Deloitte Consulting has won the contract to deliver the government’s new health information gateway.

The Australian Digital Health Agency says the gateway, the first phase in a large-scale digital health infrastructure modernisation program, will open the door to a simplified, future-ready health ecosystem.

The gateway will provide a scaleable platform for exchanging and accessing health information such as vaccination and aged care data and will connect healthcare providers to My Health Record and other digital products and services.

ADHA says the gateway will be based on modern standards for health information exchange and clinical terminologies, such as Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), meaning it will be able to interact with health information exchange technologies used by the medical software industry, as  well as state and territory health departments.

Cutting costs and reducing simplicities

DHA CEO Amanda Cattermole says the new gateway will cut costs and minimise technical and operational complexities.

“A connected healthcare system is at the heart of the National Digital Health Strategy and while our national digital health infrastructure has already delivered significant benefits for Australians, it is now time to modernise and unlock the potential that new technologies offer,” she said in a statement.

Deliotte Consulting partner Ben Wylie says the company has experience as a specialist provider of technology integration services to both the public and private sectors.

He says there’s an increasing need for healthcare reform that includes large-scale adoption of digital health technologies modern standards for health information exchange.

“We are looking forward to making an important contribution to helping the ADHA to deliver contemporary digital services that enhance access to heath products and services,” he said.

DHA began work on modernising its national infrastructure in 2019 with stakeholder feedback sessions and announced the tender to replace existing gateway services last November.

The request for tender said the successful provider would create a standalone, contemporary  capability for digital health products and services and provde a single point of access to the national digital health system.

The timeframe for service delivery was set at September 2021.

ADHA has prioritised modernising digital infrastructure is its top strategic focus for 2021.