Healthcare IT: In order to cope with the international trend of applying e health systems, Australia announced that 
every one of its citizens will have a unique e healthcare identification number. The process is going to start next week after the federal parliament has agreed on its plan.
IDs of 16 digits will represent the beginning of e health era in Australia. The IDs will carry patients’ name, address, and birthday. Applying the new ID system will help the Australian Government in implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR) in a project costing $467 million. However, unlike the new e health IDs, patients may choose whether to have EHR or not. EHR will include data of the prescribed medications, in addition to the results of previous examinations and immunizations.
Australian Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, welcomed the use of e health IDs, saying that "This is a key building block in the government's ambitious e-health reform agenda - helping to deliver a better, more streamlined health system for Australian families," she explained "Healthcare identifiers will improve the management and communication of health information for healthcare delivery."