A Proposed Smart-Card Solution for Australian Health Services: The Problems Encountered

In 1998, the Health and Social Services Department of an Australian State government began an investigation into the use of smart card technology in the provision of certain social services. Their goal was to develop an e-health solution to the mentally and physically disabled; one that would increase efficiency and facilitate better decision making and strategic planning within the department, while simultaneously empowering the disabled with greater flexibility in choice of service and provider. The expectation was that smart card technology could be used as the basis of a redesigned system of service provision that would improve efficiency, accuracy and financial accountability. The potential impacts of changes to the structure of this system were wide ranging: the department contracted for the provision of services to a network of agencies, who typically subcontracted the work out to professional carers. Thousands of jobs and the viability of numerous small health care agencies would be affected, as well as the quality of life for thousands of disabled clients throughout the state. There were a number of risks inherent in this venture: the newness of the technology involved (used for this purpose); the number of stakeholders involved in the system and the complexity of EXECUTIVE SUMMARY