Accenture group nets $77m for e-health

Accenture's reward for being the head of the consortium responsible for developing the government's personally-controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system will be $47.8 million.

Last night, Health Minister Nicola Roxon's office officially announced that Accenture had been selected to build the IT infrastructure for its health record scheme, which it has pledged to have available for Australians by July next year.

"A consortium led by Accenture has been selected as the National Infrastructure Partner for the development of the PCEHR system," Roxon said in a statement.

"Accenture will be responsible for designing and building the physical PCEHR system, which will be used by people to register for and view their e-health record."

Accenture had won the contract based on its delivery of Singapore's national electronic health record earlier this year, according to Roxon.

The consortium will develop internet portals for users to control and view their records and for medical professionals to view and update a patient's record. It will also ensure that an audit trail exists, which shows when and by whom a patient record is accessed, as well as provide a reporting tool that shows performance and usage of the system.

Oracle and Orion Health are part of the consortium and are being paid $11 million and $17.8 million respectively for licensing to enable portal functionality and access to electronic health records from repositories. This brings the cost of hiring the consortium to $76.6 million.

"A key responsibility of the National Infrastructure Partner will be to ensure that the PCEHR system has high availability, including in a medical emergency, and that it works efficiently and securely for patients and providers alike," Roxon said.