Digital health is fundamentally changing the way governments deliver healthcare services to the public.
If you cast your mind back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may remember governments mobilising to adopt medical technology at pace…
Virtual GP appointments.
Healthcare records on your phone.
Prescription refills with a tap.
Test-and-trace apps.
Notifications for vaccine rollouts in your area.
All of these things that were once viewed as a mere convenience suddenly became essential to the national health system. But it certainly wasn’t all smooth sailing. Some of these technologies either didn’t work as intended (like the $21m CovidSafe app that found just two unique cases), were vulnerable to cyberattack and data loss, or weren’t inclusive to everyone’s needs.
How to Implement Digital Healthcare Effectively in Australia
Australia is no exception to this rule, but thankfully, their digital health roadmap has been a long time in the making. In fact, as one of the founding members of the Global Digital Health Partnership (and host of its first summit in 2018), Australia is setting its sights on becoming the international leader in this space.
The key lesson learned is: a data and digital government strategy needs to be implemented in the right way and, crucially, use patient engagement software to hear the thoughts and feedback of people who actually use it. This is how governments create a system of person-centred care.
This article covers 5 key insights on how the Australian government is using public consultation to make their world-class healthcare system fit for the digital age.
What Is The Australian National Digital Health Strategy?
The Australian National Digital Health Strategy aims to create a modern, digitised healthcare system inclusive of all people living in Australia. Its goal is to deliver secure and connected public services across the country.
The story began in 2017 with the creation of My Health Record, alongside a consumer-facing app. Here, both citizens and authorised doctors may view patient medical records, order prescriptions, and book appointments or tests.
When the covid pandemic reached Australia’s shores in 2020, this early reform proved instrumental in slowing the spread of the virus and keeping people safe.
Firstly, the number of Australians with an active My Health Record grew from 20% to 90% of the population in just under 5 years. And telehealth usage saw similar exponential growth, with over 118.2 million remote appointments delivered to 18 million patients between March 2020 and July 2022.
By 2028, Australia aims to have a data and digital government strategy that delivers strong health system outcomes, as defined by the Strategy Delivery Roadmap.
The Current Phase of the Australian National Digital Health Strategy
The current phase of the Australian National Digital Health Strategy, launched in 2023, is taking a ‘standards-based approach’ to digital health solutions used by healthcare providers, hospitals, and pharmacies.
The idea is that every tool should be interoperable; capable of “talking to each other” to fetch patient data from wherever it is in the healthcare system.
This comes alongside a four-year funding plan between the tiers of Australian government, centring on the roles of the Australian Digital Health Agency (to develop the correct digital infrastructure) and the Department of Health and Aged Care (to provide policy guidance).
Once realised in full (by 2028), Australia’s future health strategic framework aims to provide patients with:
- The ability to manage and share their personal health info from any smart device.
- A clearer understanding of their health status and risk factors.
- Expanded telehealth/virtual care options for rural citizens.
- A coordinated care system with fewer duplicate tests and wastage.
- Confidence that their sensitive health data will be secure and protected.
1. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Transformation
The Digital Health Roadmap makes clear that technology alone won’t transform Australian healthcare — it needs to be built for the people who will use it day-to-day. So, the first hurdle is to take control of the four ‘change enablers’.
These are:
- Supportive policies
- Intuitive digital tools
- A digitally-savvy workforce
- Digitally-literate patient
Let’s take a look at some of the work going on behind the scenes here:
- Problem: Siloed health information systems make it difficult for healthcare providers to access complete patient data.
- Solution: The National Healthcare Interoperability Plan is developing a secure messaging capability to quickly and securely transfer clinical documents between providers.
- Problem: Lack of standardised digital health training for healthcare professionals.
- Solution: The National Digital Health Capability Action Plan is being implemented to provide clear guidelines, training resources, and a web-based repository for all digital health content.
- Problem: Healthcare organisations struggle to assess their digital maturity and plan ahead during this time of change.
- Solution: The Digital Health Capability Framework (ADHCF) provides a self-assessment tool for health orgs to create their own workforce training plans.
2. The Digital Health Strategy Can Uplift Health Literacy (and Prevent the Worst Illnesses)
Non-communicable diseases — such as diabetes, cancer, and heart/respiratory diseases — are the leading cause of mortality in Australia, accounting for 90.9% of total deaths in 2019.
This follows a broad global trend where developed countries have high-quality health systems and long-life expectancies, but their actual quality of life is stagnating as more people develop chronic illnesses.
As such, the Digital Health Strategy places a huge emphasis on health promotion strategies that could change harmful behaviours like substance abuse and dietary choices.
Digital technology means these materials are easily-accessible, can be updated at a moment’s notice, and can be tailored to the health conditions and lifestyle of every citizen.
Improving literacy through healthcare apps
In the Australian model, it all comes back to the My Health Record mobile app. By 2024, they want to make it the central hub where people can view their health risk factors and find resources that are most relevant to them.
For instance, it could provide patients with tools to:
- Fast-track early diagnosis
- Order electronic prescriptions
- View adverse drug reactions
- Learn and share about their allergies
- Provide their immunisation history
This is useful not just for patients, but also healthcare providers that would otherwise have no idea what a person’s Medicare history is.
At the same time, Australia is also developing an Assessment Framework for consumer-grade digital health products. This means things like third-party mobile apps, such as diet and exercise trackers, will all follow standardised Medicare advice and provide links to support groups in a patient’s area.
3.The New Digital Health Service Will Prioritise Person-Centred Care
Now, if you think all of this sounds like a bold mission, you’d be correct. Instead of leaping into the dark and praying the new system works as intended, the Digital Health Agency is taking a collaborative, person-centred approach.
What does “person-centred care” mean?
In practice, it means Australian citizens are at the heart of a co-design process. Here, the government asks questions, listens to feedback, and publishes reports that show how they’re improving services in line with people’s expectations. It means citizens are not just passive recipients of the new systems; rather, they are active participants in shaping it.
Throughout the digital roadmap, the Australian government is making broad use of patient engagement solutions, especially online consultations.
In one survey, hosted on the Citizen Space platform, people were asked about changes to the My Health Record app, to see whether results of diagnostic imaging tests should be made available immediately or subject to a 7-day delay.
Over 400 people responded, many of whom complained about the “stress when waiting for test results”. It was clear that the current system needed reworking, and changes were shortly implemented with help from a Clinical Reference Group.
4. Accessibility and Inclusivity take Centre Stage
Australian healthcare is a universal service, but that doesn’t mean health outcomes are equal for everyone across the country. In general, life expectancy is lower for people in rural regions who live further from hospitals and find it harder to receive regular prescriptions. And among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, these disparities become even worse. Take for instance, the fact that Aboriginal men are 2.5 times more likely to smoke daily as the average Australian male.
So, another key aim of the Digital Health Strategy is to make Medicare Australia services more accessible regardless of where a patient lives. Right now, the focus is on adding more functionality to My Health Record app, alongside its translation into 17 languages. The government also wants to offer more home-based care services, and will be rolling out digital tools for health staff to assess patient needs when out of hospital.
Closing the Healthcare Gap
In line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the Australian government is also working hand-in-hand with Aboriginal healthcare organisations. All digital health plans and activities will be subject to scrutiny, co-design, and joint implementation by the different tiers of government in Australia.
The Australian model bears resemblances to a similar digital inclusion strategy in the UK: the Smart Leeds programme. Here, Leeds City Council recognised that people who are digitally excluded are also more likely to be homeless, have English as their second-language, and suffer from mental health issues or long-term disabilities. In response, the council implemented a wide-scale tablet-lending scheme, offered free WiFi in community buildings, and trained a network of 2000+ ‘Digital Champions’. Ultimately, this resulted in over £500K of savings for health services in the city.
5. Data Collection Will Enable Better Long-Term Healthcare Policy
Last but not least, the National Digital Health Strategy aims to unlock the untapped potential of data analysis in healthcare decision-making. The government plans to go much further than the standard ‘clinical measures’ currently used in health settings, such as hospital readmission rates or average length of prescriptions.
While these figures are useful, they don’t reflect the whole picture of how patients themselves perceive their care. That’s an extremely important indicator of how willing people are to engage with the My Health Report app, and ultimately, improve their health literacy and outcomes.
Patient engagement in healthcare will continually ask people to share their experiences — and their responses will play a big role in shared care planning and clinical practice moving forwards.
As for the technical side, the Digital Health Agency is building out the infrastructure and expertise needed to securely store, analyse, and interpret such large datasets of health info and feedback. The long-term vision is clear: use public consultation feedback and data ethically to create a more sustainable, responsive, and equitable healthcare system for all Australians.
