The Department of Health has selected HealthEngine to build the booking platform that will underpin the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccination information and booking service.
The platform, which is expected to be up and running in time for the next phase of the vaccine rollout in the coming weeks, will allow patients to locate and book appointments with clinics.
GPs clinics, as well as other approved health service providers like pharmacies and state-run vaccination clinics, will be able to use the platform where they don’t already have a booking system.
GPs are expected to administer the bulk of Australia's vaccinations, with more than 4500 clinics signed-up to take part in what will be one of Australia’s largest-ever peacetime logistics events from later this month.
HealthEngine said the booking platform, which is being “fast-tracked” to meet the deadline , would allow clinics, particularly those without existing booking systems, to “get online quickly”.
“The HealthEngine designed solution is suitable as a standalone booking option that complies with government requirements around accessibility, privacy and security,” it said.
“This option will help clinics to ‘get online’ quickly for Covid vaccinations, where they don’t already have an online booking system.
“Clinics with existing booking systems are encouraged to continue using their systems, to leverage the benefits of a fully integrated booking system.”
HealthEngine founder and CEO Marcus Tan said the company was “honoured to be selected by the Department of Health for the job”.
“Given the very tight timeframes involved and the complexity of such a project, we are under no illusions about the challenge we have signed up to,” he said.
“However, the opportunity to support… the federal government with a very important piece of national digital health infrastructure, was one we simply couldn’t pass up.”
Tan added that the bid was only made possible with the support of the broader health and technology sectors, which offered references confirming the company’s patient-centric approach.
“This project is a huge team effort and we’re excited to be an official part of the team,” he said.
The contract comes six months after HealthEngine was fined $2.9 million last year for sharing the non-clinical personal information of over 135,000 patients without their knowledge.
