Australian Medical Association

Establishment of the Healthcare Identifier Service was agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments in 2006 as part of the national approach towards accelerating work on electronic health records to improve the safety of patients and improve efficiency for healthcare providers.

In July 2009, the Department of Health and Ageing released a discussion paper on legislative proposals to support the establishment and implementation of unique identifiers for healthcare purposes and the privacy of health information.

The AMA submission on the discussion paper is supported by the AMA Position Statement on Unique Healthcare Identifiers in 2008.

AMA PRESIDENT, DR ANDREW PESCE, Closing Remarks, HEALTH-E NATION, National Convention Centre, Canberra, 19 August 2009

E-health – The need for unity of purpose

The AMA Position Statement on Electronic Prescription Transfer Systems – 2009 supports the development of an electronic prescription transfer system as a fundamental building block for a broader eHealth system in Australia. It sets out the high level principles that should underpin an electronic prescription transfer system.

The development of an e system in Australia is supported by:

1. the National eHealth Strategy
2. the KPMG Consultancy in Electronic Prescribing and Dispensing Final Report (commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing);
3. the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) Interim Report, including the supplementary paper on person-controlled electronic health records; and
4. commercial vendors actively promoting their prescribing systems.

The AMA position on other aspects of eHealth are set out in the following position statements:

AMA Position Statement – Unique Healthcare Identifiers – 2008
AMA Position Statement – Connectivity – 2007
AMA Position Statement – Safety and Quality of E-Health Systems – 2006

The new PIP eHealth Incentive starts in August 2009.

The advice relates to secure messaging by a eligible suppliers, public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates and the electronic clinical resources that are required to meet program guidelines.

AMA Position Statement: Unique Healthcare Identifiers - 2008

AMA Position Statement: Connectivity - August 2007

AMA Position Statement: Safety and Quality of E-Health Systems - 2006

AMA Position Statement: On-Line and other Broadband Connected Medical Consultations - 2006

The AMA convened an E-Health Forum on 7th and 8th December 2005 in Canberra.

Medical Taskforce on Informatics - Final Report