THE federal government yesterday announced it would replace Australia's existing health and aged care payments IT system, with health minister Sussan Ley saying the current software is "30 years old and is now obsolete".
The new system will support the government continuing to own, operate and deliver Medicare, PBS, aged care and related veterans payments into the future, Ley said.
"A process has commenced...to identify solutions for this new payments system, which will be based on existing commercial technology," she added, with the government to consult extensively with health and aged care providers along with other stakeholders to "inform the final design of the new system".
The consultation will be finalised in Jan 2017, with the project to be led by the Department of Health and supported by the Departments of Human Services and Veterans' Affairs as well as the Digital Transformation Office.
Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon hailed the project, saying the existing system is clunky and inefficient.
"Its many faults create inefficiency and inconvenience," he said.
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