Today's Report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, "A Healthier Future For All Australians: Final Report," makes the e-health system a central plank in the future of health management in Australia.

The Rudd Government has made reform of the health industry a major component of its agenda for the current term of office.  To this end, a major reform report , setting out over 120 recommendations, was released today.

Amongst the raft of direct medically-related recommendations (improvements in Aboriginal health, in mental health and in dental services figured prominently), was a specific focus on e-health and all the benefits associated with that concept.

Quoting from the report, "We recommend that the Commonwealth Government takes responsibility for, and accelerates the development of a national policy and open technical standards framework for e-health, and that they secure national agreement to this framework for e-health by 2011-12. These standards should include key requirements such as interoperability, compliance and security. The standards should be developed with the participation and commitment of state governments, the IT vendor industry, health professionals, and consumers, and should guide the long-term convergence of local systems into an integrated but evolving national health information system."

Such a system will mean that "by 2012, every Australian should be able to:

Interestingly, there is a nod to the planned NBN: "Ensuring access to a national broadband network (or alternative technology, such as satellite) for all Australians, particularly for those living in isolated communities, will be critical to the uptake of person-controlled electronic health records as well as to realise potential access to electronic health information and medical advice."

"The smart use of data is, and should be, at the very core of a self-improving system."

Read on for how the report's authors see the current situation and what they recommend.