The key to good health

By Leut-Cmdr Neil Smeaton

The roll-out of the ADF’s revolutionary new health information management system, HealthKEYS, will begin on August 16 in units based in Darwin.

For the first time, Defence will have the ability to accurately and quickly report on the health readiness of not only individuals and units, but also the ADF as a whole.

HealthKEYS will be fully implemented by late 2008 after the completion of the project’s second phase, giving every ADF member a full electronic health record accessible from any military base in Australia.

The director of the HealthKeys Project, Terry Knox, said the system would incorporate practice and financial management, followed by full clinical management for both medical and dental diagnosis and treatment.

“A member based in Townsville and on leave in WA will be able to attend any West Australian health unit and have his health record immediately available to the treating clinician,” he said.

“The benefits to the member from this initiative alone are considerable, ensuring consistence of health care between the Services, between commands and across distance.”

Mr Knox said ADF units based in Darwin would be the first to benefit from the roll-out which would be completed in the NT by the end of October.

By the end of 2004, HealthKEYS should have been implemented in the ACT and south-east Queensland. In 2005, implementation would occur in WA, SA, southern NSW and the Sydney region, Townsville and finally Tasmania and Victoria.

By 2006, implementation in major fleet units and other deployable units would have been completed. Mr Knox said once HealthKEYS had been implemented in a unit, a number of significant administrative changes would occur:

“In the short term, this may involve some additional work for units but, as the system is bedded down, the benefits to the unit and the ADF as a whole will become readily apparent,” he said.

The beginning of the roll-out marks four-and-a-half years since the project office was created in February 2000.

“The Project Office has achieved some significant milestones, including full security accreditation and implementation in health units from all three Services,” he said.

Mr Knox said electronic health information management systems would revolutionise health delivery within the broader Australian community.

“With the implementation of HealthKEYS within the ADF, Defence will be at the forefront of that revolution,” he said.