UPDATE: RACGP members have elected clinical professor, telehealth expert and keen Twitterer Bastian Seidel as the college's next president. He'll take up the two-year role in September from Frank Jones. Here are his thoughts on eHealth, the My Health Record and communication between hospitals and general practice.
As president, will eHealth policy be a priority for you or are topics such as the Medicare rebate freeze, healthcare funding or workforce training more important?
I have a personal interest in eHealth and I’m one of the foundation members of the RACGP eHealth network. I obtained membership of the Australian College of Health Informatics and have been a member of the Health Informatics Society of Australia for many years. My focus has been on usability of telehealth consultations and I was one of the first GPs who used telehealth consultations when MBS item numbers were introduced in 2011. I’ve been a regular presenter at the annual Australian Telehealth conference and recently gave a workshop on telehealth at the Digital Health Show in Sydney.