Was looking at some of the EHR (Electronic Health Record) world a while ago.
I think i read correctly somewhere that the UK (NHS) spent 12billion euro on their National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) project. A few days ago i read that Australia is going to try and hook all the hospitals up using the NBN. Budget somewhere between 1-2 billion to do so. I think it will probably include some sort of National unified database. I wander if this idea is using decade old thinking. Why ? It would make sense if this was the case where people didn't have home computers or internet access and an online life (lets go back 10 years). Today - just about everyone has a computer (either their phone) or at home, heck they probably have 2-3 at home right. We all have email. We all have some sort of Online presence - ie. facebook for most. This idea that we have to build a big machine to do all the heavy lifting of communication seems a bit old ( and done already). Why can't we nominate a digital account where the files are stored , and I can own the data, take it with me, carry it on a key (that can be read onsite by an ambulance driver). How much medical history does the average person have - i bet including x-rays, less than 1 GB. ie. 90% of people get a cold, or break a limb when a kid and that's it. But for those that do need extensive medical history that will impact any analysis - what are we talking about 5% of the population ?. In NEHR there is a lot of work on exchange formats going on - that sounds like a good idea. But do we also need to own and operate a massive data store/exchange ? I was just listening to David Siegel speaking on The Semantic web (http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4428.html) and had some interesting ideas on medical records. Is this a candidate say for Data Portability ? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://tr.im/ujKF No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself: http://tr.im/ujMm To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
