Health systems in Australia and globally struggle to respond promptly to innovative, disruptive health technologies like cell and gene therapies, gene editing, regenerative medicine, genomics, and generative AI. These technologies promise improved health outcomes and efficiency gains but challenge the Australian health system due to rapid innovation, early information gaps, and a lack of a cohesive national approach. Addressing these challenges requires new legal and regulatory frameworks, targeted workforce education and training, significant infrastructure investments, and government funding considerations, all benefiting from horizon scanning.

The Health Information Observatory-Australia (HIO-A) is a Commonwealth-funded initiative working collaboratively with partners across the health sector to develop a national Horizon Scanning approach. We aim to shift from reactive assessment to proactive horizon scanning, ensuring new health technologies are ready to benefit patients sooner.