2020 ideas lost in translation
By Michael Woodhead, 6minutes editor
Reading the summary from the Health Summit this weekend I had to wonder why they needed 1000 of Australia’s best brains to come up with some of the ideas. A lot of the proposals for health were no brainers – putting more emphasis on preventative health, for example.
And yet some of the more exciting ideas have already been dismissed as unrealistic. The idea for a Facebook-style social network to connect doctors and patients, for example, dubbed “Healthbook”, was described as “half baked” by the AMA.
The idea, which got the enthusiastic support of PM Kevin Rudd, envisages patients being able to post personal health details to be viewed by nominated people such as doctors, carers and family members. The concept has already been developed into beta sites by Google and Microsoft, and far from being “half baked” is already being implemented by the AMA’s Canadian counterparts, the CMA.
According to this article, the CMA has launched an online portal called mydoctor.ca that allows patients to store their health records, track their disease progress and communicate securely with the doctors. At present the site is being used by about 200 doctors to track three key areas: asthma, high blood pressure and obesity.
Patients using the system have a personal profile for which they enter data such as peak flow readings, BP and weight. This information is available to their personal doctor who can monitor their progress and give feedback and advice.
The system is currently being used by about 200 physicians and there are plans to add more conditions, such as diabetes. Kudos to the CMA for taking the lead in this area.
Perhaps we should hold fire and to see what comes of the 2020 Summit ideas. According to one delegate, former AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, much of the discussion that took place was not reflected in the instant summaries that we covered yesterday.
He told 6minutes that many of the key messages agreed by the health panel were “lost in translation”. And he wonders whether the ideas need so many new commissions, taskforces and committees that Labor is creating to implement them. Isn’t this just creating more bureaucracy and bypassing their expertise that is already out there. Perhaps the next 2020 health summit should be for those at the coalface of healthcare delivery. |
