Digital Health making a difference

Dear Australian digital health community,

Next week I will celebrate one year since I began my journey at the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). For those of us that have been in the digital health / eHealth / health IT space for a long time, we have all had a view about the Australian Government’s approach to digital health and the investment in the My Health Record (MHR). Delivering national capability in digital health that benefits ALL stakeholders is not easy and was always going to be a long-term commitment.

One thing I have come to understand about the ADHA is that the people who work here are extremely capable and they're here because they care about the health of Australians. At all levels, everyone is passionately committed to enabling change in the healthcare system that benefits all Australians, including our wonderful clinician community. As Chief Technology Officer at the ADHA, I am privileged to work with an awe-inspiring group of talented professionals responsible for ADHA’s national digital health solutions. This includes the journey we have commenced to modernise MHR foundations that will provide contemporary support for pervasive health information interoperability, all the while keenly focused on securing and protecting Australian's health information.

For all our organisations, the pandemic has presented enormous challenges and for those on the front line of care delivery, the demands have been relentless. I am so proud of how the digital health community across Australia has responded to these challenges. The following article published by The Mandarin helps illustrate the ADHA’s small part in the nation’s response to the pandemic:

“Digital health services prove merit as frontline of pandemic response under pressure” by Jackson Graham, Thursday January 20, 2022.

The future of digital health in Australia is in our collective hands. The development of the next National Digital Health Strategy is in full swing and will help guide engagement and investment in digital health in the years ahead. ?Hopefully many of you have taken the opportunity to contribute to this important work.

Thank you to everyone involved in digital health in Australia – together we are making a difference.

Mal Thatcher