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Govt seeks CIO to tackle e-health

The Department of Health and Ageing is looking to appoint a chief information and knowledge officer to begin the implementation of the government's e-health agenda.
Written by Josh Taylor, Contributor

The Department of Health and Ageing is looking to appoint a chief information and knowledge officer to begin the implementation of the government's e-health agenda.

According to the advertisement, the role will report to the secretary of the department and will "have leadership responsibility for information and knowledge management across the portfolio".

"This includes an organisation-wide focus on data, performance and information to improve health outcomes and to support advances in the development of e-health, including recent Australian government investment in a personally controlled electronic health record system," the advertisement states.

The role appears to have been created as part of the government's $466.7 million investment in e-health in this year's Federal Budget.

"The appointee will have a comprehensive understanding of information and knowledge management and integration processes, preferably from a health perspective, including an understanding of the importance of electronic health solutions."

Earlier this week, Health Minister Nicola Roxon revealed that part of the government's plan for e-health was to implement an online portal that would allow patients to log in and view their e-health records. She said it would be up to two years before this portal was in place.

The advertisement for the new position comes amidst a turbulent time in the world of CIOs, with the revelation earlier this week that NSW Department of Education and Training CIO Stephen Wilson is set to leave the organisation for airliner Qantas and Telstra CIO John McInerney quitting last week. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also advertised for a CIO last week.

The legislation to provide individual healthcare identifier numbers for everyone in Australia passed the Senate late last week, which will now provide the base for the $466.7 million investment in e-health. The numbers started to be allocated to all Australians yesterday.

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