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."

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Is Extra Work On Training For PCEHR Use A Waste Of Time Until You Fix The PCEHR Itself? You Bet!

This appeared a few days ago:

My Health Record education and training package

The AHHA is developing the national My Health Record education and training package for health providers, on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Health.
To have your say on the training package and what it should include, please respond to this short survey (link is external) by 15 October 2015.
More information about this consultation is available below (also available for download here). We invite you to share this survey with your colleagues.

Stakeholder consultation to inform the development of national My Health Record education and training package

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) have been contracted by the Australian Government Department of Health to design and develop the national My Health Record education and training package.
The initial stage of this project involves a series of consultations with stakeholders which will inform the development of the training package. The package will be targeted at clinical and non-clinical staff employed in a number of clinical settings including general practices, community pharmacies, residential aged care facilities, medical specialist, allied health and hospital settings. The package will be tailored to the conformant Clinical Information Systems, such as medical records or dispensing software, which provide connection to the My Health Record System
The AHHA will be contacting stakeholders and individual healthcare providers to participate in an online survey and/or interviews and focus groups. Your participation in this consultation process will support the development of a package which meets your training needs, and will support your ability to confidently use the My Health Record system.
More here:
Here is the intro to the survey:

My Health Record Education and Training Survey

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) has been contracted by the Australian Government Department of Health to design and develop the national education and training package for the My Health Record, previously known as the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).
The package will be targeted at clinical and non-clinical staff employed in a number of clinical settings including general practice, community pharmacy, residential aged care, medical specialist, allied health and hospital settings. It will be tailored to the conformant Clinical Information Systems, such as medical records or dispensing software, which provide connection to the My Health Record system.
This survey seeks your views about the training you and/or your staff require to use the My Health Record system, and your experience of previous training you may have undertaken to use the PCEHR. Your participation in this consultation process will support the development of a package which meets your training needs, and which will support your ability to confidently use the My Health Record system. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete the survey.
For more information about this survey, please email Daniel Holloway at the AHHA.
Here is the link:
If ever there was a cart before the horse effort this is it!
Surely you have to optimise the new system, prove it works well and is clinically useful, guarantee it does not interfere too much with clinical workflow and is privacy protective and then develop the training materials.
I don’t blame the AHHA - this again is a reflection of the craziness of the e-Health Branch at DoH!
David.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I began to complete the survey. The further into it I got the more I realised I was being used to support / justify a training program and pass opinions about a product which I have signed up for and accessed to only conclude it was totally useless.

That being the case I discontinued with the survey as it was plainly apparent that time, money and resources would be totally wasted developing a training program for a product which has not been developed, tested, debugged and proven in a few representative pilot sites first.

To waste the time of busy doctors and their practice staff before first proving the system reflects an amazing level of ignorance and ineptitude by Departmental staff. No doubt they are all eager to show they are busy and doing something but all they are really doing is being disruptive and building disillusionment among the cohort of people they hope to be training. It's terribly sad that they do not understand such basics, for if they did they would not be travelling down this path. The horse and the cart are all over the place.

Anonymous said...

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA)should be telling the Department exactly what you, David, and Anon September 29, 2015 5:28 PM have said. They shouldn't be undertaking this contract unless they want the money at the cost of integrity, principles and ethics. Surely they are not that stupid.

Anonymous said...

September 29, 2015 5:28 PM said "To waste the time of busy doctors and their practice staff before first proving the system reflects an amazing level of ignorance and ineptitude by Departmental staff. No doubt they are all eager to show they are busy ----"

Remember the Tiger Teams? Remember the Wave 1 and Wave 2 push? Remember the NEHTA rolling roadshow bus? These all failed to get any traction of any value and at great cost. It beats me why these people don't understand that national rollouts of unproven solutions is the quickest way to lose all credibility with the target audience who are first and foremost - the patients' doctors. If they don't use it nothing else matters. Enrolling 5 million consumers will not matter if the doctors won't use it. ePIPS will not make doctors use a system that is not quick, slick and helpful.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of wastage, as well as the doing what they do at "the cost of integrity, principles and ethics", what are the PHNs doing with this and eHealth in general?

Anonymous said...

David, In PulseIT today we read:

1. ACeH to be set up to oversee the governance of eHealth in Australia
2. ACeH to take over operational control of the PCEHR from the Department of Health
3. The government has agreed to abolish NEHTA
4. ACeH will be established as a new corporate Commonwealth entity.

Abolishing NeHTA is very good news indeed.

Dumping responsibility for the PCEHR onto ACeH distances the Department from any of the consequences of pushing the PCEHR down the throats of doctors and consumers.

Will ACeH have the freedom to oversee eHealth governance or will it be forced to adopt the Department's blind drive to rollout the PCEHR at any cost?

Dr David G More MB PhD said...

To think ACeH will make a difference will be a 'triumph of hope over experience' in my view.

That said if it is properly staffed, skilled and resourced and given the leadership and independence it needs then there is some hope....

Time will tell - and the expected announcement will provide a good initial clue.

David.

Anonymous said...

... and what if, after reinventing themselves, NEHTA's senior management bob up in senior management roles with ACeH.

Anonymous said...

The PECHR won't change, the strategy (whatever that may be) won't change, don't expect management and support staff to change. SNAFU.

Anonymous said...

And what if? Come on that is a given surely, might be a few additions, there was mention of informatics and none of the current lot could claim that discipline

Dr Ian Colclough said...

It's clear the Governing Board and Committee Members have been agreed. My deep seated concerns are that unless some individuals have been brought on board with practical experience, in both the health and ICT sectors, which is broad, deep and long, and who are prepared to ask the HARD questions and keep drilling until satisfied then the ship will flounder before it sets sail.

Anonymous said...

@Ian, The most dangerous thing you can ask of any board or management these days is "what's the plan"? You will be treated in the same way as a whistleblower. Like somebody rocking the boat, or spoiling their privileges. In Australia in particular, asking questions is seen as being 'challenging'. The workplace culture nowadays is truly toxic.

Anonymous said...

October 03, 2015 8:30 AM would appear to be the root cause of the entire eHealth problem in Australia. If the Board has no plan that stands up to intense scrutiny then the Board cannot govern.

October 3 suggests an accept the status quo philosophy and don't ask questions.

Boards which embrace that culture are destined to fail.

Dr Colclough at least has the courage to state what is needed, that's leadership and I for one commend him. Others may not like it but that's their problem not his.

Anonymous said...

@October 03, 2015 9:53 AM I am not discouraging Dr Ian Colclough be any means. Even to get on the 'Governing Board and Committee' would probably require some special invitation. I am pointing out that the boards and management do not care (much) about failure. Look at the false economy we live in, be it failing projects or businesses dependent on cheap $8 or so an hour labour onshore or about the same or even less offshore. (Do you think the Chair of 7-Eleven really cares? He has made his money!) Where is the disincentive for the board, consultants and managers? Even if challenged, they know it could be diverted and forgotten about in a matter of weeks.

Anonymous said...

@October 03, 2015 12:46 PM "I am pointing out that the boards and management do not care (much) about failure." .... You seem to be saying they don't care if they fail as long as they don't get into any trouble and can take the money. That's a very cynical and embittered view if you don't mind me saying so.

There are plenty of excellent and diligent Boards in the private and not-for-profit sectors which care very much about failure and take their responsibilities seriously. They work hard to ensure their organisation is successful. Surely you want to see an open minded eHealth Board ready and eager to embrace a culture of aiming for success whilst minimizing the risk of failure?

Anonymous said...

@October 03, 2015 8:30 AM we read .... The workplace culture nowadays is truly toxic.

There will always be toxic workplaces and there will always be supportive, nurturing, positive, motivated workplaces.

If you are experiencing a toxic workplace then you should either attempt to change the culture from within if you have the courage and ability to do so (which might not be possible) or go elsewhere. If one accepted your defeatist view about workplaces no-one would try to change things for the better and we would all be the losers.

Anonymous said...

@October 03, 2015 6:46 PM "There will always be toxic workplaces."

Yes and NEHTA historically has been shown to be as bad as any as described in PulseIT and on this blog a year or so ago. Consequently if NEHTA's management culture is transferred to ACeH nothing will have changed and we will continue witnessing the perpetuation of a toxic eHealth workplace.

Bernard Robertson-Dunn said...

ACsH is being created to look after the PCEHR. The people appointed to the ACeH will be well known by DoH and the States as being "true believers" in the PCEHR.

I would be very surprised if anyone even knows what the hard questions are, never mind asks them.

Anonymous said...

So the conclusion is that ACeH is being created to distance the Health Department from subsequent fallout when the PCEHR fails. The other conclusion therefore has to be that if the focus is to be the PCEHR it will be at the expense of all all the other elements required to drive eHealth forward in Australia. I recall a previous commentator made the valid point that the foundations for eHealth should be solid and robust before the PCEHR is pushed down everyone's throats. How dare anyone suggest hard questions should be asked.

Anonymous said...

2 options:

1. ACeH is being created to oversee the failure of the PCEHR
2. Health really thinks that this pile of excrement is worth pursuing.

Given the arrogance and incompetence displayed so far, option 2 is the favourite.

It's going to be a slow hard death, and those responsible will have flown the coop well before it breathes its last. The professor has already gone, just wait for the madman to go, then it will be downhill all the way.

Anonymous said...

Armed with a benefits review indicating a ten year period before we see system utilisation at levels required (for something not sure what), and a new Standard to use (as an array of funding pots and excuses) the central document library will go on. There is still a layer waiting to pickup where others have left off. I guess NT was a small price to pay for power.

Anonymous said...

The professor has already gone, just wait for the madman

.. who are they?

Oh and is the Board still in place with its illustrious Chair.

Anonymous said...

"The professor has already gone, just wait for the madman

.. who are they?"

Guesses..... Jane Halton and Paul Madden?

Anonymous said...

Madman, there would be quite a selection that fit that bill, and probably with an apprentice in toe. Good to see the polling up again, it looked like a few tens of people had left the industry.