AMA SA appoints efex as technology and cyber security partner

The Australian Medical Association South Australian, the peak professional body for doctors in the state, has appointed efex as its exclusive partner in technology, cyber security and practice continuity, under a twelve-month agreement that begins with research rather than a product rollout.

Rather than assembling a package of resources in advance, efex and AMA SA are beginning by mapping the current technology landscape across South Australian medical practices.

From 18 September, members will be invited to complete an anonymous survey covering how their practices use technology, where it creates disruption, and how prepared they are for a cyber incident. Findings will be published jointly in 2027.

What the survey reveals will shape what is built for members.

Practical guides and tools will be developed around the issues members report and distributed through AMA SA's channels. Education sessions for practice owners and practice managers  covering artificial intelligence use and cyber resilience - will draw on the same findings.

Members can already request a complimentary cyber security audit measured against the Essential Eight framework.

"There is no shortage of people telling medical practices what technology to buy. There is a shortage of good information about what practices are dealing with and what they need," said Nick Sheehan, founder and chief executive of efex.

"The survey comes first for that reason, and what we build afterwards will follow what it tells, to ensure we deliver the maximum possible benefit to AMA SA members.”

"Our members are running businesses as well as caring for patients, and technology and cyber security have become increasingly difficult areas to manage," Simon Jones, chief executive of AMA SA, said.

"This partnership will give practices a clearer understanding of their risks and practical support shaped by what South Australian doctors and practice managers tell us they need."

Healthcare is one of efex's focus sectors; the company's Adelaide-based team has worked with medical practices since 2006 and supports more than 300 medical and allied health practices across ANZ, spanning general practice, specialist rooms and diagnostic imaging.

The company has also made a number of healthcare-targeted acquisitions in recent years, buying Crowd IT, a Melbourne-based MSP with specialist expertise in healthcare and radiology environments, and Priority 1 IT, a Queensland-based provider of IT support for medical centres, healthcare practitioners, earlier this year. In 2024, efex acquired medical IT solutions provider Medihost Solutions.