ADHA accelerates connected care for allied health

After attracting substantial interest from software vendors, the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) has tripled investment in its Allied Health Industry Offer, to accelerate the connection of allied health professionals to comprehensive consumer healthcare data via My Health Record and electronic prescribing services.

“The Allied Health Industry Offer attracted substantial interest from software vendors, resulting in 16 vendors now working on this important project. This has enabled the Agency to expand funding to more than $2 million to support a broader range of professions within the sector,” Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM said.

“Co-design work began this week to create software that will provide allied health professionals with the digital tools to access vital health information, paving the way for more effective and coordinated care for all Australians,” Cattermole added. “Improved information sharing is critical where broad care teams need to work together to provide the best outcomes for healthcare consumers, such as supporting chronic, advanced or complex disease management.”

The first two vendors contracted to the Allied Health Industry Offer have now been joined by a further 14. The 16 vendors are:

• Best Practice Software
• Beyond Essential Systems (BES)
• CareLynx
• Cared Global
• Clintel Systems
• Energy Testing Solutions Australia
• Global Health Limited
• Halaxy
• Harmonie Health
• Humanetix
• Medical-Objects
• PalCare
• PPMP
• QUBS
• Touchstone Life Care
• ToukanLabs
   

"With this expanded investment we are able to collaborate with a range of vendors, from those with broad market share to smaller organisations with niche expertise, to drive innovative solutions,” Agency Chief Program Officer Paul Creech PSM said. “We remain committed to exploring ways to support all allied health professions to connect to digital health infrastructure, ensuring all Australians can benefit from better connected health care.”

The expanded funding is intended to add significantly to those already accessing My Health Record and enhance capabilities in areas such as dietetics and nutrition, counselling, exercise physiology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology, speech therapy, social work and sonography. The sector that sees more than 300,000 allied health professionals providing 200 million services annually.

Released in September 2024, in response to the recommendations of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report 2022, the Agency’s approach has been informed by the Allied Health Digital Transformation Survey Report. Published in February 2025 and conducted in collaboration with Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA), the survey revealed strong interest among allied health professionals in connecting to digital health infrastructure.

“Fit-for-purpose, conformant clinical information systems are one of three infrastructure enablers identified in the survey,” AHPA CEO Bronwyn Morris-Donovan said. “This investment into software vendors is a necessary first step toward enabling allied health professionals to access and use digital products such as My Health Record and electronic prescribing.”

Software vendors working toward delivering solution design documents by May 2025 have already attended an information session, the Agency said, to establish connections and support from the Agency’s specialists in clinical safety, conformance assurance, connections, electronic prescribing, interoperability, service design and solution architecture.

Image credit: iStock.com/SDI Productions