Digital Health Australia has extended Accenture’s contract as the operator of the national infrastructure for My Health Records for another three years.
This is the third renewal of the IT consulting firm that has held the contract since 2012.
Why is it important
While no new services will be added under the new A$100 million (US$70 million) contract, the The agency decided to extend its contract with Accenture “to ensure continued safe and reliable operation of the My Health Records system,” it said in an emailed statement.
As its operator, Accenture supports over 60 technical infrastructure components that form the core of the My Health Record system.
Larger context
Accenture’s continued support for My Health Record is critical to enabling ADHA to respond to changing user needs and government policy priorities. “Vital” while it is implementing a national infrastructure modernisation programme.
“The extension contract contains provisions that allow for the gradual decommissioning of NIO services as the nation’s infrastructure modernizes, while ensuring safety and Reliable service continuity until these changes take full effect,” the agency said.
ADHA is modernizing its nation’s infrastructure to improve the components that support its critical national health services. As part of the first phase of its modernization plan, it sought to replace its Health API gateway with a single comprehensive gateway. Last July, it awarded Deloitte a contract to build its FHIR-based health information gateway, which will provide a secure and scalable platform for exchanging and accessing health information.
Meanwhile, ADHA also revealed that it had migrated its data to the Microsoft Azure cloud in accordance with the Australian Government’s Whole Government Hosting Strategy.
