Review of the National Digital Health Strategy
About the project
Digital Health innovations are being developed at a rapid pace and being used by Australian consumers. Many Australians have been and continue to use Telehealth to access services across the health system. Consumers are increasingly using electronic prescribing which delivers convenience and access to their prescriptions wherever they are in Australia. Access to My Health Record (MHR) by consumers is increasing, particularly because of Covid 19 and the inclusion of vaccination records in the MHR.
Digital health innovations provide an opportunity to create a more connected health system and to provide improved accessibility to health care for all Australians. In this context, the future is about understanding the broader barriers in access to healthcare for a range of diverse consumers, and evaluating where digital health may, or indeed may not, contribute to reducing or eliminating those barriers for all of us, regardless of who we are or where we live. To that end the Australian Digital Health Agency is in the process of undertaking a review of the National Digital Health Strategy. The Agency works with the Commonwealth, States and Territories to ensure the strategy provides a national direction and supports jurisdictions to deliver on digital health priorities.
The Australian Digital Health Agency wants to ensure consumer views are reflected in the outcomes of its Review of the National Digital Health Strategy which will be released in 2022. As a collaborative effort CHF will be undertaking a series of 15 Kitchen Table Discussions across the country to hear from consumers at this critical point in time.
Kitchen tables discussions offer consumers from across Australia the opportunity to facilitate a consultation with their local community on their view of the way forward for digital health, based on their experiences to date. The focus will be on identifying ways to improve digital health already in use, building on its strengths, identifying weaknesses and barriers, how new health priorities could be delivered into the future and what opportunities they see for improving technology or developing new technology to progress towards creating a connected and accessible health system for all.
Hosts were remunerated for this work.
About Kitchen Table Discussions
Kitchen Table Discussions are community engagement sessions led by local people for local people. They allow individuals and small groups to participate in discussions at a time of day, and in a place and in a way that suits them. The discussions enable health consumers, carers and community members who do not ordinarily participate in healthcare consultation to have their say in a safe and supportive environment.
Each Kitchen Table Discussion, which takes 1.5 – 2 hours, will be led by a Consumer Host with a strong community network who will invite up to 10 community members to a discussion in a location or manner of their choosing. The Host guides the discussion with a set of questions provided to them and reports back the outcomes to CHF. CHF will in turn compile the responses into a set of consumer insights.
At present, it is likely that successful applicants would be required to hold their Kitchen Table Discussion within a two-week period towards the end of September/early October 2021.
Successful applicants will be required to attend a 1 hour briefing session in the week beginning 20 September.