Frequently Ased Questions

1. What is the Office of Health Information Systems?

The Office of Health Information Systems (OHIS) is part of the Victorian Department of Health, and is responsible for:

The HealthSMART program, a seven-year (2003-10) $360 million strategy to modernise and replace information and communication (ICT) systems throughout the Victorian public healthcare sector.
The development of the next Victorian whole-of-health ICT Vision, 2009-13.

OHIS is now implementing the HealthSMART program, having facilitated and coordinated with vendors and health services, for the:

Development of ‘state-wide footprints’ for HealthSMART applications
Development of the enterprise application integration solution and associated services to integrate HealthSMART applications.
Implementation of state-wide technology infrastructure to support the HealthSMART applications.

2. Is the HealthSMART program state-based or Australia-wide?

HealthSMART is a Victorian State Government strategy to modernise and replace information and communication technology (ICT) throughout the Victorian public healthcare sector. Although HealthSMART is an initiative for the Victorian public health sector it is working closely with the Australian Government on a number of complementary initiatives/bodies such as HealthConnect and NEHTA (National eHealth Transition Authority).

3. Is participation in HealthSMART mandatory for Victorian health services?

Victorian health agencies are bound by the HealthSMART participation policy which states:

"Any agency introducing a new (or replacement) information system with functionality that is delivered by a product on the HealthSMART panel will implement the relevant HealthSMART solution, accessed through HealthSMART Services, unless the Secretary, Department of Health, approves an exemption for an alternate product to be used.

Where an agency wants to implement a major upgrade or new release to an existing product this policy will also apply."

Select the following link to read the full version of the participation policy:

HealthSMART Participation Policy (PDF, 331kb)

4. My agency is not currently participating in HealthSMART but is interested in being involved. How do we get involved?

For initial discussion, please contact the Sector Engagement Manager for the Office of Health Information Systems Gordon Smith at Gordon.Smith@dhs.vic.gov.au or the Manager of the Program Management Office Norma Fredrickson at Norma.Fredrickson@dhs.vic.gov.au. The formal process will require a new Service Request to HealthSMART Services.

5. Do agencies have to contribute their own funds?

Current funding is fully committed to agencies that have signed up to implement HealthSMART applications within the Program’s timeline. Agencies that wish to transition to HealthSMART applications outside of this timeline, will utilise a different funding model to that which has been used for the original scope of agencies.

6. What is a state-wide footprint?

A state-wide footprint is essentially a standard off-the-shelf software application that has been upgraded with the functionality necessary for the product to support the Victorian public health sector; in essence it is the Victorian enterprise model of these products which is then implemented into participating agencies and supported by HealthSMART Services.
State-wide footprints exist for all HealthSMART applications, namely:

Finance and supply management information systems
Human resource management systems
Patient and client management systems
Clinical Systems (referred to as the Clinical System’s Statebuild).

A local implementation planning study (IPS) allows for small customisations at each agency, but, the state-wide footprint defines what the end product will look like and how it will be implemented. This ensures that the application is a true state-wide solution and local agency customisations are kept to a minimum.

7. What is a Product Planning Group?

Product Planning Groups (PPGs) are established to oversee the strategic development of HealthSMART products inline with emerging business needs of Victorian health services in an efficient and effective manner.
Two PPGs are currently operational:

PPGs for PCMS, CMS and Clinical Systems are being established and are expected to transition from the PCMS State-wide Footprint Committee (SWF) and Clinical System Clinical Reference Group.

PPGs have a specific focus on strategic development of HealthSMART products to ensure that they support emerging business needs.

8. Will HealthSMART interface to other existing and potentially future systems?

The HealthSMART applications are designed to send and receive interface data via HL7 (an ICT messaging standard for health). Interfaces comply to the requirements of the state-wide footprints, and to the original requirement and scope of the HealthSMART program.

Many of the HealthSMART applications publish interface information for use by any health service application however in many instances these products are not capable of receiving this information. The specifications for the data published or received are available for download on the HealthSMART Design Authority page.

Interfaces to newer products such as the HealthSMART Clinical System application have been defined by the state-wide footprints and the original scope of the program. Product planning groups (PPGs) and Implementation planning studies review the addition of new interfaces that apply to state-wide functionality.

HealthSMART interfaces are derived from National Australian Standards, and as such HealthSMART applications will not automatically interface with non-standardised application interfaces.

9. How does HealthSMART fit into the national eHealth agenda?

HealthSMART is specifically designed to fit into the National eHealth agenda. The program has worked closely with the National eHealth Transition Authority (NeHTA) and other standard bodies to ensure that the most current and future terminologies, architecture and functionality are adopted, e.g. PBS requirements, and the use of terminologies such as the AMT and SNOMED.

The use of national messaging standards and flexible foundational technologies such as the Enterprise Application Architecture (SUN JCAPS) allows HealthSMART to adapt to any number of technologies and functions that are being adopted in Australia, e.g. the NeHTA Unique Healthcare Identifier (UHI).

The HealthSMART Design Authority and the state-wide footprint reference groups are represented in a number of standard committees (e.g. NeHTA) to ensure that the needs of Victoria are reflected in national initiatives, and to ensure that the HealthSMART architecture, functionality and terminology continue to move in line with the national agenda.

10. I have an urgent need to replace/procure a software application that is available through HealthSMART. How can I engage with HealthSMART?

For initial discussion, please contact Gordon Smith, the Sector Engagement Manager for Office of Health Information Systems at Gordon.Smith@dhs.vic.gov.au or Norma Fredrickson Manager of the Program Management Office at Norma.Fredrickson@dhs.vic.gov.au. The formal process will require a new Service Request to HealthSMART Services.

11. My agency wants to organise a HealthSMART product demonstration, how can I organise this?

Please contact the Sector Engagement Manager for the Office of Health Information Systems Gordon Smith at Gordon.Smith@dhs.vic.gov.au.

12. I am a vendor and want to discuss my company’s involvement in HealthSMART. Who should l contact?

Currently there is limited opportunity for new vendors as products have been selected and contracts put in place with vendors but please contact the Executive Support Coordinator for the Office of Health Information Systems, Rose Paolozza at Rose.Paolozza@dhs.vic.gov.au to discuss further.

13. How were the HealthSMART’s products selected?

All HealthSMART products were selected in line with Victorian public sector procurement processes, namely open tenders where business and technical requirements were made available to allow any potential supplier to submit a proposal demonstrating how their products and services satisfied these requirements.

Once proposals were received, all were submitted to a rigorous four stage evaluation process, which had been described in the original procurement documentation. This process included demonstration of proposed products and visits to nominated reference sites. The health sector was heavily involved in both the writing of procurement documents and the subsequent evaluation process.

Further detail on the Victorian Government’s procurement processes can be found at: www.vgpb.vic.gov.au

14. How does HealthSMART manage support for HealthSMART applications?

Through the HealthSMART Services’ service desk. The service desk acts as central point of contact between HealthSMART Services and its clients, and triages incidents as they come in. The service desk ensures that a job is correctly assigned to the right technical team, monitors its progress and keeps clients informed as to its status. Infra Service Desk software is used to report HealthSMART’s adherence to service level agreements. Support for HealthSMART applications is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

15. How is HealthSMART’s operational service delivery governed?

HealthSMART Services operations are overseen by the HealthSMART Services Council and the HealthSMART Service Management Committee. Members of these bodies are drawn from health agencies with the Chair of the Council sitting ex officio as a member of the Board of Health Information Systems. The Committee focuses on operational matters whereas the Council assumes a more strategic view in relation to HealthSMART Services operational activity. The HealthSMART Services Agreement (HSA) reflects HealthSMART Services’ governance principles with an emphasis on reporting and monitoring.

16. What is HSA?

HSA stands for HealthSMART Services Agreement. Following consultation with the Victorian CIO group and representatives from participating agencies, The HealthSMART Services Agreement was established to formalise the relationship between health agencies and HealthSMART Services. The Agreement principally defines:

The terms and conditions of the relationship between HealthSMART Services and the Victorian public healthcare agencies that receive services.
The agreed service levels for both common services as well as service levels for the applications themselves.
The annual charges payable to HealthSMART Services by agencies for services.

17. What is the state-wide technology infrastructure?

The state-wide technology infrastructure is the hardware and software that allows health agencies to connect to and run the HealthSMART applications. The key components of this infrastructure are:

The HealthSMART wide area network (HealthNET) which connects the dual HealthSMART data centres to each other, to health agencies and to other third parties and the HealthSMART Services location.
The dual HealthSMART data centres, part of Whole of Victorian Government arrangements.
The HealthSMART Shared Storage Solution, which provides for storage of data, real-times copying of data between data centres, and tape backups.
HealthSMART shared servers, supporting the HealthSMART applications and third party software;
HealthSMART third party software, providing operating systems, databases and productivity aids;
Managed Services arrangements, which provide 24x7 support for the infrastructure.