Healthcare innovation
Australia is a hub for healthcare innovation, with advancements across multiple domains transforming patient care, system efficiency, and health outcomes. Find summaries of the latest advancements here.
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Digital health
Digital health innovation in Australia is transforming healthcare delivery, improving access, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Key developments include:
Electronic Health Records (EHRs):
Enhanced integration of EHRs across public and private healthcare systems.
Patient portals:
Platforms which enable patients to book appointments effortlessly, receive reminders for upcoming visits, and manage their healthcare schedules. Additionally, they facilitate direct communication with healthcare providers
Telehealth:
Teleconsultations, subscription and hybrid care models are bridging gaps for rural and remote communities and people seeking on demand or convenience-driven health care, enhancing accessibility across the country.
Wearables and Apps:
Increased use of devices and apps for monitoring chronic conditions, fitness, and mental health.
Artificial Intelligence (AI):
AI algorithms are assisting clinicians in diagnosing, treatment planning, and risk stratification and are automating administrative tasks like summarising patient notes.
Innovative Hospital models
Australia’s hospital system is evolving to meet growing demand, reduce pressure on emergency departments, and improve patient outcomes. Several innovative models of care are being developed and rolled out across the country.
Integrated Care
Combining in-hospital treatment with enhanced at-home care to provide flexible and patient-centred healthcare solutions. This approach supports quicker recovery, reduces unnecessary hospital stays, and enhances continuity of care.
Hospital Care in Your Home
Some health insurers are expanding access to hospital-level care at home for eligible patients. Services can include intravenous therapy, wound care, and post-surgical monitoring, all delivered under the supervision of a clinical team.
Short-Stay Surgical Hospitals
New models of private hospitals focus on short-stay procedures, enabling patients to return home sooner after surgery. These facilities specialise in areas like orthopaedics, general surgery, gastroenterology, and ophthalmology, and are designed to improve efficiency without compromising care quality.
No-Gap Insurer-Owned Hospitals
Some private health insurers, such as Amplar Health (a Medibank subsidiary), have launched private hospitals where eligible patients pay no out-of-pocket costs for covered procedures. These hospitals are fully integrated with insurer systems and aim to provide high-quality care with financial certainty for patients. This means patients incur no out-of-pocket expenses for a wide range of services such as surgeries, anaesthesia, imaging, pathology, medical infusions, and prescribed PBS medications.
Virtual hospitals
Patients with chronic conditions, or those recently discharged, may be monitored remotely using wearable devices and regular virtual check-ins. This model supports early intervention if symptoms worsen and helps prevent unnecessary hospital admissions or readmissions.
Innovation in medicines
Medicines innovation plays a vital role in improving healthcare by enhancing the safety, effectiveness, and overall impact of treatments. Through advanced research and technology, new medicines are developed with greater precision - offering better-targeted therapies and fewer side effects. These innovations improve clinical outcomes and help patients manage chronic conditions, recover more quickly, and maintain independence for longer.
Personalised and Precision medicine:
This approach tailors treatment to an individual’s genetic makeup, environment, and lifestyle. Examples include targeted cancer therapies and gene-based testing to determine how patients will respond to specific medications. Examples currently in use include:
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Genetic testing for cancer risk (e.g. BRCA),
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Personalised immunotherapies, and
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Genomic testing to guide most targeted medicines and therapies.
Biosimilars:
Biosimilars are highly similar versions of original (biological) medicines that have lost patent protection. They are rigorously tested to ensure they are just as safe and effective as the original product. In Australia, the use of biosimilars is expanding rapidly. They offer several benefits:
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Cost savings: Biosimilars are more affordable than originator biologics, helping to reduce spending on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
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Increased access: Lower prices allow more patients to access life-changing treatments for conditions like cancer, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes.
Pharmacists can now substitute some biosimilars for the reference product, with government approval, making them more accessible.
mRNA and next-generation vaccines:
The rapid development of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic opened new possibilities for treating infectious diseases, cancer, and chronic conditions. mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 are currently in use, and research is currently looking into mRNA vaccines for influenza, RSV, and melanoma.
Advanced Therapies (Cell and Gene Therapies):
These include therapies that repair, replace, or regenerate human cells, tissues, or genes. Although still emerging, they may offer potential cures for previously untreatable conditions. Examples include:
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CAR T-cell therapies for certain blood cancers, and
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Gene therapies for rare genetic disorders.
Real-time prescription monitoring:
Technology is helping to reduce harm from medicines by enabling real-time prescription tracking (e.g. for opioids) and providing clinicians with digital tools to support safe prescribing.
