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."

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

It Is Hard Not To Think That There Are Some Deep Seated Problems In The ADHA Leading To High Staff Turnover And Loss.

 This appeared a day or so ago.

Senior digital health bureaucrat resigns to join former boss

By Shannon Jenkins

Friday August 7, 2020

Another senior public servant has resigned from the Australian Digital Health Agency.

National health chief information officer Ronan O’Connor has left the agency to take on a role at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society — the same not-for-profit organisation that Tim Kelsey joined after departing his role as ADHA CEO late last year.

Kelsey and O’Connor worked together at the  United Kingdom’s National Health Service before they were appointed to the ADHA in 2016 and 2017, respectively. At their new workplace, O’Connor will take on the role of vice president, analytics international, while Kelsey is senior vice president, analytics international, according to iTnews.

O’Connor reportedly hopes to move back to the UK in 2021.

At the ADHA, O’Connor led the implementation of the opt-out model for the My Health Record system. Australians previously had to opt-in to receive an electronic health record, which left the system experiencing extremely low engagement rates. ADHA statistics show that there were 22.77 million My Health Records in existence at June 2020.

More here:

https://www.themandarin.com.au/136960-senior-digital-health-bureaucrat-resigns-to-join-former-boss/

There is also coverage here:

Australia's national health CIO to exit

By Justin Hendry on Aug 7, 2020 12:05PM

Resigns to join not-for-profit.

Australia’s national health chief information officer Ronan O’Connor has resigned after more than three years at the Australian Digital Health Agency.

O’Connor, who joined the agency responsible for the country’s My Health Record system and other national digital health systems in January 2017, will leave the top job on October 16. 

His departure was first reported by Pulse+IT.

A spokesperson told iTnews that O’Connor has been appointed vice president, analytics international at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Former ADHA chief Tim Kelsey, who resigned last December, has also joined the not-for-profit organisation to become senior vice president, analytics international.

“Ronan will lead the international acceleration in digital transformation using HIMSS products and plans to return to the UK in 2021,” the ADHA spokesperson said.

O’Connor moved to Australia from the UK to join the ADHA executive team in January 2017 following an international search.

More here:

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/australias-national-health-cio-to-exit-551406

So we really have now had a total cleaning out of the executive team with only the Temporary CEO being not in place temporarily until the new appointment is made.

Contributors to this blog have for the last couple of years been suggesting that many ADHA employees experience the work environment there as pretty hostile and unsupportive and the losses of so many executives in the last eight months or so makes one wonder just what is the root cause of this and what can be done to make the organisation a productive agency and an enjoyable place to work.

Given the organisation is a Commonwealth Agency with Commonwealth Public Service conditions and job security it is of concern just how unstable it is at all levels.

Are there ADHA insiders who have a view as to what is amiss? Comments welcome!

David.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love how new positions can magically get created.
: Kelsey, Senior Vice President, Analytics International, and now
: O’Connor, Vice President, Analytics International

Perhaps the next positions to be created will be:
: Nonameyet, 1st Deputy Vice President, Analytics International
: Nonameafter, 2nd Deputy Vice President, Analytics International

Anonymous said...

Here's a chance for the ADHA to glory in the spotlight after nearly 10 years of digital transformation and $2billion spent.

https://www.themandarin.com.au/137288-nominations-open-for-2020-australian-government-digital-awards/

They can tell us how much they have saved the government, how many lives have been saved and/or improved and about their major contributions to interoperability and e-prescibing.

There should be a new CEO by then who would gratefully accept the award on behalf of all those trailblazers who have gone before. And explain why the whole thing needs replatforming.

Or maybe the government will be too embarrassed to draw attention to them.

I can guess where the smart money will go.

ADHA Staffer said...

ADHA has been a mixed bag. On one hand we had some good people, all now gone. There has always been a cohort that have worked tirelessly to undermine and bully all those around them. These people mostly remain and you can easily spot the gang. They managed to highjack the agenda and the shaping of ADHA. The place has always been toxic - never get to clever or be seen to be a threat to ego.

Anonymous said...

Human Resources management lesson 101 is to clean the bullies out pronto. If that means downsizing the organisation by 50% or more so be it, just do it.

Anonymous said...

Dear ADHA Staffer, if all the good people are now gone then the organisation should be closed down; that includes you. Don't forget to turn out the lights.