With growth in digital health care, how does the system keep in shape?

Digital transformation must occur at the right pace for an organisation and the broader health system, including investing in the right combination of elements that are wanted and needed. Establishing a sound foundation requires assessing the digital capabilities of an organisation (and collectively, a health system) as the basis upon which to build future strategy and investments.

In 2019, EY was funded by the (then) Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to co-develop a digital health maturity model assessment that could be applied across all public health services (and indeed all private health services), focused on the Victorian hospital and healthcare environment. This was the largest assessment of its kind in the health sector in Australia, providing a clear view of the necessary digital maturity areas for uplift across ten core pillars.

This report presents an overview of the Victoria’s Digital Health Maturity Model (“the Model”) and we acknowledge the contributions of what is now the Department of Health in the development of the Model and this report.

The Model was co-designed with health services and departmental input, making it effective for use at the state-wide system level and not just within single health organisations. The paper is also available on the Victoria Department of Health website here. As the Model becomes more widely adopted across the sector, consolidation of a deep time-series of results allows a fuller picture of the maturity of digital health in Australia. This can inform outcomes research and future policy development.