Tags: public policy, health, healthcare reforms, ehr, asia/pacific, china, australia
Healthcare reform across Asia/Pacific will gain a much-needed infusion of cash, catching the spirit of the U.S. ARRA stimulus funding.
Australia's New South Wales (NSW) government finally committed electronic medical record (EMR) funding of $100 million over the next two years to cover 188 hospitals across the state. Earlier in April, the NSW government promised $485 million over four years to deliver better healthcare, including the creation of a Bureau of Health Information to collect, analyze and report on the safety and quality of patient care in public hospitals. At the federal level, we expect much more. The anticipated June 2009 report from last year's established National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) should outline Australia's reform plan, including its concerted plans for EHR. However, security issues around patient data will be a key concern.
China, months after announcing a commitment of $124 billion over three years to provide affordable health, finally issued an implementation guideline on fixing the ailing health care system, including setting up diversified medical insurance systems in the next three years to better cover at-risk urban and rural residents with the goal of covering 90% of the population and also creating new hospitals and clinics.
What is your organization doing to support the government's healthcare reform initiatives in Asia Pacific and what are some of your concerns? I will be in Australia on May 15-19th for a provider CIO forum, New Zealand May 20-23rd for a Health Provider Executive Roundtable with the New Zealand Ministry of Health to discuss EHR and digital hospital, and Singapore May 25-26th. I look forward to hearing from you. Please look for our Health Industry Insights, Asia/Pacific Country Profile report series; Australia and New Zealand reports will be available by the end of May.
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