I thought it would be useful to collect the various announcements on the $466.7M that has been allocated to be spent over 2 years starting in just a few weeks!
I have tried to go from earliest to most recent.
I have popped a few comments at the bottom of the blog.
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$467m boost for e-health records
- UPDATE: Fran Foo
- From: Australian IT
- May 11, 2010
THE federal government will spend $467 million over two years to introduce individual electronic health records as part of a national health reform agenda.
Patients will control what is stored on their health records and will decide which health professionals can view or add to their files, the government said.
The government has set aside $185.6m in 2010/11 to establish the building blocks for an individual e-health records regime. In the following financial year $281.2m will be allocated to the program.
The funding would provide a personally controlled electronic health record for every Australian who wants one starting from 2012/13.
"This will mean patients and their doctors will have their health records at their fingertips -- improving patient safety and health care delivery," Treasurer Wayne Swan said as he delivered the 2010 federal budget .
The government believes e-health records can improve patient safety and health care delivery as well as deliver cost savings by slashing duplication.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/budget-2010-e-health-scores-466m-339303048.htm
Budget 2010: e-health scores $466m
The Federal Government has allocated a huge chunk of this year's Budget towards the creation of long-awaited electronic health records for Australians — $466.7 million will be supplied over two years to support the initiative.
The money will fund Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon's plan to introduce a national health identifier system to Australia's health system — which was the focus of legislation brought into federal parliament in early February.
"The government will provide $466.7 million over two years to establish the key components of the personally controlled electronic health record system for Australia," the Budget Health portfolio documents stated. "This secure online system will enable improved access to healthcare information, commencing in 2012/13."
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http://idm.net.au/article/007821-states-hold-key-australian-government-a467m-e-health-plan
States hold key to Australian government $A467M e-health plan
05.11.10
A 2010 federal budget commitment to provide universal e-health records in Australia is contingent on the states upgrading their core health information systems to connect with a proposed national eHealth system.
Treasurer Wayne Swan has committed $A467 million to establishing "the key national components to introduce a personally controlled electronic health record for every Australian who would like to use one, from July 2012."
Exactly what are those "key national components"? A database, a server, a new bureaucracy? The answer is not contained in the 2010 budget announcements.
The federal government envisions providing all citizens with easy access to information about their medical history, including medications, test results and allergies, as well as the power to control what is stored on their health records.
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Feds pledge $467m to e-health record
Wednesday, 12 May 2010 | AAP
Stood on a rusty nail? Need to know when you had your last tetanus shot? From mid-2012 the answer will be just a mouse click away.
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Patients to get control over online medical histories
KATE HAGAN
May 12, 2010
PATIENTS will be able to check their health records online - and control what various medical practitioners can view or add - under a $467 million program to better connect parts of their overall care.
In a long-awaited announcement on e-health, the government will provide a 16-digit electronic health number for every Australian with their name, address and date of birth.
But clinical information, including medications, allergies, test results and immunisations, will be stored only for those who choose to do so.
The opt-in system is likely to appease privacy advocates who have opposed making electronic health records compulsory. They have also raised concerns about the system being operated by a private company and about ''function creep'', whereby other government agencies could gain access to records.
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Sensitive health records to be stored on national database
- Natasha Bita
- From: The Australian
- May 12, 2010
PATIENTS' sensitive health records, including test results and prescriptions, will be stored on a national database accessible over the internet, in a controversial new eHealth scheme that will cost taxpayers $467 million to set up over the next two years.
The federal government is trying to hose down alarm over privacy by rebranding its planned e-Health scheme the "personally controlled electronic health record system", and insisting that patients will be able to control what information is fed into the database, and who can access it.
Patients will be given the choice of opting in to the system, even though all Australians will automatically be given a new identification number that can be linked to their medical records.
The budget papers say patients will be able to access their eHealth records when and where needed.
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http://www.afr.com/p/business/technology/health_funds_just_the_first_click_X0w2PBkX52MOHPJTYV7yJL
E-health funds just the first click
Technology experts have given guarded support for the $466.7 million in budget funds allocated for personal electronic health records, but stress far more is needed to develop an e-health system properly.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/e-health-budget-splurge-only-starting-339303069.htm
E-health budget splurge only starting?
IT industry figures and analysts have said that the $466 million allocated to e-health spending in the Budget is likely only the beginning, with concerns arising over how seriously only two years worth of funding can be taken.
Ian Birks, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) noted that although the $466 million funding for e-health was less than expected (two reports had put the funding required at over $1 billion), it was a big win for the ICT industry.
"It is a key building block in achieving better health outcomes," he said. "[The funding] does seem a little light but I'm sure it has been rationalised. It is a very small part of an overall modernisation process and it will lead to other initiatives that will need to be funded."
Ovum analyst Kevin Noonan agreed that further funding was needed but said it was important to begin somewhere on implementing the electronic health record system.
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Expert slams meagre e-health funding
- Fran Foo
- From: Australian IT
- May 12, 2010
AN e-health expert has slammed the meagre $467 million for establishing a national electronic health record system, saying it was akin to putting flat files on a "$2.99 USB stick".
University of Sydney surgery professor Mohamed Khadra described the funding as a drop in the ocean and the $500,000 given to address privacy concerns was a joke.
"There should have been 10 times that amount for e-health," he said.
The funding would provide a personally-controlled electronic health record for every Australian who wants one starting from the 2012 financial year, Treasurer Wayne Swan announced yesterday during Budget 2010-11.
Patients will control what is stored on their health records and will decide which health professionals can view or add to their files, according to the government.
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Budget 2010: Devil is in the details for e-health - industry group
E-health software providers are concerned about whether the voluntary e-health records will eventuate, and whether enough money has been committed
- James Hutchinson (Computerworld)
- 12 May, 2010 12:30
Industry groups are cautious about the e-health funding announced by the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, in the 2010/2011 budget, with worries the funding may not be enough and detail is too scant for a proper implementation.
Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) president, Geoffrey Sayer, told Computerworld Australia, that while "any investment is a good investment," the devil is in the details about how the funding will actually translate to a national e-health system.
As predicted by industry groups, electronic health became the biggest point of ICT investment in the Federal Government's 2010 Budget, with Swan announcing a $466.7 million commitment to voluntary, personally controlled electronic patient records over two years.
The e-health funding is part of a larger, $2.2 billion investment in the health sector which the Government expects to fund through the increased cigarettes excise, amounting $2.3 billion over the next two years.
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Industry ‘confused’ on e-health funding, says Ovum
By Renai LeMay
Wednesday, 12 May 2010 14:15
Analyst house Ovum has questioned the Federal Government's Budget commitment of $466.7 million to create a national health identifier system, saying industry reaction to the scheme is typified by "confusion" about its implementation and claimed results.
Analyst house Ovum has questioned the Federal Government’s Budget commitment of $466.7 million to create a national health identifier system, saying industry reaction to the scheme is typified by “confusion” about its implementation and claimed results.
“The Government will provide $466.7 million over two years to establish the key components of the personally controlled electronic health record system for Australia,” the budget Health portfolio documents published last night state. “This secure online system will enable improved access to health care information, commencing in 2012 13.”
The documents said the project would deliver the capability to produce “nationally consistent patient health summaries” from existing and compliant information sources. “Patients who choose to participate will be able to securely access, and permit their healthcare providers to access, their health information,” the document stated.
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Will e-health records be outsourced to Google, Microsoft?
- Karen Dearne and Fran Foo
- From: Australian IT
- May 12, 2010
opinion | OVER the past few months, federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has kept mum on who exactly will run the proposed electronic health records system.
Will it be the private sector, Medicare, or some other government body? Will it be handed over to health insurers to manage? The crystal ball is still blurry, but we're hopeful Ms Roxon's office will clear the air once and for all today (if she responds to our query).
There have been murmurs in the industry for some time that the government was primed to "outsource" the administration of e-health records to commercial providers, although Ms Roxon has refused to confirm or deny the speculation.
Yesterday's federal budget added more fuel to the fire; look no further than Treasurer Wayne Swan's carefully selected delivery of the new funding regime for e-health records.
Experts warn over medical records plan
- Adam Cresswell, Health editor
- From: The Australian
- May 13, 2010
INFORMATION technology and privacy experts have reacted with alarm to the federal government's budget move to spend $466.7 million to launch a national system of electronic health records, branding it "confused" and a potential "public health disaster".
The government said the money, to be spent over two years, would "revolutionise the delivery of health care in Australia" by allowing patients and others to whom they gave access to see summaries of their medical histories online.
The money, which the budget papers described as a first tranche of funding, has been warmly welcomed by doctors' groups.
Doctors say it will prove a decisive step in launching Australia on the road to integrated records that an independent report last week suggested could yield $2.6 billion in savings each year by avoiding medication errors, unnecessary duplication of tests and other waste.
But some IT experts yesterday questioned the workability of the scheme, which Health Minister Nicola Roxon said would not be based on a central database of Australians' medical records but instead allow existing records held in separate locations to be linked together.
Independent health IT consultant David More said the government had "simply not provided enough detail for a sensible assessment of what they are on about".
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Abbott would can NBN and e-health spending
Paul Smith
Opposition leader Tony Abbott provided the local technology sector with a double whammy in his reply to the Federal Budget last night.
The liberal leader confirmed previous suggestions that, if elected, his party would stop construction of the NBN, but also added it would hold back the government’s planned investment in electronic health records.
http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2010/05/13/Tony-Abbott-Address-in-Reply-Budget-2010.aspx
Tony Abbott - Address in Reply, Budget 2010
Quote:
“Of course, there should be an electronic health record but hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent to make this a reality and no more should be spent until it’s certain that we’re not throwing good money after bad.”
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http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/strategy/39090-abbott-sideswipes-4667m-e-health-plan
Abbott sideswipes $466.7m e-health plan
By Renai LeMay
Friday, 14 May 2010 13:15
Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott yesterday backhanded the Government over its $466.7 million commitment to a national electronic health identifier project in the Federal Budget handed down on Tuesday.
Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott yesterday backhanded the Government over its $466.7 million commitment to a national electronic health identifier project in the Federal Budget handed down on Tuesday.
“Of course, there should be an electronic health record but hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent to make this a reality and no more should be spent until it’s certain that we’re not throwing good money after bad,” Abbott said in the widely broadcast speech.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/abbott-critical-of-labor-s-e-health-splurge-339303166.htm
Abbott critical of Labor's e-health splurge
Opposition leader Tony Abbott responded last night to the Federal Budget, acknowledging the need for an electronic health record in Australia, but dismissing Labor's e-health plans as a waste of money.
In his response to the government's budget Abbott stated, "Of course, there should be an electronic health record"; however, he criticised Labor's e-health funding, which accounted for almost $470 million in Labor's budget.
He said electronic health plans had already cost "hundreds of millions of dollars" with little results, stating "no more should be spent until it's certain that we're not throwing good money after bad".
Other members of the opposition have also been critical of Labor's e-health plans, with Senator Sue Boyce stating last month that the scheme had "a snowball's chance in hell".
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Support for e-records cautiously welcomed
- Karen Dearne
- From: The Australian
- May 15, 2010
WHILE the Rudd government's $466.7 million budget allocation for electronic health records during the next two years has been generally welcomed, there's considerable confusion about what's in store.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon says that by 2012, Australians will have internet access to a "personally controlled e-health record", with the initial funding paying for core infrastructure and regulatory arrangements.
The aim is a summary of critical medical information accessible in an emergency and shared by patients with their healthcare providers.
This approach overcomes consent and privacy issues, as patients have control over their sensitive health information, but it's far from the rigorously controlled national individual e-health record system long advocated and costed at $1.6 billion over four years.
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Comment.
Well the take away from all this would seem to be that there is considerable enthusiasm for what has been done, but a very large concern about the lack of information as to exactly what is planned.
I hear, informally, that more detailed plans are now being developed now that the funding parameters are fully known and that more clarity can be expected from Government over the next few months.
I suspect the present level of concern and skepticism will remain until more some detailed information emerges. The process must not take too long or momentum will be seriously lost.
This can end the coverage of this topic until we see some more real information. The way things are going I fear this may very well be after the next election.
David.
