Newcastle to Lead the Country in e-Health

Hello

The Gillard Government announced yesterday that Newcastle will be one of the first places in Australia to benefit from the use of electronic health records.

Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Nicola Roxon MP, announced that our local GP Access would join two other GP networks (located in Queensland and Victoria) as Australia’s first ever e-health sites.

This is wonderful news for GP Access and for the people of our Region. It is an important step forward in allowing individual online access to health records.

Following the unfortunate closure of the Lambton Family Medical Centre earlier this year, I worked with GP Access to advocate strongly for better patient access to their medical records.

With this announcement, we will be one of the first regions in Australia where patients will be able to manage their own records and control access to their information. No longer will they be at the mercy of any practice that might charge for record transfer or provide a limited transcript to cover many years of a patient’s medical history.

The Gillard Government has listened, it understands the situation and is working to find a local-based solution for the people of Newcastle.

This announcement follows the Prime Minister’s commitment on Monday to modernise the health system and deliver better health services by providing funding for online consultations and video-conferencing.

GP Access and the Gillard Government will take our local health care system into the 21^st century, by building an electronic health record system that improves patient care and the safety and efficiency of the health system.

GP Access were chosen because of their strong e-health capability and support within the local community.  In addition to e-health records, GP Access will use health care identifiers for patients, providers and hospitals, and will be the first to electronically send discharge summaries and referrals using national specifications.

They will help lead the way in developing and informing future planning of the system, improving technology and identifying what works well and what could work better. The two year investment in the three sites of up to $12.5 million in total will allow a thorough trial with the opportunity to develop the best electronic record system to enhance patient care.

The e-health system will also benefit from the roll out of the National Broadband Network.

At a recent address to the National Press Club, the President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Andrew Pesce said “e-health is one major investment which isn't a cost, it's a cost saver if we invest it wisely.”

A Gillard Labor Government will use e-health to further its work to deliver improved health services in Australia.

In contrast, Tony Abbott will scrap $467 million of funding provided by the Government in the most recent budget for e-health.

It’s great to see Newcastle’s GP Access leading the way in patient care and patient control of records. GP Access have demonstrated their commitment to improving the delivery of primary health care in our Region and I am confident that their involvement will improve outcomes for the entire nation.

I congratulate GP Access and am committed to working with them to ensure the success of this important pilot program.

Sharon