The Australian Digital Health Agency has recently launched its national health information exchange program, known as Health Connect Australia. This initiative aims to enhance national digital health interoperability over the next five years, with a focus on improving access to health information and enabling Australians to take control of their healthcare journeys.
The program has identified four strategic goals, including improving access to health information for the right people at the right time, enabling Australians to control their healthcare journeys, enhancing national digital health infrastructure and tools, and ensuring information security and quality.
Health Connect Australia’s three-layered architecture approach includes a federated model for interconnected health IT systems, a common technology framework to support legislative and policy models, and interoperability patterns. The program will be rolled out in four phases: foundational, sharing, discovery, and enhancement, with a focus on establishing a national directory of providers, enabling secure communication between providers, developing a record discovery service, and introducing value-added services.
The national HIE program is expected to improve the relationship between Australians and their healthcare providers by ensuring seamless care and eliminating the need for constant retelling of medical histories. Chief clinical adviser Dr. Amandeep Hansra emphasized the importance of Health Connect Australia in addressing the frustration faced by consumers and clinicians in accessing health information.
To support the implementation of Health Connect Australia, the Australian Digital Health Agency is working on increasing the adoption of open national and international digital health standards, particularly Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). The agency has partnered with HL7 Australia to promote the consistent adoption of FHIR and established a FHIR accelerator program called Sparked. Additionally, the agency is developing the AU Core Framework for Interoperability and collaborating with CSIRO to deliver a new terminology service through the National Clinical Terminology Service.
Health Connect Australia aligns with the Digital Health Blueprint 2023-2033, the National Digital Health Strategy, and the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan. The goal of Australia’s ten-year digital health blueprint is to have data and information shared securely to deliver a sustainable learning health system, with efforts underway to develop legislative frameworks to support the seamless exchange of health information across jurisdictions.
Overall, the launch of the national health information exchange program marks a significant step towards improving digital health interoperability in Australia and enhancing the overall healthcare experience for Australians.
