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NEHTA and Standards Australia formalise working arrangements to advance e-health standards

The National E-Health Transition Authority and Standards Australia today announced they have developed a detailed collaborative framework for the development of e-health standards in Australia.

NEHTA provides a vehicle for the Australian, State and Territory Governments to focus on recommending critical standards, specifications and services that will underpin the delivery of interoperable e-health systems on a national scale.

Standards Australia, by bringing together Australian and international technical experts, business, academia, government and the community, builds broad consensus by facilitating the development of Australian Standards for primary application within organisations.

Since its inception in 2005, NEHTA has worked closely with Standards Australia to promote coordination and collaboration. This Working Together agreement recognises the respective roles of NEHTA and Standards Australia in establishing e-health standards, and details the mechanisms by which both organisations will continue to work together.

NEHTA CEO, Dr Ian Reinecke, describes the agreement with Standards Australia as an operating framework for the continuation of what has been a highly productive relationship between the two organisations.

"We have been working with Standards Australia, their IT-014 Committee for Health Informatics, various subcommittees and working groups and have found them to be highly constructive and critical to the national e-health standards agenda," Dr Reinecke said.

"This agreement makes the nature of our working relationship clear for all e-health stakeholders," Dr Reinecke said.

John Tucker, Standards Australia's CEO, said today the creation of health informatics standards is critical for the success of efficiently gathering, storing, retrieving and classifying recorded information across the broad range of health and medical fields.

"Both NEHTA and Standards Australia have been working together for some time to assist Australian health authorities, service providers, institutions, information technology vendors and software developers in this area," said Mr Tucker.

"This agreement formally expresses the role of each organization, and how we will cooperate and collaborate to expedite this work which has significant public interest implications," Mr Tucker said.

Key elements in the NEHTA-Standards Australia Working Together agreement include:

• Regular and open dialogue on policy directions, agendas and developments occur between NEHTA and Standards Australia at senior executive level;

• NEHTA's commitment to International and Australian Standards where they are fit for purpose or can be made fit for purpose in the light of new requirements;

• Standards Australia's support for the e-health agenda is a national interest objective;

• NEHTA's intent to pass on technical specifications that become candidates for progression to Australian Standards;

• Collaborative work program planning to ensure that gaps and overlaps are avoided;

• Bi-directional advice and feedback on issues associated with standardisation within Australia and internationally; and

• Coordination of stakeholder engagement and standards development activities wherever feasible to promote optimal utilisation of the pool of available resources.

The Working Together agreement complements NEHTA's latest publication, Supporting National E-Health Standards Implementation. This document provides guidance to those responsible for improving healthcare delivery through information technology, by clarifying the strategies and activities that will assist in resolving the challenges to implementing e-health standards.