Setting out a new IT strategy for the health service will be a key target for the HSE’s new chief information officer when he takes up his post next month, according to Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.
Richard Corbridge will join the HSE from the NHS National Institute for Health Research. Implementing the Government’s ehealth strategy will be among his responsibilities.
Ireland spends just 0.85 per cent of its health budget on IT, compared with an EU range of 2–3 per cent. Asked whether he would increase this to support the governance and delivery of the Government’s ehealth strategy, Varadkar said that once the new IT strategy for the HSE had been finalised, “we will have a clearer picture of the level of investment needed”.
“We do know that the National Children’s Hospital, the new financial operating model, the unique health identifier project, laboratory and other hospital systems will require significant capital investment.
“However, the 2015 Budget includes a significant boost of €15 million in capital funding for IT, on top of the current allocation of €40 million.”
Varadkar answered questions on his ehealth strategy ahead of a conference in Dublin yesterday.
Digital supply chain
In the Government strategy, ehealth is described as a fully integrated digital supply chain, involving “high levels of automation and information sharing”.
It involves making accurate information about every patient available when and where it is needed, eliminating duplication, increasing patient safety and improving, for example, the management of chronic illnesses.
On the immediate challenges for the new chief information officer, Varadkar said information technology was “a hugely important area of the health service”.
“Yet too often it’s been overlooked. If you think about it, we have a health system that has multiple IT systems, many of which cannot communicate with each other. In any sector of the economy this would make no sense. But from the point of view of the patient, this is something that clearly needs to be addressed.”
He said the increase in the capital budget would allow the Government “to finally start investing in IT and put a more coherent structure in place”.
“It’s going to take a lot of time, work and energy, but hopefully it will yield the right results for patients and for the health service.”
Timeframes for the implementation of crucial parts of the ehealth strategy, such as the implementation of individual health identifiers for patients, have yet to be provided, but the enabling legislation for those was passed in July.
The Minister said one of the most important IT projects for the next few years will be the health identifier.
“The goal is to give every patient a unique number, like a social security number. When up and running, the unique health identifier will allow patients and medical personnel to have access to a full range of medical records for one individual. It should bring an end to the problems of old or lost records.”
Varadkar said the unique health identifier had been talked about since he was a medical student, but he really hoped “we can now start making progress”.
“It will need a lot of planning and will be a significant business and technical project. That’s why the HSE is currently putting the various components into place, and a steering committee and project
Another priority is to set up the ehealth Ireland committee. This will advise the HSE on important developments in ehealth, and should allow the HSE to keep up with important changes taking place around the world.
Patient rights
Asked about governance issues to ensure the fundamental rights of patients to the protection of their sensitive personal data when implementing the strategy, Varadkar acknowledged this was a challenge at international level, as well as for Ireland.
“In Ireland, we will ensure that patients’ rights and privacy issues are addressed through legislation, and that adequate sanctions are in place for any breaches.”
There would be consultation with other parties such as the Data Protection Commissioner, he said. Hiqa would also have a critical role in setting standards and the proposed EU data protection regulation would specifically address issues around health data.
On the potential entrepreneurship, commercial and export-led opportunities referred to in the ehealth strategy, Varadkar said Ireland was already seeing strong growth in export-led jobs, inward investment and indigenous start-ups.
“The health sector is a major part of our economy. There are almost 100,000 people employed in the HSE, and Ireland is already a major player for pharmaceutical and medtech companies. I think there is great potential to grow this further and I’m keen to see the Government playing its part.”
Varadkar spoke at a conference, “Connected health and me: the patient perspective,” in Dublin yesterday that was organised by IPPOSI and UCD.
IPPOSI is a partnership of patient groups and charities, science and industry that aims to make innovations in healthcare available at the earliest stage to patients.
It aims to get patients involved in the development of medicines and policy, including clinical trials, health technology assessments (which inform the Government’s decision to reimburse new medicines) and national health policy issues.
Other speakers at the event included Dave deBronkart, also known as ePatient Dave. DeBronkart survived stage 4 kidney cancer seven years ago and he now speaks internationally about health policy.
He has been widely published in health journals and his TED Talk “Let Patients Help” was in the top half of the most viewed TED Talks with about half a million views. DeBronkart speaks of “the power of patient networks”, of the importance of software innovation and about the necessity of giving people access to their own data to help them address their health needs.