The following article appeared a few days ago.
It's like putting a man on the moon
By Yasmin Noone
No goal is too big when you have inspiration.
CEO of the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), Peter Fleming, has likened the once thought impossible but successful job of putting a man on the moon to one other major task currently at hand – the creation of the Personalised eHealth Record (PCEHR) system for all Australians.
During the Health Infomatics Conference in Brisbane, earlier this month, Mr Fleming described the establishment of the eHealth system as a massive “challenge”. But, he said, once overcome, it will significantly change the world in which we live and make a huge difference to the health care system of the future.
“With an ageing population and increasing costs, we do have to do something to address where we are at today,” Mr Fleming said.
"The world doesn’t remain stagnant and nor can we.”
Developing and implementing the new eHealth system is a “dive in the sand”, likened “to putting a man on the moon”.
“We are getting to a point where we can realise the dream. It is for all of us to pick up on that [goal] and make it successful. This is our big chance to make a difference.
“…We must aim towards that. We can’t do it as an individual. We must do it together.”
PCEHR’s are expected to be a secure, electronic record of an individual’s medical history, stored and shared in a network of connected systems. It will make information such as test results, discharge summaries, vaccination and medication histories and compressive medical records available to a range of health and care professionals.
The record is also meant to be accessible from anywhere throughout Australia.
It's a matter of privacy
The looming eHealth d-date that NEHTA is working towards is the 1 July 2012. This is when consumers will be able to register for a PCEHR.
However, despite the excitement circulating, many civil libertarians have expressed concern that the new system will free up the channels of information at the expense of an individual’s privacy.
Mr Fleming quelled the issue during his presentation, saying that the consumer will be able to control their own eHealth record as they will decide what information it contains, what information it should exclude (for example, mental or sexual health details) and who as access to it.
“There are also a number of controls and legislative controls that would ensure privacy as well. The consumer will be at the centre of the [eHealth record] and have access to the record but so will the professionals who have been given access to it.”
Small steps towards a big goal
One of the key steps which moved NEHTA closer towards its 2012 goal was the creation of the Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service last year.
Lots more is found here:
It is really amazing to see this sort of stuff being sprouted by someone who should know a great deal better.
“During the Health Infomatics Conference in Brisbane, earlier this month, Mr Fleming described the establishment of the eHealth system as a massive “challenge”. But, he said, once overcome, it will significantly change the world in which we live and make a huge difference to the health care system of the future.
“With an ageing population and increasing costs, we do have to do something to address where we are at today,” Mr Fleming said.
"The world doesn’t remain stagnant and nor can we.”
I have just one question. Just what is the evidence that introduction of the PCEHR will make the least difference to these macro trends.
What is needed is the improve the quality, efficiency and safety of the care delivered by our hospitals, practitioners and the allied health sector. This involves putting in place systems to support all their care and business activities and facilitating communication of relevant information between these groups.
NEHTA would do a great deal more good in reaching the goals cited above focussing on getting the infrastructure in place to have all this work well.
With that done a provider to provider Health Information Exchange makes considerable sense as does allowing patients who are related to a specific practice or organisation access to information that can improve their involvement in their care in their care. This can only work however if a consumer is stably associated to a particular provider, otherwise the risk of confusion rises to unacceptable levels as does accountability and transparency.
There is simply no need to a large centralised system in following this model - unless it is to store a very basic emergency care record for those who want one.
A progressive, incremental and planned approach can skin this cat! A ‘big bang’ politically driven rush at an ill-defined goal is just not sensible.
Whether any sense actually prevails we are expecting to see any day now with the release of the updated and revised PCEHR ConOps.
It will be very interesting to see just how much improved the new version is and if it appears by the end of the month.
David.
