Introduction 

In the modern era of technological advancements, digital capability has become a keystone of innovation and progress in various sectors. The journey of complex digital infrastructures began with basic computing technologies and has since evolved through several transformative phases. From the early days of digitizing paper-based processes to the current era of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the evolution of digital capability has been marked by rapid advancements and profound impacts on society. This essay explores the key milestones in this evolution, examining how digital technologies have reshaped industries, enhanced efficiencies, and created new opportunities for growth and development.  

Background

Australia’s digital health framework had the aim of quality, safety and effectiveness through the integration of digital technologies. National digital health strategy (NDHS) offers insights into improving patient outcomes with streamlined healthcare services that expand the coordination of patient care with digital tools. The budget for 2022-2023 showcased the investment of an estimated $107.2 million in digital programs and innovations for the modernisation of the healthcare system (HealthAU, 2023). This budget was utilised to expand track and manage Medicare complex care, and digitalisation of the Medicare registration procedure with digital offers in the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. The NDHS expand the accessibility of healthcare services with updated information towards Australian people.

On the contrary, ‘My Health Record’ assists Australian people in storing their medical history in an online interface and enhances past health record management effectively. The Australian government had $290 million for the modernisation of ‘My health record’ in the reformation of the overall operational system in online digital record maintenance (Ang, 2023). However, the renewal procedure in National digital health utilised $86 million for the development of the intergovernmental agreement with the promotion of interoperability in Australian health system. This budgeting process expands the chances of promoting information and billing systems by sharing with healthcare professionals that enhance the connection with health system with effective digitalisation.

The eHealth Program guides healthcare professionals to expand electronic prescriptions that reduce paperwork and expand accuracy in maintaining the sustainability of healthcare and nursing practices. This program enhances the usage of telehealth for empowering remote conversations among patients and healthcare professionals in expanding digital health services. Moreover, the budget plan for 2023 outlines that the Australian government invested around $640 million in a digital health system with the improvement of electronic prescriptions (Ang, 2023a). This aspect contributed to enhancing the personalised healthcare system by managing connections with a healthcare system that empowers healthcare service transparency in Australia with nursing facilities. 

Ethical consideration

    The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) standards outline the importance of professional and ethical practices by maintaining confidentiality and privacy. This aspect guides nurses to ensure the security of the medical history and clinical records of patients that are shared with healthcare professionals and other authorised individuals. On the other hand, standard 2 of NMBA reflects the creation of person-centred services with a friendly environment and expands patient comfort in discussing their health concerns (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2024).

This aspect helps nurses in Australia adopt digital technology in recording patient medical records and current problems with the help of a secured digital platform effectively. The standard procedure leads to nurses signing of informed consent and maintaining alignment with ethical practices in autonomy. This aspect empowers the involvement of patients in their care decisions. Standard 3 of NMBA expands the usage of assessment and planning for the identification of the type of intervention nature in treatment and strength and weakness. Standard 4 enhances the implementation of informed consent for empowering collaboration and partnership with patients and healthcare professionals in developing nursing decisions. Both of these standards guide nursing professionals to share information with healthcare professionals through interdisciplinary collaboration in patient care plan construction. 
    
As per Bjerkan et al. (2021, p.62455), standard 5 develops documentation of medical records related to individual patients that ensure medical needs with nursing practices through communicating with medical professionals.  Standard 6 expands professional development in sharing and privacy maintenance of information with the maintenance of professional and legal standards as per the Australian healthcare system. The nursing practices adopt the digital system to track patient medical progress and past clinical history through the maintenance of privacy and confidentiality. This aspect guides to building of a digital patient-centric environment in the healthcare system of Australia by upholding patient rights in care decisions.

EMR (Electronic medical records) 

The use of digital capability introduces a significant transformation within the EMR (electronic medical records). 

Strengths of EMR technology: 

1.Time-saving: It receives a remarkable shift from traditional paper-based records to easy-to-use digital platforms for keeping important records. Instead of using papers, they use integrated systems that improve the management of patients, management, and the organization of data. Historically, medical records were handwritten and mostly carta-based, making them less retrievable and less informative. This was old method was time-consuming as well. The integration of the digital technology facilitates the process with lesser time and rapid response to treatment process. 
2. Enhanced efficiency: The progress in the shift towards digital technologies in healthcare helps EMRs to become global, interoperative systems. It facilitates the organization and management of patient data while enhancing clinical decisions and the performance of healthcare facilities. It enhances the efficiency, accessibility, and security in the case of documenting patients’ data. The advancement in digital skills has impacted the management of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) (Samadbeik et al., 2020, p. 104238). 

Challenges of EMR technology 

1.Security of the patients’ information: The healthcare providers often face risks of cyberattacks in the case of recording patients’ information after the application of EMR technology. The shift of focus from basic technology implementations to advanced cloud solutions. It also looks at how EMRs contribute to the sharing of information and care coordination in the health industry as well as some of the issues. practitioners have concerned the privacy, security, and compatibility of EMRs. 
2. Technical issues: The EMR system may encounters downtime in the technical performances. In addition, with this, the programme may get slow down due to over load of medical data which is a significant area of concerns. 
    
Over the past years, the Australian healthcare system embraced different digital initiatives by the healthcare providers to improve patients’ outcomes. In 2012, the ‘My Health Record’ system was launched in Australia which aims to create a digital health record nationwide. However, it faced challenges during the initial period due to its security and privacy maintenance policies. Over the time, it has received maximum acceptance from the Australian citizens as a potential digital healthcare solution.

Another, initiative by the Australian health industry called mobile health (mHealth) offers the facility of telemedicine (Digitalhealth.gov.au.com. 2024). It enables the patients to access medical practitioners during the lockdown phase of COVID-19 pandemic situation. ‘The Assessment Framework for mHealth Apps’ is the outcome of ‘extensive consultation’ in both domestic and international aspects. The legal framework of the healthcare providers, clinical societies, and non-government organizations provides support to patients and carers to use these for future consultation. A ‘2018 consumer survey’ from health insurer ‘United HealthCare Services Inc.’ found that 36% of Americans used the internet or a mobile app to compare healthcare services (Techtarget.com. 2024). 

Conclusion 

The study concludes that the evolution of the digital capability profoundly enhances the transformation in several industries. As technology continues to develop, the EMR system is improved for further quality and efficiency of the healthcare system. ‘Digital health solutions and services’ have the potential to empower and address significant barriers to provide access to the healthcare system in Australia. The people of Australia expect strong safeguards to ensure their health data is ‘safe and secure, respected, and their rights protected’. Therefore, the ‘Australian’ system takes initiatives such as ‘the National Digital Health Strategy’ and ‘the My Health Record system’. It sheds light on the ethical frameworks established by ‘the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’ to ensure that digital practices align with professional standards.

 

Top Healthcare Samples

References

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Ang, A. (2023a). What’s in Australia’s 10-year digital health blueprint? [online] Healthcare IT News. Retrieved from https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/whats-australias-10-year-digital-health-blueprint [Retrieved on 5 Sep. 2024].
Bjerkan, J., Valderaune, V., & Olsen, R. M. (2021). Patient safety through nursing documentation: Barriers identified by healthcare professionals and students. Frontiers in Computer Science, 3, 624555. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2021.624555/pdf   
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HealthAU (2023). How the 2022–23 Budget is investing in digital health. [online] Department of Health. Retrieved from https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022/03/budget-2022-23-investing-in-digital-health.pdf  [Retrieved on 5 Sep. 2024].
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2024). Registered nurse standards for practice. [online] Nursing and Midwifery Board AHPRA. Retrieved from https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx [Retrieved on 5 Sep. 2024].
Samadbeik, M., Fatehi, F., Braunstein, M., Barry, B., Saremian, M., Kalhor, F., & Edirippulige, S. (2020). Education and Training on Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) for health care professionals and students: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 142, 104238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104238 
Techtarget.com. 2024. mHealth (mobile health). Retrieved from: https://www.techtarget.com/searchhealthit/definition/mHealth  [Retrieved on: 05.09.24]