Hospital networks key to e-health plan: Rudd's health reform

E-health barely rated a mention last week, but Mr. Powick told The Australian "no government is going to invest in e-health or IT systems without a reform context, and we clearly have that now".

"Mr. Rudd talked about the need to deliver better integrated, better co-ordinated care that's more responsive to patient needs, and about putting in place a health system for the 21st century," he said. "I'd argue very strongly that you can't do either without electronic communications." Mr. Powick said the concept of local hospital networks offered a very useful way of advancing connectivity between the acute and primary care sectors -- but warned there was a risk that too much fragmentation could "splinter the e-health agenda into a thousand pieces". "What's interesting is that the more successful e-health pilots -- in northern Brisbane, the NSW Hunter Valley, Barwon in Victoria, and the Northern Territory -- are all happening at a regional level," he said. "So local engagement is very positive, provided we don't end up with a whole bunch of small-scale, disparate projects."