Australia's first national cervical and bowel cancer screening register is being established to help the public be more vigilant about their health.
The federal department of health has awarded a five-year $225 million contract to Telstra's health division to build and operate the Australian National Cancer Screening Register, believed to be a world first.
Telstra Health described it as a "ground-breaking" initiative in the fight against cancer.
The ANCSR will manage cancer screening for more than 11 million Australians, integrating and extending the existing national bowel cancer register and the eight separate state and territory-based cervical cancer registers.
Under the contract, Telstra Health will link a number of government agencies, such as My Health Record and Medicare, and private health providers.
Cynthia Whelan, group executive of international and new businesses at Telstra, on Thursday said 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," Ms Whelan said.
The ANCSR team will work alongside stakeholders, including all Australians, health providers, governments and registers, and use various forms of communication including SMS, email, websites and letter drops.
"The objective of the whole thing is to increase screening levels and make sure people are followed up if they test positive," Shane Solomon, managing director of Telstra Health, told AAP.
The program will be led within Telstra Health by pathologist and health executive Professor Ruth Salom.
Prof Salom was the inaugural executive director of the Single State Pathology Service from 2008 to 2012 in South Australia.
The ANCSR is expected to be up and running on May 1, 2017, Mr Solomon said, adding that the contract was the largest contract in Telstra Health's three-year history.
Telstra Health planned to hire 50 staff to work on the ANCSR project, he said.
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