541 - Connected Care: Bridging Gaps in Modern Healthcare: The Future is on FHIR!

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, host Peter Birch speaks with Marvin Malcolm, Head of Data and Integration Architecture at Telstra Health; Duncan Weatherston, CEO of Smile Digital Health; and Keith Kranz, Manager ICT at SA Pathology.The discussion explores the role of interoperability and data standardisation in modern healthcare, focusing on connected care. The guests share their perspectives from both Australian and global viewpoints, diving into real-world experiences, challenges, and future solutions in pathology and health information exchange.The episode looks at technology choices like HL7 FHIR, the evolution of data-driven healthcare, and how digital transformation impacts clinicians and patients.This episode is part four of a 4-part series by Talking HealthTech in collaboration with Telstra Health and Smile Digital Health called Connected Care: Bridging Gaps in Modern Healthcare.Key Takeaways🏥 Interoperability Requires Collaboration: Achieving interoperability in healthcare demands participation from a broad community - no single organisation can accomplish it alone. Collaboration across healthcare providers, government agencies, and technology partners is essential.🌍 Australian and Global Perspectives: The interoperability and data fragmentation challenges are not unique to Australia. Similar issues (including North America and Europe) are seen globally, but approaches can differ based on local regulations, systems, and clinical workflows.ℹ️ Role of Standards like FHIR: Moving towards data-driven models and FHIR-based solutions is central to breaking down data silos, improving data quality, and ensuring meaningful use of clinical information.💻 Patient-Centred, Computable Data: The shift to giving patients direct access to health information and making results more understandable is highlighted. Clinicians and patients benefit from better visualisation, interpretability, and predictive analytics.🤖 Future-Proofing Healthcare: The ability to scale and adapt technology (such as with FHIR) ensures that healthcare organisations can meet growing data, research, and clinical needs, as well as adapt to ongoing innovations, including AI and predictive modelling.Check out the episode and full show notes on the Talking HealthTech website.Loving the show? Leave us a review, and share it with someone who might get some value from it. Keen to take your healthtech to the next level? Become a THT+ Member for access to our online community forum, meet ups, special offers and more exclusive content. For more information visit talkinghealthtech.com/thtplus Mentioned in this episode:Sign Up to the Free Talking Healthtech NewsletterSign up to the free Talking HealthTech newsletter for weekly digital health news, events, jobs, partner updates and Pete’s take on what matters across the sector: talkinghealthtech.com/newsletter