The biggest thing to hit consumer e-health in Australia in the last few weeks was yesterday's release of the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission's final report ( you can download the report at http://www.nhhrc.org.au/internet/nhhrc/publishing.nsf/Content/nhhrc-report ).

This report is important because it lays out a plan of how to get to the goal of a consumer focused personal health record that is built on a strong foundation of supporting information systems and processes.  There have been many well intentioned plans to deliver the benefits of e-health broadly out to consumers, but they have often struggled because the underlying information systems were inadequate and not enough funding was allocated to improve them.

The current report is aligned with the AHMAC (Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council) strategy that was developed by Deloitte's.  It recommends significant funding and strong governance process to achieve its goals.  As a result it has been receiving  a high level of support from industry.

There is still a distance to go to get a plan implemented, and the devil certainly will be in the detail, but we now look to be building on a solid foundation.  This bodes well for the future of consumer e-health