Accenture-led consortium wins massive government e-health contract

A consortium led by management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, Accenture, has been tapped by the Federal Government’s Department of Health and Ageing to build the IT infrastructure for Australia’s national personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR).

The announcement was made by Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, who said that Accenture would be responsible for designing and building the physical PCEHR system, which will be used by people to register for and view their e-health record.

The value of the contract wasn’t disclosed by Roxon but it is likely to absorb a significant amount of the $466.7 million the government is investing in the project.

Roxon said in a statement: “People will also use this system to allow their GP and other health professionals to view their record, helping to make sure their records are available whenever and wherever they are needed.

“Health professionals will use the system to view their patients’ e-health record, which over time will include information such as health summaries and discharge summaries. Health professionals will also be able to update this record with the most critical and up to date medical information to deliver safe and efficient healthcare.

“Accenture’s track record in the successful delivery of Singapore’s national electronic health record earlier this year was an important factor in their selection during the highly competitive independent tender process with applicants from around the world.”

The consortium includes Orion Health and Oracle.

Accenture role in developing the PCEHR, includes:

• Developing Internet portals so people can view their personally controlled e-health record, control access and enter their own medical information.
• Developing a portal to allow health care providers, when given access by the patient, to view and update a patient’s record.
• Providing for an audit trail that will show when and by whom a person’s record was accessed.
• Providing a reporting capability for critical information about the PCEHR system itself, including performance and usage.

“A key responsibility of the National Infrastructure Partner will be to ensure that the PCEHR system has high availability, including in a medical emergency, and that it works efficiently and securely for patients and providers alike,” Roxon stated.

The National Infrastructure Partner, under the instruction and oversight of the government will also have to ensure stringent protections are in place to safeguard the privacy of patient records.

The infrastructure built will be the property of the Commonwealth.

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