Monday, December 09, 2019

Breaking News From Pulse + IT - Tim Kelsey Has Resigned From The ADHA!

I have to say, from my perspective, I am hardly surprised - as indicated by my last few blogs! It has been clear for the last day or two that this was going to be the next bit of news, as the ADHA was potentially dissolved / abolished!

Here is the release:

Media release - Australian Digital Health Agency announces resignation of CEO

9 December 2019: The Australian Digital Health Agency Board today announced the resignation of CEO, Tim Kelsey, effective 17 January 2020.

Mr Kelsey has been the CEO of the Agency since 2016.

During that time the Agency has done much to be proud of, particularly working with stakeholders and the community to provide more than 22 million Australians with an online summary of their key health information through their My Health Record, and to support the introduction of e-prescribing.

The Agency Board will shortly be appointing an interim CEO while a recruitment process is undertaken to find Mr Kelsey’s successor.

The Board is engaging with the Agency to ensure staff are supported during this time of change and will be taking all appropriate steps to ensure the ongoing management of the Agency’s business.

ENDS

Link is here:

https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/news-and-events/news/media-release-australian-digital-health-agency-announces-resignation-of-ceo

I think I will leave it to others to provide reflections on his tenure.

David.

24 comments:

  1. As a citizen and user of digital health, this is a most welcomed early Christmas gift.

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  2. Modus operandi for a slippery conman. Pity he couldn't be impeached.

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  3. After orchestrating what was probably the most catastrophic PR campaign for the government in the lead up to a federal election, this was surely inevitable.

    He leaves an agency in disarray and an industry celebrating his departure. So all in all, this is sensational news.

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  4. December 08, 2019 3:48 PM

    https://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2019/12/what-do-you-reckon-could-be-coming-for.html?showComment=1575780482369#c2343090105381775685

    Bulls-eye?

    The move to opt-out has been achieved. The ADHA doesn't really have the skills to drive a technology agenda. My Health Record only needs to be operated now - everyone will flock to it. There's quite a good argument to abolish the ADHA. Tim might see it as a good time to go -just in case the brown stuff hits the fan with a data breach.

    Two questions remain:

    1 The fate of ADHA. DHA?

    2 And where Tim lands next. Global Digital Health Partnership? India?

    Hopefully ABA (Anywhere but Australia).

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  5. @3:00pm.You should write media releases for ADHA. That's perfect! Oh. Wait. It's the truth, so that won't work.

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  6. What chance do you reckon there is Professor Makeham will be still with the ADHA at the end of January?

    Just wondering....

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  7. Looks like we just hit peak My Health Record.

    Now for the slow, painful decline.

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  8. Tim's OK then.

    Meanwhile all ADHA's staff will have an uncertain Christmas wondering what's gong to happen next year. Will they have a job? Will they have to re-apply for their jobs? Will ADHA just be closed down?

    Tim;s done to his staff what he's been doing to the country for the past three years.

    Sad really.

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  9. I dunno....
    He never really axed that fax, so I we are not amused.

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  10. Not even paper cut. He only oversaw national conscription to a system designed and build by others and even then managed to break it.

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  11. Bernard Robertson-DunnDecember 09, 2019 10:49 PM

    The ANAO report just released was critical of security and privacy.

    The first recommendation says:

    "The ADHA has not undertaken an end-to-end privacy risk assessment of the ongoing operation of the My Health Record system under the opt-out model. The last privacy specific risk assessment was completed in 2017 and, although ADHA funded the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to conduct at least four privacy reviews between October 2017 and June 2019, none were completed in that period"

    If such a risk assessment had been done two things would have become very apparent.

    1. The full NASH (with smartcard technology) which was designed to mitigate privacy risks by identifying individual healthcare users was not implemented, only an interim solution. There is no sign of a full solution, therefore privacy risks have not been properly mitigated.

    2. No risk assessment of allowing smartphones apps to be integrated with MyHR has been undertaken, even though they are about to increase the level of access.

    Why was an end-to-end privacy risk assessment not conducted?

    Could it have been because the ADHA didn't want to know what it would have said?

    It certainly doesn't look as though the ADHA has taken privacy all that seriously. Near enough is not good enough.

    Is there a connection between the ANAO report and Tim Kelsey's sudden resignation?

    I have no idea, but the announcement seems to have come as a surprise. The give-away is that they will have to start looking for a new CEO next year. If it had been planned, some succession planning would probably have been undertaken.

    If Tim had been brought in primarily to see through the transition to opt-out, his leaving would have been expected.

    If the government is planning to move the ADHA back into the Department of Health or into the DHS, would it not make more sense for Tim to stay on until the transition was over? That way there would be no need for a new CEO and Tim would probably have had his contract paid out.

    Quite a bit of all this does not make much sense to me.

    Maybe Tim has had a fantastic offer from some other country and will go and repeat his success elsewhere.

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  12. NT news is report Timmy is to join HIMMS. Guess every silver lining has a cloud

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  13. > Is there a connection between the ANAO report and Tim Kelsey's sudden resignation?

    Probably not directly if he's going to HIMSS - something like that takes time to set up

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  14. Did ADHA not recently sponsor HIMMS to a pretty penny? Seems a little to close to home.i

    On a positive note I wish him well and a speedy exit.

    Who will be the interim? His mate and never the bride Rowan or the Rupert lass that seems to be everywhere and nowhere

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  15. The best thing about Tim's move to HIMSS is that he can't do any more damage in Australia.

    He will become a talking head with no power. Looking at the HIMSS website, they are long on hyperbole and short on substance. As they say in the UK, all fur coat and no knickers.

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  16. Mr Kelsey going to HIMSS says a lot about HIMSS, none of it complementary.

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  17. So what will the.replacement CEO be required to do?

    Fix the mess.
    Start again.
    Close down the ADHA.
    Contract Accenture for a new system?

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  18. Might want to sack the head of cyber security. That is a risk to transfer if ever there was one. Second might be to reinstate and listen to the privacy team.

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  19. Bernard Robertson-DunnDecember 10, 2019 9:54 AM

    Tim has told the staff at ADHA that he is leaving and is proud of his achievements.

    I don't know if he actually understands anything about healthcare, but his rhetoric is so far from reality it's staggering.

    And he's going to be based in Australia. It would seem he's not risking Trump's USA or Boris' post Brexit world. At least that makes sense.

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  20. Bernard Robertson-DunnDecember 10, 2019 10:14 AM

    and he confirmed he's going to work for HIMSS

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  21. He will be picked up for his consulting contacts. Will soon discover how quickly doors close

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  22. It is going to be a tough time for digital health as the Agency rebuilds itself out of its past chaos. Hopefully the new CEO will begin to dismantle the jobs for the boys culture here too.

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  23. first question: why does the ADHA exist? PR and spin can only get you so far. They've gone as far as they can. Delivery on all the empty promises is a much harder ask. Which is why he's jumped ship.

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  24. The question is what is more dangerous, a brainless chook or a headless one? The headless one can run around leaving a blood trail.

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