Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne said last week that Mr Pervan would head up the new commissioning unit which will run the purchasing agreements with the federal government.

Under the national health reform, the new Tasmanian Health Organisations, like those in other states, will move to a purchase provider model of health care. It means that the new state organisations will have to apply for and be funded for individual programs like hip operations, neurosurgery or dementia services.

Ms O'Byrne said that Mr Pervan was well qualified for the key job.

``He has, in fact, led a lot of the national debate in what federal department activity-based funding means - he has been extremely instrumental in that,'' she said.

Ms O'Byrne believes the new system will be fairer and less bureaucratic.

``We are actually going to a place where we will say, `this is your job,' and `this is your job,' because there has always been a bit of a miasma about this in the past about where somebody's responsibility ends and then you get duplication and you end up with things spiralling out of control and health has been good at letting things spiral out of control in the past,'' she said.