It was a bright and shiny new minister who ushered in a bright and shiny new year for the eHealth and health IT industry in 2015, with the albatross around the neck of the previous minister that was the GP co-pay finally dislodged and the new one able to start afresh.

Sussan Ley then proceeded to spend the year on a magical mystery tour – better known in Canberra circles as “wide-ranging consultations with stakeholders” – racking up five or six wide-ranging reviews over the course of her travels. Whether any actual decisions are made or policies are developed based on the results of these reviews before the next election arrives is still to be seen, but health does look to be, yet again, a fertile ground for battling ideologies.

As most of the review work on eHealth policy had been set in train by Ms Ley's unfortunate predecessor, it was mainly left to her to announce in the May budget a very large amount of money for the ongoing operation of the PCEHR and a change of name to the more palatable My Health Record. NEHTA is set to go but the PCEHR will stay for another round.