The Australian Digital Health Agency is upgrading the data architecture of the national digital health record system.
It has awarded Telstra Health a A$33 million ($21 million) contract to upgrade the clinical document architecture (CDA) for the My Health Record system.
WHY IT MATTERS
More Australians have been accessing and sharing their digital health records from the national system, particularly driven by a recent federal law mandating the sharing by default of medical images. ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole noted an over 60% increase in views of pathology and diagnostic imaging reports in 2024 alone.
Given this surge, the existing CDA can not fully handle data integration, noted the ADHA. This has made it challenging for healthcare providers to extract specific, actionable data, "leading to inefficiencies at the point of care and hampering the seamless flow of information between systems."
"[T]he time is now for innovating and updating the data architecture that supports health information sharing and future-proofing the nation’s healthcare infrastructure," the agency remarked.
Telstra Health's work involves enhancing connectivity and secure data exchange to support seamless integration, according to managing director Elizabeth Koff. Central to this are FHIR standards, she said. This aligns with the Australian federal government's push for the consistent adoption of FHIR standards across the country's health system.
The company will also collaborate with FHIR-enabler Smile Digital Health and local integration partner Leidos Australia.
Considered a national asset, My Health Record now holds over 1.8 billion clinical documents, according to the ADHA.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
The continued modernisation of My Health Record is part of pipeline projects under the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's 10-year digital health blueprint. The Australian government set aside $144 million more for this project in its Health budget this year.
The latest contract to upgrade the system's data architecture followed ADHA's tender request for an application support and maintenance service provider for the nation's digital health infrastructure. The work, it said, will be critical to maintaining the reliability, performance, and scalability of the infrastructure, which also underpins My Health Record.
