Health Information Management Association of Australia Ltd

January 2010 eNews Brief 

HIM NEWS BRIEF  Members Visit the complete HIMAA Newsletter pages (here)

FROM THE EO

Welcome back to a new year. Planning for the 2010 national conference has advanced considerably since the last newsletter. The venue has been confirmed as the Harbours Edge Events Centre, Darling Harbour, Sydney; a Sydney Harbour cruise has been confirmed for the conference dinner; a preliminary program has been developed; approximately half the exhibition booths have already been taken; and registrations are now open. The conference focuses on the central role of health information management in the healthcare reform process. A quick scan of the news items listed in this newsletter (and past newsletters) indicates the level of interest and activity around ehealth issues. However, it was interesting to note a comment by Linda Kloss (the outgoing CEO of AHIMA) in the January 2010 edition of the Journal of AHIMA that "When the thrust of IT implementation is behind us, this is all going to be about information management." All conference details are available on the conference website (http://www.himaa.org.au/2010/site/default.html) , including the preliminary program, keynote speaker details and the registration form. The very popular New Member Package is again included in the registration options. So, with the advent of a new year, it's time to get your abstracts and registrations submitted, and vigorously encourage potential new members to take up the New Member Package. As advised last year, a team from the HIMAA Education Committee conducted an accreditation survey of the HIM program at the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. The course passed the survey with flying colours and has been granted HIMAA accreditation. So, for the first time in HIMAA's history, graduates of an overseas course will be eligible for Full Membership of HIMAA. 

The following is an extract from a media release by The Hon. Nicola Roxon, MP Minister for Health and Ageing: 8 December 2009

APPOINTMENT OF FIRST CEO OF HEALTH WORKFORCE AUSTRALIA
I am pleased to announce that the first Chief Executive Officer of Health Workforce Australia will be Mr Mark Cormack, the current Chief Executive of the ACT Health Department. Mr Mark Cormack will be based in Adelaide where the new agency will be established. Health Workforce Australia has been established to produce more effective, streamlined and integrated clinical training arrangements and to support workforce reform initiatives. Mr Cormack brings important experience in public and community health care as well as a background in Allied Health. The appointment has the support and approval of all Australian health ministers. It fulfils the major Council of Australian Governments (COAG) goal of establishing a truly national body to work across the health and education sectors to deliver the right number of high quality health professional graduates to service the health needs of the Australian Community. 

Mr Cormack has been invited to deliver a Keynote Presentation at this year's HIMAA National Conference, and with HIM and Clinical Coder workforce issues high on many agendas HIMAA looks forward to engaging with Mr Cormack and his office. 

HIMAA's National President, Vicki Bennett, has added to her already voluminous portfolio by accepting the appointment of IFHRO Director, Western Pacific. Vicki replaces Mr Keneti Vaigafa from Samoa.

NEWS IN BRIEF

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Ovum: Australia needs to get national e-health act together  
The global electronic health record (EHR) industry is set to blossom this year but Australia's muddled national e-health strategy may stymie local growth, according to research firm, Ovum. .. , Ovum claims Australia risks sluggish EHR growth as the Federal Government fails to ratify a detailed direction for e-health. This will only be resolved when the National E-Health Strategy pushed by the Rudd government back in 2008 to standardise health record formats and integrating public and private health data is formalised. While the country is already advanced in terms of healthcare and related IT systems, the e-health agenda has made little progress. ARN

 
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Govt says e-health will deliver a safer system 
The federal government says its proposed e-health system will improve patient safety and free up GPs. The system, currently under design, will see patient records stored in one national database that can be accessed by different health professionals. The government hopes to see the opt-out system up and running in ten years, and says more than $1 million has been put on the table to get it started. States, territories and health professionals will also have to invest in technologies to allow them to link in to the system. Australian IT
 
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Federal health 'riddled with conflict' 
The commonwealth Health Department is an obstacle to reform and should be broken up, with its core staff numbers slashed by 95 per cent, a report presented to the Prime Minister's Department yesterday recommends. The report, based on interviews with former commonwealth and state health ministers, treasurers and health administrators, says the department is riven with conflicts of interests and should be split, retaining its core function of specialist policy advice while a separate department would deliver services such as Medicare and aged care. The Australian.

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SA takes the lead in eHealth super system 
South Australia has taken the lead in e-Health with Australia's first fully integrated electronic health record system, careconnect.sa. The Enterprise Patient Administration System (EPAS) component of the platform will replace the highly complex network of electronic health record systems that are currently in place. While South Australia has beaten out the other states in completing their plans for careconnect.sa, the process of unifying eHealth record systems is being gradually rolled out nationwide. CeBIT Australia
 
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