632 - Connected Care Beyond the Postcode: Breaking Down Australia's Digital Health Silos

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, Peter Birch speaks with Peter O'Halloran from the Australian Digital Health Agency, and Farhoud Salimi and Dr Monica Trujillo from Telstra Health, about the current state and future of interoperability in Australian healthcare.

The discussion covers why seamless data sharing is crucial, how policy, technology, and consumer expectations are driving change, and the evolving roles of national infrastructure like My Health Record.

The group unpacks how the shift from paper to digital created a new problem, with information locked inside systems built for a single hospital, practice or specialty.

They talk through the real cost of that fragmentation, from repeated tests and retold medical histories to the harm that occurs when clinicians do not have what they need at the point of care.

The episode closes on what success looks like by 2030, including a future where interoperability is no longer a talking point, data simply arrives inside the workflow, and connected care reaches rural and regional Australia as reliably as it does the capital cities.

Key Takeaways

💡 The priority now is not convincing stakeholders of the need for interoperability but implementing practical solutions for data sharing in healthcare

💡 Modernising "classic" or legacy systems is a major challenge, but new platforms are being built with interoperability and patient-centricity at their core

💡 Consumer expectations are rapidly evolving, with an increasing demand for immediate access to health information and digital-enabled care

💡 My Health Record has shifted from being a basic repository to becoming central infrastructure, supporting real-time, secure, and routine data sharing

💡 Incorrect or incomplete health data, particularly when combined with AI, can lead to safety risks, reinforcing the need for better standards and data quality

Timestamps

00:00: Introduction & framing the interoperability challenge

01:09: Evolution and urgency for healthcare data sharing

03:07: Patient impact and consumer stories

08:47: Practical use cases and technology improvements

12:48: Urgency, burning platforms, and risks of inaction

19:02: The role and future of My Health Record

22:52: Interoperability at Telstra Health and industry collaboration

Check out the episode and full show notes on the Talking HealthTech website.

If you’re enjoying the show and want access to exclusive healthtech discussions, meetups, and member-only content, you can learn more about becoming a THT+ Solo Member here: talkinghealth.tech/solo_shownotes

And if this episode was useful, leaving a review or sharing it with someone in the industry always helps.

Mentioned in this episode:

Join THT+ Solo to connect with other people working in or moving into digital health through members-only events, deeper content and the Talking HealthTech community hub: talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus.