A digitally enabled health workforce for Australia

Anna Janssen; Melissa Baysari; Christina Igasto; Kate Quirke; Petra Milnes; Tim Shaw; Adam Dunn

doi:10.1071/AH24286

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

A digitally enabled health workforce for Australia

Anna Janssen ^A ^* , Melissa Baysari ^A , Christina Igasto ^B , Kate Quirke ^C , Petra Milnes ^D , Tim Shaw ^A and Adam Dunn ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.

^B Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^C Alcidion, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

^D eHealth NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: anna.janssen@sydney.edu.au

Australian Health Review https://doi.org/10.1071/AH24286

Submitted: 14 June 2024 Accepted: 22 October 2024 Published: 18 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Australia has world-class education for healthcare professionals and is recognised for its strength in digital health research but is yet to fill some important gaps in training healthcare professionals in the safe implementation and use of digital technologies. In this case study, we bring together the perspectives of clinicians, health system leaders, and academics to guide efforts in establishing a digitally enabled workforce in Australia. Building on published evidence, our recommendations include leveraging on recent momentum, building strong partnerships with healthcare organisations, academia, and the digital health industry, and ultimately an expansion of a digitally enabled clinical informatics and digital health workforce.

Keywords: digital health, digital health capabilities, education, health workforce, workforce training.

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