The document discusses the challenges faced by the Australian health system due to an ageing population and an increase in chronic diseases, which has led to rising healthcare costs and shifts in care models towards primary and outpatient services. It emphasizes the importance of eHealth technologies in reforming the healthcare system by improving information access, communication, and coordination among healthcare providers and patients. The goals outlined include improving patient experience, safety, and operational efficiency, alongside a strategic approach to innovate and adapt to changing healthcare needs.

1. Institute for Health ICT
INNOVATION AND DESIGN FOR A
HEALTH-E FUTURE
PROFESSOR STEVEN BOYAGES
STEVE.BOYAGES@GMAIL.COM

2. Care
Communication
Collaboration
Coordination
Clinical Care
Models
Health Services are about..

3. Health ICT: Linking People to Place and Services
Self
Care
Social
Independence
People
Medical
Hospital
Care

5. Purpose
The current health system is struggling to keep pace
with the demand for health services and in many areas
it is working above and beyond its capacity.

6. Constraints
 The changing social and economic conditions in
Australia coupled with an ageing population and the
modern lifestyle has led to a shift in the burden of disease
from being mainly related to treatable communicable
and non-communicable diseases to being related mainly
to chronic diseases that can be managed and controlled
but not cured.
 Chronic disease, including cardiovascular
disease, cancer, diabetes and asthma, is estimated to be
responsible for around 80% of the total burden
[NHPAC06].

7. Increasing cost
 The net effect of the change in demand for healthcare
services is an increasing cost of healthcare delivery.
 Health expenditure in Australia represented 9.7% of
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008-09, compared
with 6.3% in 1998-99, which suggests that health
expenditure is increasing both in absolute terms and as a
percentage of GDP [AIHW06] [AIHW10a].
 According to the Commonwealth Department of
Treasury‘s Intergenerational Report 2007, health
expenditure is projected to nearly double as a
proportion of GDP over the next 40 years [AGDT07].

8. Changing models of care
 In order to support the changing burden of disease,
demand on healthcare services has shifted to an increased
reliance on primary and outpatient care, supported by an
ever increasing array of specialists and demand for
advanced diagnostic tests and medicines.
 The traditional view of a single episode of care has been
blurred into a series of interconnected long running care
processes across the community.

9. eHealth is a key element to reforming the health system as widespread
adoption of eHealth technologies
 Ensure the right health information is electronically made available to the right person at the right place and time to
enable informed care and treatment decisions;
 Improve communication between individuals and providers and giving individuals electronic access to their health
information.
 Supporting individuals and providers with the ability to monitor individual care plans and health status;
 Enable the Australian health sector to more efficiently operate as an inter-connected system overcoming the current
fragmentation and duplication of service delivery;
 Enable multi-disciplinary teams to electronically communicate and exchange information and provide better
coordinated health care across the continuum of care;
 Provide individuals with confidence that their personal health information is managed in a secure, confidential and
tightly controlled manner;
 Enable electronic access to appropriate health care services for consumers within remote, rural and disadvantaged
communities;
 Facilitate continuous improvement of the health system through more effective reporting and sharing of health
outcome information;
 Improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare facilities by giving providers and individuals better access to
health information, clinical evidence and clinical decision support tools;

10. Our Goals
 Improve patient experience
 Improve HCW experience
 Improve patient safety
 Improve operational efficiency and productivity

11. The BIT Approach!
 Design models of care that address current needs
 Design workflows to match models of care
 Identify information models and metrics that impact on models
of care
 Define key roles and responsibilities of Health care teams
 Build technology platforms that underpin and facilitate work and
information flow.

12. Implementation Dilemma
 Pace of adoption not keeping pace with technology
 Need for agility, flexibility, responsiveness and
timeliness

13. PACE methodology (Gartner)
System of Innovation
System of Differentiation
System of Record

14. iHealth ICT- A System of Innovation
 Spearhead innovation and identify new opportunities
and risks
 Develop a futures strategy and an over the horizon
perspective
 Engage in broad sectoral communication and
collaboration
 Develop micro financing initiatives to identify new tools
that may lead to new IP and commercialisation
 Work in conjunction with industry and academia
 Develop and evaluate prototype and clay models to test
new opportunities
 Develop a culture of agility and responsiveness

15. Key Research Domains
Mobility
Systems
Real Time
Virtualisation Enterprise
Cloud
Computing
Video and
Picture Apps4Health
Social Media Big Data
and Business Systems and
Analytics

16. Risk Benefit

17. Next steps