New Government group to guide digital health oversight

A new committee has been set up to help boost clinical oversight and safety standards in digital health.
 
The National Clinical Governance Committee for Digital Health will cover three areas: information sharing on My Health Record, patient safety and quality in virtual care and telehealth, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.
 
Set up by the federally funded Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), it will have an advisory group for each area.
 
The committee will consider expanding health information automatically shared to My Health Record, and will provide advice and recommendations on ‘safe and responsible use of emerging digital health models’ and AI. 
 
There have already been significant recent changes to My Health Record, with a new ‘share by default’ approach meaning many pathology and diagnostic imaging reports are now automatically uploaded and have shorter delays before patients can access them.
 
The committee will be chaired by the ADHA’s Chief Clinical Adviser and GP Dr Amandeep Hansra. 
 
‘Our focus is providing advice to government that is drawn from a collaborative ecosystem to ensure the benefits of digital innovation are delivered with clinical safety and quality as the guiding principle,’ she said.
 
ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole added that the committee will play a ‘pivotal role’ in advising officials on evolving health technologies.
   
Representatives from 40 separate health-related organisations are members of the committee, including government officials at state and federal levels, medical colleges, health technology experts, consumer groups, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
 
The RACGP will be represented by college President Dr Michael Wright.
 
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artificial intelligence digital health digital safety My Health Record