Australia - Digital Economy - E-Health - Initiatives, Pilots and Projects

Progress remains relatively slow and low key, but the sheer number of new e-health initiatives that have been undertaken over the last few years is significant. However, unlike the USA for instance, where e-health is driven by health insurance companies and private health care organisations, the developments in Australia are predominantly led by government initiatives.

The national broadband network (NBN) has certainly been a catalyst in kick-starting some of these initiatives, but a range of other e-health services are emerging in parallel. However all e-health services do depend on a high quality, high-speed broadband network for the distribution of these services throughout the nation.

A number of NBN and other e-health-related pilot programs commenced in 2011, some linked to the Medicare reforms, which provide health insurance coverage for selected video consults in rural and regional areas, as well as projects linked to the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR).

This report concentrates on key developments in e-health projects in Australia. We provide an overview of trials, both publicly and privately funded, initiatives in e-health with an overview of pilot programs as well. For an overview of e-health, see separate report: Australia - Digital Economy - E-Health - Overview, Stats and Analysis.

Companies mentioned

Companies mentioned in this report include – Oracle, Orion Health, Telstra, Medicare, NEC, Neuroscience Research Australia, Mater Misericordiae, GP Partners Ltd, iSOFT, Medibank.

Hot topics mentioned

Hot topics mentioned in this report include – PCEHR, NBN, secure delivery, healthcare, baby-boomers, telehealth, broadband, remote diagnosis and remote video monitoring.