Roxon E-Health Comments Welcomed By PSA

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 21 Aug 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Comments by the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, committing to e-health reforms and electronic patient records have been welcomed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.

Addressing the 'Health e Nation Conference' in Canberra during the week, Ms Roxon said she wanted Australia's future health system to be connected, secure and efficient. "It is frustrating that in a sector where technology and research drive continual innovation in patient care, paper is still king. After a decade of doing our banking - and almost everything else - online, we're still carrying our x-rays under our arm, a script to the pharmacy, and the hospital can't send a discharge summary to the family GP," Ms Roxon said.

The President of the PSA, Warwick Plunkett, said pharmacists endorsed Ms Roxon's comments and called on the Government to fast-track the implementation of e-health. "The National E-Health Strategy has pointed to a 10-year implementation phase for the introduction of e-health in Australia which the PSA believes is just far too long and has the potential to endanger patient care," Mr Plunkett said.

"We have to speed the process up so that reforms such as electronic prescriptions and electronic health records are available as soon as possible for the wellbeing of Australian consumers. There is little doubt that e-health initiatives will make our health-care system safer and more efficient and there is demonstrable proof that the technology is efficient and secure. "The recommendation in the final report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission for the introduction of personal electronic health records by 2012 is a timetable than can and should be met. There is no reason for Australia to be holding back." Mr Plunkett said the implementation of projects such as Medicare and the GST, which included privacy provisions and major IT capability, showed that with Government commitment major undertakings could be introduced in as little as two years.

"There is no reason that e-health should be any different." The PSA also calls on the Government to introduce robust standards for e-health capability and processes which includes the inter-operability of commercial solutions in the market place. "The development of these commercial solutions is getting ahead of Government. It is important that the health professionals who will drive the system and the public who use the system have confidence and choice in it from the outset," Mr Plunkett said. Mr Plunkett said the PSA and its members would do everything possible to assist the Government in speeding up the process of implementation of e-health and its various components.

Source
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

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