Australia’s ambitious $1.1 billion digital health initiative is facing an unexpected adversary: communication systems that refuse to play nice with each other.
The challenge isn’t just about replacing fax machines – it’s about getting a maze of different systems to actually talk to each other. As reported by ABC News, commercial products sold to GPs for encrypted communications are incompatible with one another, creating digital islands in what should be a connected healthcare ocean.
“A lot of organisations are stuck in their ways or haven’t done the investment in electronic systems available,” explains Dr Rob Hosking, chair of the Royal Australian College of GP’s expert committee on practice technology. The result? More than 80 percent of referrals to hospitals still arrive via fax, post, or hand delivery.
It’s a situation that would make any IT professional wince. While nearly all GPs (99%), hospitals (97%), and pharmacies (99%) have signed up to connect to My Health Record, the system struggles with fragmentation. Specialist adoption lags at 59%, and aged care providers trail even further behind at 42%.
The Australian federal government’s solution involves building a national standard for information exchange into various systems – GP software, specialist programs, hospital systems, and My Health Record. But implementation varies wildly by region. “Queensland is very far advanced and NSW are a lot further advanced than Victoria. Some states have put more effort into it than others,” notes Dr Hosking.
Even successful initiatives highlight the compatibility challenge. Seven NSW health districts have moved to a new electronic referral program using HealthLink, while Sydney Children’s Hospital Network has committed to “axe the fax.” But these solutions need to work with existing systems across the healthcare landscape.
Health Minister Mark Butler acknowledges the challenge, noting that My Health Record risks becoming a “shoebox of PDFs” without proper updating. Created in 2012, the system has struggled to keep pace with changing technologies due to what Butler describes as “a lack of investment.”
The Deeble Institute’s 2020 report on Australia’s referral system paints a picture of a system dating back to 1970, desperately in need of modernization. But as Dr Hosking points out, the solution isn’t just about new technology – it requires training administrative and medical staff on these systems.
Perhaps the most telling detail comes from Dr Hosking’s observation about hospital computer systems. When state governments put out tenders for new programs, ensuring compatibility with GP systems isn’t always a priority. It’s a reminder that in healthcare technology, the ability to communicate effectively isn’t just about having modern systems – it’s about having systems that can actually talk to each other.
As Australia works to modernize its healthcare communication, the real challenge isn’t just replacing fax machines – it’s ensuring that whatever replaces them can participate in a coherent conversation across the entire healthcare system.
