Assessing the digital health maturity of general practice in Australia: results from a cross-sectional national survey.

Abstract

Background Australia's health system combines federal and state roles, with Primary Health Networks supporting primary care. Digital health infrastructure exists, but meaningful use and maturity are limited across general practices. Methods Digital health maturity was assessed across six domains: infrastructure, meaningful use, readiness, digital literacy, data literacy, and clinical leadership using a cross-sectional survey design. Between August 2020 and July 2024, 1164 general practices from 10 PHN regions were surveyed out of the 2255 practices invited to respond (31.3% of general practice clinics in Australia), this represented a 51.6% response rate. Results On average, none of the general practice clinics scored above 80 out of 100 in any of the digital health maturity domains, suggesting a trend towards lower maturity. We found that low overall digital health maturity in practices is related to lower scores in meaningful use, digital health and data literacy, and clinical leadership domains. Discussion Digital health infrastructure alone is not enough. Targeted support is essential for digital adoption. Enhancing digital health and data literacy, leadership, and tailored change management can strengthen digital adoption in practices, potentially improving care quality and digital transformation nationally.