12 July 2021

National digital health gateway one step closer as tech provider appointed

| Katrina Condie
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Health professionals in pharmacy

Australia’s new digital Health Information Gateway will provide a one-stop shop for health care providers and consumers. Photo: Australian Digital Health Agency.

Australia’s new Health Information Gateway has taken a leap forward with the contract awarded to deliver the first phase of an improved national digital health platform.

The Australian Digital Health Agency has contracted Deloitte Consulting to deliver technology that will provide a secure network for exchanging and accessing health information, including vaccinations and aged care data.

The new gateway will unlock the agency’s ability to deploy and manage additional health information repositories and health data exchanges in support of national priorities for healthcare delivery and digitising government services, now and into the future.

It will provide improved support for the integration of health information from multiple sources into clinical information systems.

All clinicians, including general and specialist practitioners, hospital physicians, nurses and allied health professionals, will benefit from access to more comprehensive patient information when and where it is needed to provide the most effective care for patients.

Healthcare consumers will also benefit from access to additional and more detailed health information through My Health Record.

Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said this is the first step towards a simplified, future-ready national digital health infrastructure.

“A connected healthcare system is at the heart of the National Digital Health Strategy, and while our national digital health infrastructure has already delivered significant benefits for Australians, it is now time to modernise and unlock the potential new technologies offer,” she said.

“The new Health Information Gateway will reduce costs and technical and operational complexity often faced by healthcare providers by setting in place a single, consolidated gateway with reusable interfaces available to developers.

“And it requires fewer connections to be developed between healthcare providers and My Health Record and other digital health products and services.

“This goes a long way to making the sharing of patient information between healthcare providers easier.”

Ms Cattermole said the modernisation of the national digital infrastructure is the Australian Digital Health Agency’s most important strategic focus for 2021.

Deloitte Consulting is a specialist provider of technology integration services to both the public and private sectors.

Deloitte Consulting partner Ben Wylie said the gateway contract will add to Australia’s national digital infrastructure.

“We are looking forward to making an important contribution to helping the Australian Digital Health Agency deliver contemporary digital services that enhance access to heath products and services,” he said.

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