Rudd should appoint Minister for eHealth: CSC

James Riley
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 12:35

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

So complex are the technology issues related to proposed health care reforms, the Rudd Government should consider appointing a Minister for eHealth to assist Nicola Roxon, US technology services giant CSC has proposed.

The scale of health care reform being proposed by Government – with much of it driven by IT – “could be more important than the introduction of Medicare” in the 1970, according to CSC Australia director of health services Lisa Pettigrew said.

“There are many ways to solve this, but one of the ideas that we have is that maybe its time for (the appointmentof) a Minister for eHealth … to support the Minister for Health,” Pettigrew told iTWire.

“Unless we’ve got political leadership specifically looking at eHealth, (it will be difficult to implement.)

“eHealth is not an urgent issue like … Swine Flu, but you know what? I like my Health Minister to be focused on urgent health issues, but I still want someone constantly looking at eHealth and keeping that as a priority too,” Pettigrew said. “It is that important.”

CSC’s eHealth Minister proposal was given only tepid support from Labor’s Kate Lundy, who says the technology complexities at Health are the same as those faced by other service delivery agencies like the ATO and Centrelink.

“What is needed is a coordinated and strong political leadership that advocates principles of engagement in an online environment,” Senator Lundy told iTWire.

“That role is probably broader than just eHealth because the same principles apply across a whole range of different service delivery modes that the Australian Governmment engages in.”

“The complexities of eHealth are the same complexities that are confronting other service delivery agencies and departments, and they all require strong political leadership to guide the public policy parameters of what the technology is going to do,” Senator Lundy said.

Globally, CSC is the largest eHealth service providers in the world, although it not taken as large a stake in the Australian market as it has in the US and Europe.

But the Rudd Government focus health care reform – coupled with the introduction of the National Broadband Network – presented enormous opportunities.

“A lot of health reform is not going to work if we don’t have a National Broadband Network, and equally, the National Broadband Network needs initiatives like health to make it worthwhile,” Pettigrew said.

“The two absolutely have to go hand in hand. The national health and hospitals reform commission and the other two reports that came out last week all talk about the need to increase telemedicine.