AusHealthIT Flash! February 27, 2007

Guess what?

The Australian Health Information Council (AHIC) has been reformed after some two years as the peak E-Health advisory body for Australia.

What is known so far?

1. The new AHIC has no executive authority or significant funds to disperse. It is purely advisory.

2. It has no more than two people in its membership who could be described as Health IT experts

3. It met some time last week apparently – but somehow the meeting date, time and attendees and topics discussed are a secret!

4. The role of the new committee is ‘Long Term Strategy’.

5. Apparently a communiqué is being drafted by DoHA so the great unwashed can get to know what is going on.

The time has come for all this to become a serious political issue as it is clear the present Government has no intent or capability to change things. Lives are being lost today as ‘long term strategy’ is being toyed with!

For the record www.ahic.org.au is still not operational (or .gov)

As the BBC says on their news website – “More soon”

For those interested my article of the 13 October, 2006 explains what is needed from a new AHIC. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out how close we have come in function, transparency and expertise!

Frankly, this is just hopeless. It seems to be secret, not well informed and impotent – just what the health system needs to manage the E-Health domain.

David.

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