eHealth

e-Health Business Development

e-Health business development information relating to e-Health, including the Managed Health Network Grants, major clinical partnerships and Information Management and Information Communication Technology industry arrangements can be found in this part of the website.

e-Health is the use of information and communications technology in the delivery and management of healthcare. The growing use of information management and information and communications technology (IM&ICT) will change and improve health service provision for the benefit of both consumers and providers by:

• improving the quality of care;
• providing more accurate and complete medical documentation; and
• improving communication among health care providers, helping them to respond more quickly to patient needs.

e-Health is seen to be one of the key strengths in supporting the growing health care system. There are countless examples that could be used to define possible users and benefits of e-Health, with core benefits centred around efficiencies in workforce issues and improvement in quality of care and safety.

To provide an opportunity to promote and stimulate e-Health development amongst industry and health care providers, on 1 December 2005 the Minister for Health and Ageing announced the Managed Health Networks Grants. These grants build on the Broadband for Health Program by supporting eligible healthcare organisations to establish advanced broadband services with the capacity to support secure electronic messaging, shared electronic health records and other e-Health activities.

The funding will be used to develop or enhance 'private' or 'virtual private' networks which will improve connectivity and access to information and digital applications. The Eastern Goldfields Regional Reference Site, which is part of the Broadband for Health Program, is already demonstrating the benefits of this advanced broadband technology.

The development of managed health networks is an expanding area for the health sector and these grants serve as an opportunity for innovation in this field.

To contact the Department of Health and Ageing regarding the e-Health Business Development please email: ehealth@health.gov.au