535 - Digital Health Festival 2025 Feature Episode: AI, Productivity, Equity, and Innovation in Australian Healthcare

In this episode of Talking HealthTech, Peter Birch speaks with Alan Pritchard (Director EMR and ICT Services, Austin Health), Catherine de Fontenay (Commissioner, Productivity Commission), Dr Shannon Nott (Chief Medical Officer, Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section), and Karen Gallagher (General Manager of Strategy & Consumer Experience, Healthdirect) about innovation, digital health adoption, productivity, and patient-centred care in Australian healthcare.

The discussion covers challenges and approaches to technology implementation, productivity gains and system efficiencies, digital health equity, and empowering consumers through self-care and trustworthy health information.

This episode was recorded during the Digital Health Festival 2025 in Melbourne, Australia and features several of the conversations that Talking HealthTech captured on the ground during the event.

Timestamps:

00:00 - 01:06 Introduction

01:07 - 11:33 Alan Pritchard, Director EMR and ICT Services, Austin Health

11:34 - 18:37 Catherine de Fontenay, Commissioner, Productivity Commission

18:37 - 23:30 Dr Shannon Nott, Chief Medical officer, Royal Flying Doctor Service (South Eastern Section)

23:30 - 30:08 Karen Gallagher, General Manager, Strategy & Consumer Experience, Healthdirect

Key Takeaways

- The Digital Health Festival 2025 brought together thousands of professionals from the healthcare technology sector, promoting networking, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas from across Australia and the world.

📃Alan discusses Victoria’s approach to electronic medical records (EMR), the benefits and drawbacks of decentralisation, and recent advancements in AI adoption at Austin Health, including research projects with generative AI.

📊 Catherine explains how the Productivity Commission is now measuring productivity in healthcare based on quality of life and life expectancy, noting that productivity growth in health has outpaced much of the economy, but cost containment remains a pressing concern.

✈️ Shannon shares the history and ongoing role of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in linking innovation and technology to address rural and remote healthcare inequities and highlights the continuing importance of sector-wide collaboration in designing care models.

🏥 Karen discusses Healthdirect’s focus on supporting self-care, understanding barriers to following medical advice outside acute settings, and consumer research into building confidence and addressing health anxiety post-pandemic.

Check out the episode and full show notes on the Talking HealthTech website.

To catch even more of the discussions recorded at DHF, head over to the THT Youtube channel for a dedicated playlist of all the interviews captured at the event.

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