Does This Qualify For The Term Fake News Do You Think?

This popped up a little while ago.

New digital health chief to get $522,000 a year to fix troubled My Health Record system

Daniel Burdon
Published: January 11, 2017 - 11:08AM

The head of the Turnbull government's six-month-old Australian Digital Health Agency will be paid a tidy $522,000 annual salary package after beating more than 100 other applicants to take the role fixing the plagued My Health Record system.

The chief executive's pay comes with the difficult task of overseeing the $156 million agency and its remit to digitise the nation's health systems, including fixing the delayed national roll-out of My Health Record.

Despite a number of teething problems, about 4.4 million Australians have signed up so far, as the government moves towards an "opt-out" system rather than the previous "opt-in" system.

The government's creation of an agency dedicated to improving digital health systems was been widely supported, although some stakeholders have been sceptical of how much the agency will achieve given past problems.

Health Minister Sussan Ley has previously described the use of digital technologies in health as "a game changer".

Vastly more of the article is found here:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/new-digital-health-chief-to-get-522000-a-year-to-fix-troubled-my-health-record-system-20170103-gtl6mz.html

First off, just forget about the pay, as I for one would not be prepared to even consider the job, as framed, for four times the salary.

The real issue is just how wrong the article is, and this is found in the first few paragraphs.

First most of general practice, pathology, radiology and a good amount of other health service delivery entities are already digitised and communicating with many of their peers digitally as well. The job is not to digitise the nation’s health system – that is largely done!

Second the myHR is already ‘rolled out’ technically. All that is needed is the go-ahead to compel the rest of the populace to enrol and – much harder – actually use it. The reason we see few, if any usage stats it that the little if any actual clinical use of the system. So that job, supported by the rapidly developed evaluation reports, is largely done!

The actual job seems to be to run a limited scope consultation process which will come up with an evidence-free strategic endorsement of all things ‘digital health’ and especially the myHR, and support continuing funding for all the bureaucrats who have now been employed to mostly continue on with what NEHTA was doing. The Strategy  has to be at least partly evidence-free as there is no actual evidence that confirms the myHR is a ‘good thing’  that anyone has yet seen. (If you have some worthwhile evidence let me and ADHA know!). Of course the Strategy will need to address other issues like SMD, NASH, SNOMED etc. but myHR is the main thrust, wrongly IMVHO!

So, in essence, the job is really to compulsorily foist a largely unrepaired, unwanted, unnecessary and useless system on an unsuspecting public and have them thank you for wasting all their tax money on it!

Now that is what I call a hard job!

David.