The Australian Digital Health Agency's chief technology officer Dr Malcolm Thatcher has left after more than two years in the role.
Thatcher was named CTO of the agency in early 2021, following the departure of CIO Ronan O’Connor.
He discussed his decision to leave in a post on LinkedIn, after Pulse+IT broke the story.
“It has been a difficult decision to leave the agency, however, I felt it was the right time for me to hand over the baton as the agency moves into the next significant wave of national digital infrastructure modernisation," Thatcher said.
Thatcher’s heaviest responsibility was for the My Health Record modernisation announced in February, and given $429 million over two years in the May federal budget.
“The agency has copped its fair share of criticism over the years (including from me in previous roles!), however, the future of the My Health Record system and that of national digital health infrastructure is exciting and on a trajectory towards modern, standards-based, web services-based interoperability of health information across healthcare settings”, Thatcher wrote in his post.
A spokesperson for the ADHA paid tribute to Thatcher’s work, telling iTnews he had "resigned from the agency to pursue other opportunities, effective from Friday July 7."
Initiatives led by Thatcher, the spokesperson said, included delivering the Health API gateway, “critical national infrastructure to support the sharing of health information”; the migration of My Health Record into a secure, public, government-certified cloud platform; and the development of the ADHA’s cyber security strategy.
“Thatcher has made an invaluable contribution to the agency and to advancing the digital health agenda and we wish him every success in his future pursuits,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson downplayed reports that Thatcher’s departure was associated with a restructure at the agency, saying ADHA “implemented a number of minor organisational changes” earlier this month.
These changes were made “to position the agency to respond to government priorities, in particular the connected care (interoperability) agenda and progressing data analytics capabilities.”
