Hello Members
The HIMAA Board had the opportunity to be consulted with by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) on their next National Digital Health Strategy as part of their stakeholder engagement. During the meeting with ADHA I reflected on how more and more HIMs are involved in Digital Health. I doubt there are very few large-scale Digital Health projects in Australia that do not have a HIM or HIM-trained professional involved.
During the last decade many of our major public hospitals have replaced their Patient Administration Systems (PAS) and/or started on their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) journey. These systems contain essential patient health information and their passage through the hospital system which supports quality care, hospital funding and performance. The focus until now has been getting these systems in place and the data recorded. As HIMs we know the difference between data, information and knowledge. As hospitals bed down their EMRs, they are starting to look at what they do with that data. As a profession we are well placed to help hospitals and health services translate their data to health information that can provide insights into safer care and improved operational efficiency through data analytics. We have a distinct skillset in our understanding of Information Governance from our core competencies.
I encourage you if you have the opportunity in your organisations to be proactive in seeking roles that utilise your HIM skills which can provide insights based on the valuable data and health information being collected by these new systems.
Getting back to ADHA, they will be seeking public consultation for their National Digital Health Strategy in the coming months. HIMAA will be making a formal submission and there will be an opportunity for members to provide input for this submission. Keep an eye out!
National Conference
As Jae details in her CEO report on the National Conference moving to a virtual format, I want to highlight a few of the speakers.
I am delighted that Amanda Cattermole CEO of ADHA will be opening our Conference.
Dinesh Palipana is an emergency doctor at Gold Coast University Hospital, whom I met through work about 18 months ago. His story is unique and inspiring. His determination to practise medicine saw him as the first quadriplegic medical graduate in the State of Queensland. Earlier this year he was awarded the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2021. He will be sharing his inspirational story with us during the Conference.
Considering my comments about HIMs being more involved in data analytics, I will be having a fireside chat with Duane Attree, CEO of Health Roundtable and Potential(x), a company at the forefront of health data analytics. Duane is also a trained HIM.
I would encourage you to register for the National Conference as staying connected and up to date with industry trends is a mark of a professional.
Onwards and upwards!
Cheens Lee
President
Email: cheensl@himaa.org.au