A new partnership between the Townsville Institute of Health Research and Innovation (TIHRI) and the Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC) is set to transform how health services are delivered across North Queensland.
Through the partnership, the nationally recognised QDHeC, which is based at the University of Queensland, will provide digital health expertise and services to the Townsville HHS.
Townsville Hospital and Health Service Director of Clinical Research and adult nephrologist Professor Andrew Mallett said the collaboration would help unlock new ways to deliver high-quality, data-driven care.
“This partnership will allow the health service to turn its digital health system into a powerful tool for discovering better ways to deliver care, not just for today, but for the future of healthcare in the community.”
Professor Mallett said the digitisation of clinical records had opened up new opportunities to improve health outcomes, provided data was used safely, ethically and with the right systems in place.
“What began as a shift from paper to digital records, has become a much larger transformation,” he said.
"With the right protections and analytics, this information can help us continuously refine how we deliver care and better understand the needs of our patients and communities."
QDHeC Director Professor Clair Sullivan said the centre’s goal was to use digital technologies to improve outcomes, efficiency and equity in healthcare.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Townsville Hospital and Health Service to build a strong, digitally enabled healthcare team,” she said.
“North Queensland has a broad and diverse health landscape, and by working together, we can deliver better outcomes for the people here.”
Professor Sullivan said the collaboration would also aim to transform healthcare from a reactive model to one focused on prevention.
“Chronic disease is now the major burden, so we need to move away from the old ‘break-fix’ model and instead safely use data to intervene earlier and, where possible, avoid disease altogether.”
