Digital Economy Strategy: Response to the Consultation Paper

This submission responds to the Australian Government’s consultation paper on a Digital Economy Strategy, arguing that health offers greater prospects for digital transformation than most sectors and that health and medical research and innovation are the means of achieving it. Research Australia points to healthcare expenditure of $170 billion in 2016, hospital adverse events affecting about 5% of patients and adding an average of 10 days to their stay, and Productivity Commission findings that some of the greatest gains from public data lie in health. It sets out a vision in which all health information is digital and standardised, routinely analysed, available to patients and clinicians, and readily and securely available to researchers and innovators, with telehealth routine in regional and remote areas. Its recommendations include a target date for the digital collection of all health information by government-funded or regulated services; stronger support for and mandating of terminology and metadata standards such as SNOMED CT; greater capacity to analyse and link data across governments; making government-held data available to individuals and third-party developers; implementing the Productivity Commission’s data availability recommendations and opening My Health Record data to research, including commercial research; an industry strategy for assistive technologies for older Australians and people with disability; expanding the APS Data Skills and Capability Framework; scholarships in data science; and teaching on technology in medicine, nursing and allied health degrees. It also notes alignment with FDA clinical trial data standards and the need to bridge the digital divide.