Telstra Assigned To Create Cancer Database

Telstra is now managing a cancer database.

Telstra is now officially managing a national cancer screening register as the Commonwealth Department of Health chose the company's health division to deliver and operate the Australian National Cancer Screening Register.

Telstra described this victory as a "groundbreaking" initiative to fight cancer, and this lucrative contract is estimated at as high as $180 million over three years.

According to Cynthia Whelan, group executive of international and new businesses at Telstra, the register would deliver a single database with one record per patient.

"Australians will be able to access their records online, and with patient consent general practitioners and medical specialists will have access to patient data and records from any state or territory from their clinical desktops," Whelan said on Thursday in a report by The Australian.

Meanwhile, Telstra Health's Ruth Salom will lead the project as her background includes four years leading SA Pathology.

The register will benefit people who have a positive result on various cancer screening tests, starting with bowel cancer and cervical, and the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR) will also replace state-based registers, The Register UK reports.

Telstra subsidiary Emerging Systems is responsible for managing the integration and medical record development. Other Telstra Health companies in the project, which acquired in 2016, are Argus and Dr Foster.