A new report by the Productivity Commission revealed what many residential aged care operators already know: My Health Record is a dog's breakfast. 

The Productivity Commission said the Australian Digital Health Agency's $2 million investment My Health Record is a "shoebox full of pdfs" when it is meant to improve care.

Its second paper on healthcare productivity, Leveraging digital technology in healthcare, released on Tuesday, stated better integration of digital technology could save billions of dollars and ease pressures on the system, freeing up workers to care. 

"Making better use of data in electronic medical record systems could save up to $5.4 billion per year by reducing the length of time patients spend in hospital, and up to $355 million through fewer duplicated tests," the report states.

"Up to 30% of the tasks undertaken by the workforce could be automated using digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI); precious time that could be spent caring for patients."

The report states Australia has made "major strides" in integrating digital technology into healthcare, but there are still a lot of potential savings and efficiency gains to be made through services such as remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.

Digital innovations allowing care to be delivered remotely such as telehealth, digital therapeutics and remote patient monitoring accelerated during COVID-19 and are now transforming healthcare.

However, the research paper, notes "the Australian Government’s existing telehealth subsidies reward continuity of care, by requiring at least one face-to-face service in the 12 months preceding a telehealth appointment to qualify for Medicare rebates (the so-called 12-month rule). This requirement effectively precludes telehealth delivered by virtual-only providers from attracting government support, and dampens competition by making it harder for consumers to switch healthcare providers."

Growing cost of healthcare

“Healthcare spending already accounts for 10% of GDP and this is only going to increase as our population ages. Our challenge moving forward will be to provide services more cheaply and efficiently without comprising on quality," said PC Commissioner Catherine de Fontenay. 

“Digital records, new models of remote care, and new technologies, such as AI, can make healthcare more efficient and less costly if integrated safely and effectively.”

You can read the PC research on healthcare productivity here.

You can read the PC research on leveraging digital technology in healthcare here.