Again, in the last week, I have come across a few reports and news items which are worth passing on.
These include first:
Why Technology Projects Fail
Another useful site on Why Technology Projects Fail has been recently brought to my attention.
The site is found here:
A useful summary of the views offered is found here:
http://calleam.com/WTPF/wp-content/uploads/articles/Whatmakes.pdf
The site and the paper are well worth a close read.
Second we have:
Lorenzo stalled at Morecombe Bay
21 Oct 2008
The latest deadline for the implementation of Lorenzo at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust has passed and there is currently no go-live date.
Health minister Ben Bradshaw indicated that Morecambe Bay would become the first large NHS hospital to use the first version of iSoft’s Lorenzo electronic patient record by the end of the summer.
However, there is no published timetable for the key National Programme for IT in the NHS software to go live in its first acute reference site. The software is eventually due to be used across three-fifths of the English NHS.
The latest delays to the first version of Lorenzo will inevitably push back the planned schedule for adding key clinical functionality to the software in three further releases, under a programme known as Penfield. This, in turn, raises doubts over the achievability of the current 2012 completion date for Lorenzo.
Bradshaw told the House of Commons this spring that, after lengthy delays, the Lorenzo software would go live at three pilot sites, including Morecambe Bay, by the end of the summer. The other two sites are South Birmingham Primary Care Trust and Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust.
More here:
http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/4252/lorenzo_stalled_at_morecombe_bay
Just a short update on the progress being made with ISoft’s Lorenzo. We can only hope the system will soon go live so confidence can be returned to those hoping Lorenzo will be a success over the next 2-3 years. The article provides a useful overview of present plans for Lorenzo which readers will recall was recently selected to be installed in a new high tech hospital in Sydney (MU Private).
Third we have:
Roxon lost in e-health maze?
Karen Dearne | October 22, 2008
THE word e-health is yet to pass federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon's lips but the fact she is looking at healthcare that works across different parts of the system means that she has to get there soon.
For some months now, industry observers have been anxiously waiting for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon to mention e-health
For some months now, industry observers have been anxiously waiting for Ms Roxon to mention e-health in one of her many - well-received - speeches on health sector reform. They point out that her plans rely on having a robust and reliable health IT infrastructure that presently doesn't exist.
Much more here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24535256-5013046,00.html
Just to suggest the site is worth a return visit to browse the comments that the article elicited. Some sensible comments and one or two really silly ones – as always.
Fourth we have:
Data breach hits 80% of local companies: survey
Karen Dearne | October 22, 2008
ALMOST 80 per cent of local organisations have experienced a data breach in the past five years, with a further 40 per cent reporting between six and 20 known breaches during the period, according to Symantec's first Australian data loss survey.
As well, 59 per cent of businesses surveyed suspected they had suffered undetected data breaches, but were unable to identify what information had left the organisation, or how.
Symantec Australia managing director Craig Scroggie said the results show that talk about data loss is "not just hype, but a real and present challenge that organisations manage on a daily basis".
Mr Scroggie said he fell victim to a data breach when a local restaurant accidentally mailed out its entire customer database, including credit card details, as an attachment to an email dining offer.
"I have 3499 new friends who each know as much about me as I know about them," he told a press briefing in Sydney.
The restaurant suffered considerable financial loss in notifying customers about the exposure, remediating the situation through assistance with monitoring for possible fraud, and damage to reputation.
The survey is the first to try to put a figure on costs related to local data breaches, with 34 per cent of respondents saying an average breach cost around $5000, while 14 per cent reported costs between $100,000 and $999,999, and 7 per cent reporting costs over $1 million.
But Symantec manager Steve Martin said $5000 would only cover the cost of replacing a lost or stolen laptop, and did not take into account the financial costs associated with loss of confidential financial or customer information, or proprietary business data.
Much more here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24530567-15306,00.html
While it is always possible that a security software provider might ‘guild the lily’ as to the severity of the problem it seems clear there are issues which all small businesses (including medical practices) need to be aware of and make sure they have covered.
Fifth we have:
Hospital computer overhaul under fire
- Nick Miller
- October 22, 2008
A NEW report has attacked the slow progress and vague budget of a $360 million overhaul of Victoria's hospital computer systems, raising fresh doubts over the State Government's ability to handle major projects.
A parliamentary committee found there was no clear timeline or funding for about a third of the HealthSMART project. Its report queried whether hospitals would ever get clinical systems intended to reduce medical errors, reduce the number and cost of pathology and radiology tests, and reduce delays in patient discharge.
The State Opposition called the finding a big embarrassment to the Government.
The Government denied yesterday that the program was over budget, but admitted it did not know when some HealthSMART systems would be up and running.
HealthSMART's aim was to improve patient care, reduce technical costs and ease the administrative burden on hospitals. It was initially intended to be finished in 2007.
More here:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/hospital-computer-overhaul-under-fire-20081021-55jp.html
I wonder whether this report is on-line somewhere as a quick search does not find it. Clearly the problems seem to be continuing but I am sure there would be lessons we could all learn from the details.
Last we have the slightly more technical article for the week:
OpenOffice.org 3.0 scores strong first week
Three million copies of open-source office suite downloaded, group says
Eric Lai (Computerworld) 22/10/2008 07:07:00
OpenOffice.org 3.0 was downloaded 3 million times in its first week, with about 80 percent of the downloads by Windows users, an official with the group said in a blog post on Monday.
The successful introduction of the open source office suite came despite the group's download servers being temporarily overwhelmed by demand for the new software last week.
Only 221,000 downloads by Linux users were recorded, leading John McCreesh, head of marketing for OpenOffice.org, to suggest a massive undercount. McCreesh said 90 percent of Linux users traditionally receive OpenOffice.org updates straight from their Linux distribution's vendor, which would explain the relatively low Linux count.
Many non-English versions of OpenOffice.org are also distributed by alternate Web sites, and OpenOffice.org is still widely distributed via free CD-ROMs in magazines, said McCreesh.
With the undercount included, OpenOffice.org 3.0 may already be installed on up to 5 million computers worldwide, McCreesh said in a blog post.
OpenOffice.org's goal of winning 40 percent of the office software market by 2010 "doesn't seem as ambitious today as it did four years ago," said McCreesh.
More here:
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=516906953&eid=-50
Just a reminder that the justification for staying with MS Office is just that little bit less. With zero cost and no ribbon – there are certainly some who will see this new version as a really good deal!
More next week.
David.
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