29 January 2026 - Top Stories

Australia’s healthtech clock is ticking toward a national data backbone. A recent AMA report highlights how fragmented, siloed digital health systems slow patient care and drive avoidable errors. Despite some progress, only about one in ten specialists use My Health Record and around a fifth of diagnostic imaging reports are uploaded, underscoring the need for nationwide interoperability standards.

The push for compulsory interoperability and enforcement signals a policy shift that will reshape how vendors source, integrate and sell health IT. With penalties on the horizon, providers and contractors will prioritise shared data schemas and robust interfaces. The outcome could be faster access to data, fewer duplicate tests, and clearer foundations for research and AI-enabled care.

Western Australia’s East Metropolitan Health Service has gone live with Code Focus, a digital coding platform that centralises coding, audits and reporting. The rollout, built with Data Agility, replaces spreadsheets with a single workflow for episodes and workload visibility. The move demonstrates how modern health information management can lift data quality and productivity at scale.

St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney has appointed Dr Chris Robinson as National Chief Medical Officer, signalling a drive to scale home and virtual care supported by AI and digital health initiatives. The appointment aligns leadership with plans for telehealth, remote monitoring and AI-enabled decision support, with potential implications for partnerships across vendors, insurers and electronic medical records platforms.

Australian researchers have published Humanity’s Last Exam, a 2,500-question benchmark spanning maths, humanities and sciences to test large language models. The work exposes gaps in current AI systems and reinforces the need for domain-specific validation before deploying AI in clinical decision support, offering a practical framework for healthtech developers and governance teams.

Victoria’s healthtech ecosystem gets a fresh boost as ACTIVATE 2026 opens for applications. The six‑month accelerator, backed by LaunchVic and the Victorian Government, targets digital health founders aiming to accelerate market readiness and scale impact. Applications close on 22 March 2026, marking a key step in building a robust local healthtech pipeline.

• Compulsory interoperability with enforcement to shape national health IT standards.
• WA Code Focus rollout centralises coding to improve data quality and transparency.
• Leadership focus on AI-enabled home and virtual care at St Vincent’s signals scale-up in digital health.
• ACTIVATE 2026 opens to accelerate Victorian healthtech founders.
• Australian AI benchmarking highlights the need for domain-specific validation in health tech.
• AMA interoperability push will influence vendor strategy and procurement across health IT.