Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Is This The Catalyst We Need To See A Real Change In Australian E-Health or Is It Doomed?

As I type NEHTA Clinical Leads are resigning in droves. To date I believe up to 10 have gone, including many of the most sensible and concerned clinical e-Health experts in the country. Even the money offered by NEHTA could not not keep them in the fold - as they knew it was not a supportable program in the long term and they are probably tired from trying.

What this tells us is pretty clear. NEHTA and DoHA have comprehensively failed to properly engage those who were meant to be using the NEHRS / PCEHR. These are the people who were meant to encourage their colleagues to engage with and use the system and now they have bailed out. It seems they are in no doubt the system is a lemon and those are paying staff to have the ill-informed to sign up are just out of their mind.

If ever there was a time to conduct a full root and branch review - including a performance audit of NEHTA and the DoHA e-Health Branch - it is now! If we don’t make a dramatic mid-course correction very soon it will be a decade before anyone is game to give e-Health another go - and that would be a loss to the total health system I believe.

It is looking like the PCEHR has been an avoidable billion dollar disaster and that had the recommendations of the Boston Consulting Group (2007) and Deloittes (2008) been followed we would not have wound up here.

NEHTA and DoHA have a lot to answer for I believe. I wonder will anyone be ever called to account?

David.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those same resources who have been called to account for the QH Payroll debacle will also be the same resources called to account for the PCEHR debacle!

Hang on a minute, noone has been called to account for anything??

Should answer your question convincingly.

Anonymous said...

Lets say the PCEHR was scrapped for arguments sake:

1) Would the government spend the money on a new system, given what was spent was scrapped and the state of the economy?

2) Given a clean slate, would what be the desired outcomes? (ie lets be constructive)

Anonymous said...

I am not sure a mid course correction will be possible, hopefully when we are RUDDerless someone sensible will decide its time to scuttle this ship.

Dr David G More MB PhD said...

FWIW my view is that we need to use the basic infrastructure and add a basic shared record system that is reliable, trustworthy and contains key but minimal data - as per the UK, Scotland and Wales.

We need to work to involve patients via access to real EHR systems - with information they want and can use and understand.

We also need to fix all the faults in current infrastructure systems.

Centralised systems are to provide an emergency heads up while the real records are found and accessed IMVHO.

Care - coordination can occur locally.

David.

Anonymous said...

If NEHTA wasn't already a basket case, it is now...

Also might mean that the senior personnel might know something about the future of the PCEHR...

Interesting times ahead me thinks..

Anonymous said...

Given previous commentary on the performance of the clinical leads here, one would think that the readers of this blog would think that things were finally looking up, not down.

Perhaps the clinical leads have simply wised up that NEHTA doesn't matter anymore?

Anonymous said...

So what you're saying is that the NEHTA clinical leads have had no input to the design of the PCEHR and that what has been implemented is in spite of their efforts? This is nonsense, they are every bit as responsible as all others involed and should be ashamed of steering it in the direction it has gone and for bailing out when the going gets tough.

Anonymous said...

No, no, you've got the accountability procedures all wrong.

That mob that was held to account for the NASH/IBM debacle will be the same mob held to account for the PCEHR debacle!

Wait a second, was there ever someone held to account for the NASH/IBM debacle?

Definitely starting to see a common recurring pattern here and the same players are just interchangeable parts.

CC: DOHA, NEHTA, BCG, IBM, ACCENTURE, DELOITTE
BCC: PRISM, ECHELON, KREMLIN

;)

Anonymous said...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/mukesh-haikerwal-leads-nehta-exodus/story-fn4htb9o-1226697208356

Anonymous said...

“Lets say the PCEHR was scrapped for arguments sake:”
It will be very difficult and expensive to scrap the PCEHR. There will be enormous contract termination payments. There will be issues about what to do with the data collected. There may be suing from system vendors, and others for expenses incurred by government requirements. There is legislation to be undone.
It would probably cost more to scrap it than to keep it going, empty and useless.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonynmous x 9
We are prepared to accept full responsibility for the DOHA/ Nehta failures.
Yours Employee Number 5 & FFF

Anonymous said...

Who r employee No 5 & FFF

Anonymous said...

"Who r employee No 5 & FFF"

Someone who likes "PLAYING GAMES" and not have to authentically and officially Pay for IT themselves!

It IS so TRUE when it comes to both DOHA & NEHTA employees to say the least...

;)

Anonymous said...

Looks like the PCEHR needs a doctor or its dead in the water....

http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2013/08/16/article/Doctors-ready-to-pull-plug-on-eHealth/JBDLKKAZTI


A billion dollar floater....good job bureaucrats. Better deliver deliver deliver on your exit strategy