Australian Healthcare Week Wrap-Up!
 
 

Australian Healthcare Week Wrap-up!

MediRecords thoroughly enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Australian Healthcare Week in Sydney on 20 and 21 March.

 

Here are 5 key take-outs from AHW –

1. Virtual care keeps growing

Victorian Virtual Emergency Department Clinical Director Loren Sher said the free statewide service is on trajectory to see 200,000 patients this financial year. Dr Sher said: “One of our messages is that we’re not here to replace existing care, we’re here to supplement care and also to fill gaps…” The VVED works with Ambulance Victoria and residential aged care facilities to care for patients that might otherwise attend at busy hospitals, ensuring patients can, “access care… regardless of their postcode, and … access the right level of care”.

AHW Stage 1

2. Helping hospitals meet demand may require out-of-the-box thinking

MediRecords proudly supports the VVED as an e-prescribing platform and we can be a tad one-eyed in thinking digital health tech is an answer to connecting care records, streamlining safe workflows, and helping reduce ambulance ramping and bed blockages. But we were mighty impressed by the modular hospital facilities from Q-bital Healthcare Solutions, who can put an operating theatre on a truck and deliver it to your site to meet escalating clinical demand.

Q-Bital AHW_PNG

3. A patient perspective informs patient-centric care

Former Cleveland Clinic CEO Edward Marx has long been a voice for digital disruption but his stint in a hospital bed with a “widow-maker cancer” underlined his passion for patient-centred care. Mr Marx detailed five pillars for improving patient experience, “most of which can be solved for free”. These included plain language communication, intentionally involving patients in decision making on treatments, and creating an organisation-wide culture of empathy.

Mr Marx said that healthcare executives should perform ward rounds and hold meetings in labs, nursing stations and other patient-facing areas, to hone their awareness of patient experience. He advocated for AI to accelerate the personalisation of care. “My bank, my airline and my hotel all know me so why doesn’t my hospital?”

Cleveland Clinic_Edward Marx_AHW

4.Technology vendors should team up

A panel of influential information technology leaders delivered a wake-up call to vendors, urging collaboration to research and solve known problems with interoperable solutions. Northern Territory Government Health Chief Clinical Information Officer Dr John F. Lambert said, “If you’re not coming to me with someone in the business who wants to use (the solution), don’t waste my time. You also need an executive who cares enough about it, to take money off something else.”

AHW

5. The healthcare workforce is evolving

St Vincent’s Health Australia Group CEO Chris Blake said there will be as many engineers in healthcare as doctors within a decade. Rapid developments in technology such as AI are one reason for this, but vendors may not always be aligned with buyers. Dr Lambert urged tech suppliers to focus on AI solutions for boring administrative workflows, rather than more glamorous clinical applications that could introduce risk.

AHW Team
Looking to stay updated with the latest from MediRecords?

Sign up to the newsletter

    Australian Healthcare Providers to Automatically Share Data with My Health Record Within a Year
     

    Australian healthcare providers to automatically share data with My Health Record within a year

    New rules mandating healthcare providers share information to My Health Record by default are expected next year.

     

    In a five-year strategy and roadmap released last week, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) detailed “priority initiatives that will contribute to delivering the strategy’s vision of an inclusive, sustainable and healthier future for all Australians through a connected and digitally enabled health system”. 

    The ADHA is charged with accelerating the adoption and use of digital services and technologies across the Australian health system, and this report identifies four change enablers. Among these is regulatory and policy change 

     Dovetailing with the federal government’s Digital Health Blueprint 2023 – 2033 , the other enablers are: 

    • Secure, fit-for-purpose and connected digital solutions 
    • Digitally ready and enabled health workforce 
    • Informed consumers and carers with strong digital health literacy 

     Consumers and clinicians can look forward to health-information exchange and real-time access to data when the National Digital Health Strategy 2023-28 is fully implemented. 

    Secure, connected, interoperable digital solutions are key to accelerate the adoption and use of digital services and technologies across the Australian health ecosystem, according to the new strategy. 

    The ADHA is a corporate Commonwealth entity supported by all Australian governments to cultivate the adoption and use of digital services and technologies in health.

    MediRecords Founder and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Galetto said, “We welcome this report and stand ready to collaborate as industry partners.”

    “In particular, we welcome the government’s regulatory efforts aimed at enabling efficient health data exchange to support accessible, person-centered care for patients.”

    “At MediRecords, we are fully prepared to embrace and support the government’s vision that mandates “real-time information exchange at the point of care”. Our cloud-based solutions are equipped with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) by design, ensuring seamless connectivity within the broader healthcare ecosystem.”

    “We’ve already observed a growing trend among healthcare service providers who are eager to future-proof their operations by adopting the next generation of clinical solutions. This proactive approach not only aligns with our capabilities but also underscores our commitment to advancing healthcare through innovative technology.”

    Looking to stay updated with the latest from MediRecords?

    Sign up to the newsletter