As a practising GP for over 20 years and someone who has been intimately involved in health system improvement — chairing Divisions of General Practice, Medicare Locals, and Primary Health Networks for over 15 years — I recognise the evolving nature of our healthcare system and the pressures many practices are facing. I am a firm believer in the role technology can play in helping us to improve the care of patients.
HealthEngine is Patient-Centred and Practice-Aligned
When I founded HealthEngine, it was from a personal belief that we can create a better healthcare ecosystem, one that advocates for all within health. One that places patients at the centre of care, but stands shoulder to shoulder with providers to continuously find new and more innovative ways to deliver better care to their patients.
We also remain independent and open with our approach, looking to work with all providers, payers and IT vendors to reduce fragmentation in the sector.
We are Committed to Continuity of Care
It has been my duty from day one to support access and continuity of care for patients through HealthEngine’s product innovation. I am never willing to compromise the duty of care we have for patients and believe in the importance of continuity of care on patient health outcomes. We currently support practices to manage and retain their existing patients through:
- Connect and care solutions such as online bookings, recalls and appointment reminders
- Patient loyalty functionality such as favourite your practice and post-appointment surveys
- Practice specific services such as practice website development and reporting
This commitment is also why we decided to become one of only a handful of technology vendors accredited by the Australian Government’s Digital Health Agency to connect with the MyHealth Record.
Safeguarding Data Security
HealthEngine is now trusted by over 4000 practices nationally and used by 1.4 million Australians a month. The growing volumes of interactions mean we are continuing to invest in improving the stability, reliability, and security of HealthEngine properties.
Our recent appointment of a Head of Technology, Engineering and Data Security, Mark Hammond, is just one example of this. Mark comes to HealthEngine having held senior technical positions in large international banking institutions where data security is clearly paramount. He manages HealthEngine’s information security systems to ensure all data is safeguarded.
Upholding Privacy Standards
We take our responsibility for handling sensitive personal information seriously. I have personally tasked our GM Commercial and Strategic Partnerships, Tim Jones, as HealthEngine’s Privacy Officer, to maintain the integrity of personal information and provide full transparency on conduct. Tim has previously worked as a commercial lawyer at Gilbert & Tobin and Minter Ellison and has significant experience with corporate compliance and governance.
Looking Forward
With over 130 staff across Australia, and growing, we are not only making significant investments in supporting and serving our customers and users, we are also making significant investments in improvements to our core products and have several exciting new releases in the pipeline which we look forward to sharing in the coming weeks and months.
Dr Marcus Tan, Founder, CEO and Medical Director
MBBS (UWA) FRACGP Exec MBA FAICD FAIM
Marcus is a UWA medical graduate with an executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management. He is an experienced healthcare executive and company director with nearly 20 years of clinical and commercial experience. He is a Fellow of the AICD and serves on various health bodies including as a director and the eHealth Lead for the WA Primary Health Alliance, chairing the Metro South WA Primary Health Network, an executive council member of the AMA(WA), and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Health Leadership & Management at Curtin University. He has previously held roles as a member of the Governing Council of the South Metro Area Health Service, a board director of Giving West and Chairman of Perth Central & East Metro Medicare Local.
