Eliminating data silos in public health - Flinders University

Initiative: 4.1.01 - Undertake and share research into digital health models of care to inform public health decisions and the translation of the models into clinical practice

Lead: Flinders University

Accessing up-to-date, high-quality data is a critical component for effectively planning and managing public health and healthcare services. However, data siloes across different facilities and databases present a significant obstacle. A key objective of the National Digital Health Strategy is to facilitate the sharing, collation and analysis of readily available data. This will allow data to guide health decision-making at the individual, community and national levels, fostering a sustainable health system.

In line with this objective, Associate Professor Courtney Ryder and her team of Flinders University researchers are developing Australia’s first AI-powered public health platform to address emerging health priorities, called the “Digitising Information For Practice in Public Health” (SMART-PH) platform.

Associate Professor Ryder said SMART-PH would overcome the challenge of limited access to real-time, high-quality public health data, which has been impeding the effective planning and management of healthcare and public health issues. 
“The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the power of innovative AI to drive real-time public health data, improving the speed and reach of public health interventions to diverse populations in Australia, allowing agile responses by industry and the healthcare sector to ‘stop the spread’, Associate Professor Ryder said.

“We want to employ the same principles to construct a cohesive public health framework that unites relevant authorities, healthcare institutions, and laboratories to be more efficient, more agile and more effective.

“SMART-PH will function as a common digital infrastructure to eliminate data siloes and improve healthcare decision making by enabling real-time collaboration and communication of information.”

Progress so far  

The five-year project launched in July 2024, supported by nearly $3 million from the Medical Research Future Fund.

The researchers will first establish a public health data repository.  They will then integrate it with SA Health’s existing Digital Analytics Platform, which is equipped with real-time advanced data linkage capabilities to all clinical data, including electronic medical records.

The project will also involve robust assessment of the use of functional, analytical and interactive AI techniques for developing AI-driven tools to address public health priorities. It’s hoped these tools could improve public health forecasting, planning, strategic decision making, outbreak detection and surveillance, helping Australia better prepare for future health challenges including pandemics.

Outcome 4: Data Driven

This initiative relates to National Digital Health Strategy Outcome 4: Data-driven, which is focused on ensuring that readily available data informs decision making at the individual, community, and national levels, contributing to a sustainable health system.

Strategy Delivery Roadmap

For more information, refer to Roadmap Initiative 4.1.01.