Telstra Health partners with Smile Digital Health for interoperability

Telstra Health has partnered with Smile Digital Health to bring Smile’s HL7 FHIR first Health Data Platform solution and integration platform to Australia and New Zealand.

The deal supports Telstra Health’s drive to power the future of connected health care by real-time information sharing.

“Partnering with Smile Digital Health brings best-in-class FHIR data interoperability and data exchange capabilities to Australia and New Zealand,” Telstra Health Managing Director Elizabeth Koff AM said.

With Australia choosing HL7 FHIR as its healthcare standard, the partnership will support the mandatory sharing of key health information across care settings.

Smile’s FHIR and Clinical Quality Language (CQL) based technology is designed to enable seamless data aggregation, care gap analysis and clinical data analytics that are available at multiple points of care and can be reflected in electronic health records (EHRs) across the ecosystem.

“By offering the only scalable FHIR-native Health Data Platform that works with all HL7 FHIR resources, Smile creates the opportunity for a more integrated and interoperable health system. Telstra Health will be able to build upon Smile’s platform with additional components to further drive healthcare modernisation regionally and on a broader scale,” said the company in a statement.

“Combined with Telstra Health’s solutions and unique footprint, the partnership enables us to provide the infrastructure and services for creating seamless and secure information exchange, improving patient care and better supporting clinicians and healthcare providers,” Koff said.

“The partnership brings Telstra Health even closer to our vision of realising a connected and improved digital health experience for all.”

Smile Digital Health’s innovative technology has supported the Yale Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE), Security Risk Solutions (SRS) and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). Furthermore, the company has also supported a government health agency in serving a population of 15.5 million patients, as well as the Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN) in serving a population of more than 13 million patients.

Duncan Weatherston, Chief Executive Officer, Smile Digital Health, said, “What makes this partnership so beneficial to the Australian and international healthcare community is our innovative products and experience in supporting HIEs paired with Telstra Health’s existing health solutions. As experts in FHIR, we’ve been able to build a suite of solutions that make true healthcare interoperability a reality. And, when interoperability is achieved, care teams can provide not only more efficient care but better care too.

“Working with us to build a data modernisation infrastructure, Telstra Health can seamlessly connect currently disparate systems and EHRs, and enable public health authorities to assist in population health analysis.”

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