of my life disengaged from the incompetent and the stupid who, for unfathomable reasons, seem to be determined to have nothing good happen.
To those who have read and commented – thanks heaps! There has been wisdom and honesty found here which is certainly not found in the public domain.
To those who have something to say. Send me your text and if it is reasonable I will publish it under your name on the blog. Otherwise this is all over and the ‘forces of darkness’ can celebrate as they slip into the inevitable abyss.
To those who enjoyed what I have written, it was a pleasure. To those who were made to feel I was less than impressed with them – well tough – you earned it!
I will leave the blog up as a searchable resource for those who want reference etc.
I have the comfort of having tried, and failed, rather than never having tried. I am content if a little disappointed.
A friend, probably wisely, pointed out that the Government and NEHTA have got what they want. Minimal cost, minimal public upset and a story to tell about how they are trying if anyone asks. A Machiavellian trifecta if ever there was one.
Once I post this I will have my life back. Live long and prosper!
David.
ps. There just might be a post every few weeks just to highlight some especially pathetic bit of nonsense. I may not be able to help myself
D.
This is very inconvenient Dr More! While I understand why you feel 'enough is enough' - I hope you reconsider quitting the blog altogether. It must take you an inordinate amount of time to keep up the blog - but perhaps you could limit to posting key happenings in Australia and that way still preserve your sanity.
ReplyDeleteWhether your readers agree with your opinions or not - your blog has become a trusted source of information for us and a fantastic resource. Thank you for all your time and effort, your energy and enthusiasm. Please don't go away too far!
I'll believe it when I see it David! In my humble opinion you won't be able to resist posting the odd entry :)
ReplyDeleteIn any respect, let me say this marks the end of an era. Your blog has been one of the main voices of sanity in the ongoing debacle that is e-health in Australia and I, for one, am tremendously sad to see you stop posting.
Yours has been a massive contribution and accomplishment.
Cheers,
Renai LeMay
News Editor
ZDNet.com.au
Thank you for all your efforts to improve the use of information systems by health professionals and organistions in Australia. Your blog has been a major source and conduit for important information about what is being done (useful and not so useful) and what is not being done that should be done.
ReplyDeleteI expect that we will be hearing from you in between the Handel, and I am sure that you will be hearing from many of us.
Best wishes.
Who will keep the bastards honest?
ReplyDeleteThanks for an informative and instructive effort. I don't know of anybody else who has your breath and depth of knowledge.
Best wishes
David de Bhal
virtual practice
Thank you David for all your efforts. While I did not always agree with your comments, I did appreciate the passion behind them. No-one has been a better advocate for health IT than you.
ReplyDeleteOh David, hope this is not the precursor of accepting a more formal position in eHealth where continuing the blog could be interpreted as a conflict of interest?
ReplyDeleteLike others have indicated, I do not always agree but enjoy the passionate way you debate this topic and the resource this blog has provided to people like me.
Colin Trevena
Pharmacist with eHealth interest
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad day indeed for Australian healthcare IT. I do hope you can be prevailed upon to continue, albeit on a less frequent basis perhaps. You have made a huge contribution and your efforts would be sorely missed.
Kind regards,
Tom Bowden
I add my congratulations on meeting this very significant milestone and thank you David for your long and consistent campaign to improve our healthcare system through the better and greater use of health informatics.
ReplyDeleteYour blog has been a very important place for the community to exercise its thoughts.
I do hope that you will continue to advise and provoke in one form or another.
I would also like to acknowledge here the (until now perhaps) tireless work that you have volunteered to HISA and the help and advice that you have provided to me personally. Thank you again.
I would like to say that I have been a regular reader of your blog since I discovered it twelve months ago. I am in a health information position where I am forwarded lots of official stuff about ehealth but your articles and others' comments have given me a healthy balance for my reading. Thanks and best wishes!
ReplyDeleteThanks David,
ReplyDeleteWishing you the best of luck in your future endeavours!
Keith Richards
Many thanks for all the kind comments.
ReplyDeleteI am not planning to go away totally. I just need some space to do some longer, in depth projects and these just don't fit with the time the blog has been consuming.
I will certainly pop back up if we start to see even more silliness than is about at present.
Many thanks again.
David.
David
ReplyDeleteOn reflection, I think we have worked together in agreement, agreeing to disagree, and more lately with a shared enthusiasm, since 1989(!!)
I'm not surprised at your decision, just disappointed that I'll have nowhere else to go for some informed comment on what's happening and what it really means. There are not many of us old warhorses left!
Best wishes for your Handel listening - but you won't be able to help yourself, I think.
Kind regards
Dear David
ReplyDeleteCan't you listen to Handel WHILE you do the blog?
I will sorely miss it.
But I like many others who work in health informatics know it is just one thing that you have contributed in your long and on-going career in health and e-health.
XOX!
Certainly I can identify with "running out of steam" with HealthIT !
ReplyDeleteHowever very sorry not to get your erudite and cutting comments any more ...
Enjoy Handel and think about what might have been
Regards, Michael
David,
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised and am personally pleased at your decision.
You have provided two services.
1) an invaluable review of the goings on at an internation level.
2) at a National level, I read your blog frequently for the first year and then gave up. If a review of the views were undertaken, it would show inconsistency, contradictiions and errors of fact. Not to mention the damage, distraction and diversion it has caused for the many people that work with great passion and conviction, and against many barriers, in this space.
You might consider what the effort has achieved.
I wonder if you publish this comment in the spirit of the second objective of this blog.
Enjoy your next passion.
Thanks for that. I reckon 14 pro 1 con is pretty good batting!
ReplyDeleteThe industry leaders who have e-mailed me also privately re-assure me I had it right to at least the 80% level. That is all any of us can do!
I would make the point that most of the positive commenters were prepared to use their names. Are you?
David.
Thank you David.
ReplyDeleteYour closing remarks on the following issues would be interesting.
Firstly, how would the accurate and secure transmission of health information between general practice and other providers be achieved when the GP/primary care provider does not receive the end benefit, does not want bear the cost of the capability and the funder of those health providers does not want to fund the capability?
Secondly, how would state (eastern seaboard?) clinical system implementations move to more integrated health records when the two major suppliers have no interest in integration (particularly for medications), such changes are capital funded and severely constrained (eg. http://www.treasury.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/10778/tpp06-10.pdf, with 250k limits), Treasury's are not inclined to fund IT integration over tunnels and rail, the GITC framework is too constrictive, the needs of Australia must compete with international demands that pay more and re-tendering and system replacement is not an option?
Thirdly, integrated health records require the co-operation of all health sectors, yet in the public sector, (presumably) most of the decision makers have performance contracts that focus on tertiary care and the priorities within. Therefore, state investment in cross-setting IT initiatives is not a priority, nor a KPI.
No, your right. it's easy and everyone involved is incomptetent.
I will develop a few ideas on these and post next week.
ReplyDeleteDavid.