Tasmania has announced a major investment in digital health, aimed at improving patient care. 

The state is making a $150 million investment over the next four years to upgrade its digital health infrastructure.

It wants to set up a new state-wide fully integrated care platform that will enable hospitals, GPs, community health, allied health, and other specialist providers to seamlessly communicate and share information with each other.

The budget commitment forms part of a Digital Health Strategy and it is anticipated more than $475 million will be allocated to this project over the next 10 years as the strategy is further scoped and developed.

In the first four years of funding, Tasmania will procure and trial a new centralised and secure Electronic Medical Record system and launch a statewide patient record viewer that connects all public and private health and care providers. 

This is intended to improve access to up-to-date clinical information across a range of healthcare settings. 

The funds will also be used to upgrade existing virtual care technologies - including telehealth - to enable more patients to receive care in their home or in their community, streamline the referral and appointment process for patients, and enhance clinical decision-making through access to advanced data and analytics.

It should deliver a range of benefits for patients, including access to convenient healthcare in local communities, improved communications about appointments, reduced waiting time for services, and less duplication of care and forms.

“Upgrading our digital technologies will benefit our health professionals by providing them with the right data, in the right place, at the right time to enable them to make the best decisions on patient care,” says Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Health.

“In doing so, the changes will free up clinicians to spend more time on clinical activities and caring for patients, and less time on administrative tasks and chasing up paperwork.”

More details are accessible here.