This appeared last week:
Renewed calls to improve electronic sharing of residents’ clinical information
Aged care, doctors and pharmacists groups are calling for seamless digital integration between aged care and health records.
Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council representative Rod Young has described Australia’s aged care services as “the forgotten sector” in the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) plan to deploy a universal health record for all Australians over the next two years.
“Aged care services are a missing piece of the health aged care electronic interface that requires urgent attention,” Mr Young told Australian Ageing Agenda.
“With 180,000 aged care residents at any one time, there are approximately 100,000 resident transfers between hospitals and aged care facilities each year, and at least 18 million medication prescribing events generated by GPs and delivered by community pharmacies.”
There would be significant workforce efficiencies in all three sectors if these events were conducted electronically, he said.
“The obvious next step is to ensure that the My Health Record and aged care clinical documentation can be used in a fully-integrated interface. The Department of Health must include aged care services in the roll out of an integrated health record,” Mr Young said.
The Minister for Aged Care Ken Wyatt said there was work going on to ensure My Health Record could deliver improved health outcomes for aged care residents.
However, the sector’s call’s for financial support to connect to the e-health record system, such as other groups including GPs and private hospitals received, continue to go unanswered.
“While it is important for the primary and aged care sectors to work together to deliver health care services to older Australians they are funded by the Australian Government in different ways.
“As such the way that the Australian Government engages with these sectors to encourage the uptake of systems, such as My Health Record, will differ,” Minister Wyatt told AAA.
He said the Government would also be looking at future connection between the My Health Record and My Aged Care.
More on the issue is found here:
To see how this lack on integration is going to be addressed we go to the National Digital Health Strategy. Where aged care is mentioned it is in the context of telemonitoring and here (p41)
• “Improving quality of health services in residential aged care – When aged care residents are treated by aged care and healthcare professionals, there is often an “information gap”, with a lack of sharing of the older person’s information about health conditions and medicines135 between the two sectors. It has been demonstrated that digital health interventions for aged care residents can dramatically reduce the number of transfers into hospital.135
The aged care test bed will explore how digital health technologies can improve outcomes for Australians in residential aged care facilities.”
And maybe here (p 37):
“The aged care system in Australia is being reformed to ensure it is the best possible system, and to offer greater choice and flexibility for consumers.124 My Aged Care is the main entry point to the aged care system in Australia. The Australian Medical Association suggested
in their submission to the consultation process that the My Aged Care gateway should be combined with the My Health Record system to help give “a full and holistic view of all health and care providers involved in the patient’s care and what they are providing”.116 The Australian Digital Health Agency will work with My Aged Care to determine how
information in the My Health Record can help deliver on its vision to make it easier for older people, their families and carers to access information on ageing and aged care, have their needs assessed and be supported to locate and access services available to them.”
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So what we have here is a clearly articulated problem – all the control of which lies with the Federal Health Department but somehow, despite some vague words, no commitment to just get moving and fix what is clearly a problem capable of solution at considerably less than any major cost.
The ADHA even says they know about the issue but then don’t simply say we will fix the problem as part of the strategic implementation.
I wonder just why that is?
David.
10 comments:
Speaks volumes David, I do not recall any webcasts, photo opportunities and much if any mention of our elderly population and their needs. Guess it not flashy or hip enough for Tim. We owe the older folks in our society more than this.
MyHR is supposed to be personally controlled, with patients working with their GPs to ensure that what goes into the system is an accurate summary of the patient's medical status and history.
What bright spark has come up with the notion that aged patients, with limited IT skills and probably declining mental faculties, can fulfill the role expected of them in the system?
Not everyone has a trusted carer with the time and skills to take that role.
Or does ADHA intend changing the fundamental premises of the system?
Something for the UX lab to look at? Along with all the other fatal flaws in the system. Maybe one floor isn't enough.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/health-department-secretary-martin-bowles-to-retire-from-public-service-20170822-gy1mxo.html
I feel sorry for Tim. He's been sold a pup, he is told what to do by the Minister, via the secretary, and now there's no secretary to tell him how to justify the historical stupidity. There's probably nobody in ADHA who knows just how bad My Health Record is and/or what to do about it, so he's at the mercy of some really bad rip tides. And being a pom, can't swim in our dangerous, shark infested waters. Just don't tell him about the snakes and spiders.
If he is reading this blog, and understand even half of it, I doubt that he is sleeping well at night.
I don't feel sorry for Tim one bit, he removed all or most at ADHA that would have been able to assist with the conversation and redesigns now facing us. He and his little wannabes are squarely to blame for the mess we now have.
He shouldn't have been appointed in the first place. I bet I know who did most of the appointing.
"I bet I know who did most of the appointing." Well it wouldn't have been the Health Department's Project Manager because he couldn't be that stupid.
In regards to the current ADHA CEO, he would have been well informed, the MyHR was poo-popes by Telstra Health more than once, remember he jumped ship from Telstra Health Australia
So who was that stupid? And who appointed the stupid one? Seems to be a culture of stupidity in Health. Something to do with the the professor? Maybe that's why Bowles left in such a hurry.
Martin Bowels retired it was hardly a hasty retreat. Not sure he should be dragged into it. He was the only one who made any sense at the panel discussion last year. If anything it marks the end of thoughtout policy making.
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