Time for genuine vision 
for digital health

Time for genuine vision for digital health

The AMA Digital Health Subcommittee has developed a vision statement which outlines AMA’s position that new healthcare technologies must be designed in close consultation with medical practitioners and patients, with ongoing quality improvement and system review.

Digital technologies have the potential to transform health systems. Health systems across the world have tried to adapt and incorporate new technologies to differing levels of success. Despite the opportunities these technologies present, Australia has been slow to adopt and embed many innovative approaches. We need medical leadership, consultation, and engagement to make this happen.  

The AMA has always endeavoured to be at the forefront of the technological and digital developments in the healthcare space, aiming to ensure new technologies improve patient outcomes and deliver greater efficiencies to the system.

In recognition of the need to clearly define the AMA’s perspective on the future of digital health, the AMA Federal Council recently adopted the AMA Digital Health Vision Statement – Preamble 2021.  

The AMA Digital Health Subcommittee, which I Chair, was tasked with the development of the Vision Statement. We were given a clear brief: outline what the AMA sees as the key aspects of digital health and how these should contribute and improve Australia’s healthcare system. 

Recognising the broad scope of digital health, the Subcommittee elected to call for a patient-focused healthcare system, ensuring equity in healthcare for both patients and doctors. 

We know that technology will play an increasing role in healthcare in future years. Ideally, technologies should promote patient independence and disease prevention, reduce hospitalisation, and improve patient outcomes. From a doctor’s perspective, technology should work for doctors, not create work for doctors. It should reduce the time we spend doing paperwork, enable more time to focus on the patient, and support seamless and secure transmission of information between different healthcare providers. 

With change comes risk. As medical practitioners, it is our obligation to first do no harm. 

Hence, the AMA Digital Health Vision Statement outlines AMA’s position that new healthcare technologies must be designed in close consultation with medical practitioners and patients, with ongoing quality improvement and system review. The Statement also notes the rapid changes in medical educational requirements, training delivery, examination practices, workforce management, research, and the practice of medicine.

The Preamble outlines the AMA vision and provides key guidelines for the way forward. It will be followed by other digital health position statements that will further elaborate on the AMA’s position on areas including interoperability, data governance and patient privacy, electronic medical record implementation principles, and safety and quality of eHealth systems. 

The AMA Digital Health Subcommittee has a lot of work to do. However, with the members’ expertise and knowledge available to the Subcommittee, as the Chair, I feel confident we will achieve great things.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Jill Tomlinson is the chair of the AMA Digital Health Sub Committee and a plastic, reconstructive and hand surgeon in Victoria.