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."

Sunday, June 01, 2014

What Questions Would You Like To Be Answered At Senate Estimates On E Health Tomorrow?

We have Senate Estimates Community Affairs Committee Meeting tomorrow (June 2, 2014).
Here are the details.
The draft schedule runs from 9:15pm – 11:00pm (105 mins) with e-Health up first.
Here is the link to video to watch the session.
Now, I need to say up front that, like the two comments on the alert blog last week, I have very low expectations of getting straight and useful answers from the bureaucrats who have a very good track record of highly effective obfuscation and simply not answering the question.
That said my questions would be:
1. Could you please provide a detailed breakdown of the planned expenditure on the PCEHR?
From the Budget we were told:

"The Government will provide $140.6 million in 2014-15 for the continued operation of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system while the Government finalises its response to the review of the PCEHR.
How much is to be spent on Accenture, spent with the Department of Human Services and so on?
2. Does this funding cover funding of the National E-Health Infrastructure (NASH, IHI, SMD, etc.)?
3. Does this funding cover NEHTA or is this and the activities in Question 2 funded elsewhere and where is that covered in the Budget?
4. When will the Government release a detailed response and forward plan for e-Health responding to the PCEHR review having now had the Review for over 5 months?
5. Does the $140.6 million cited in the Budget cover the intended changes to the PCEHR as recommended in the Review or will additional funds be allocated  once a plan is developed?
6. When will the Government release the full updated 2013 version of the National E-Health Strategy as cited in the PCEHR Review but with no link provided?
7. Does the Department of Health agree with the Review recommendations regarding the dissolution of NEHTA and the changed governance for e-Health in Australia?
If we were able to get answers to these it would help those involved in e-Health get a much clearer idea of what is planned in the future and what part they may be able to play in that future.
What would you like to ask?
David.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

How much longer does the Gov't intend wasting money on the white elephant described as the PCEHR?

Anonymous said...

What would need to happen, and how much would it cost to stop operating the PCEHR?

Anonymous said...

"How the hell do 'YOU PEOPLE' sleep at night?"

While directly looking 'Ms Halton' in the eyes...

Anonymous said...

How will you feel when someone dies because of bad or wrong information in the PCEHR?

Anonymous said...

If the PCEHR system becomes opt-out, and everyone has a record automatically…including me, then if I have a vasectomy and the discharge summary is posted to my record, and I have not changed the default access settings, then who can see that discharge summary on my record? (My GP, my local community pharmacist, my physiotherapist? any clinician in the hospital?)
When and how will everyone be advised that they now have a record and how to change the access settings if they want some things to be private?
It is hard enough to work out how to adjust the access settings now, and it is likely the whole access model will need to be re-worked if the system becomes opt-out.

Bernard Robertson-Dunn said...

AFAIK, the access controls currently work at the organisational level. The techos implementing the IT system decided that a more granular approach was not workable.

This means you cannot control which individuals can see your records, just which organisation's staff are allowed to see it.

Saul Kamen said...

Funding for eHealth support for primary care providers via Medicare Locals is due to end on 30th June. Will any further funding be made available from 1st July and if not, how will GPs and other health providers be supported to engage in meaningful use of the PCEHR?