My Health Record modernisation to cost $429m

The modernisation of the government’s My Health Record will cost $429 million over the next two years, budget documents show.

The government announced back in February that the electronic medical record system would be rebuilt and modernised.

Health minister Mark Butler said at the time that it would “take a significant period of time to rebuild the My Health Record, make it into a genuinely 2020 system that has the ability to underpin real-time integration and interface between patients and healthcare providers.”

He also said that funding for the project would be provided in the 2023-24 federal budget, and that has now occurred.

In budget papers, the government said that $429 million over two years will be invested “to modernise My Health Record”.

This will cover the creation of “a new national repository platform which supports easier, more secure data sharing across all healthcare settings,” it said.

Some of the money would also be put towards improving “the sharing of pathology and diagnostic imaging information”.

There will also be “targeted investment to increase allied health professionals’ connection to MHR,” the government said, after its review uncovered low adoption rates outside of general practitioners and pharmacies.

The latest $429 million injection will take the cost of My Health Record well over $1 billion, based on previous investments in the platform.

ADHA’s funding boost

Also in the health portfolio, the 2023-24 budget contained a sizable allocation of funding to the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA).

The agency is set to receive $325.7 million over four years, and approximately $79.9 million per year ongoing, the government said.

The funding is intended “to establish the ADHA as an ongoing entity to deliver on the government’s commitment to strengthen Medicare.”

Medicare is a big beneficiary of the budget, with “an historic $5.7 billion” being put into bulk billing, more Medicare urgent care clinics and after hours primary care, and “improved access through digital health and expansion of general practice,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

In addition, ADHA’s funding will also go towards “a review of the ADHA’s enabling legislation to ensure the agency remains fit for purpose,” the government said.