Again, in the last week, I have come across a few news items which are worth passing on.
First we have:
What price should we put on patient safety?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
If a jumbo jet crashed in Australia every week, killing everyone on board, we'd understand we had a critical safety problem. But, when a similar number of preventable deaths occurs in our hospitals - by some estimates every single week - we wring our hands and mutter about the difficulties of re-calibrating a complex, over-stretched, under-funded "system".
Yet the complexity of a problem is not an excuse for inaction, especially when so many lives are at stake. Climate change, for example, is about as complicated as it gets; yet it has thrown up new ideas like carbon trading. Could a similar, innovative market design be harnessed to drive safety improvement in our hospitals, and save thousands of patients a year from death or disability delivered by the very system charged with alleviating suffering in the first place?
Hospitals can be risky places. They administer dangerous drugs to patients and deal with the aftermath of car accidents and other traumatic events. Hospitals look after patients with heart and respiratory problems, cancer, conditions requiring intensive care and those with mental illnesses. The list is long, the conditions complicated. With a staggering 300 million transactions each year in the Australian health system, there will always be potential for mistakes to be made and lives lost.
Reviews such as Garling's (and the numerous similar reviews that preceded it) highlight these risks. Doctors, nurses and allied health staff, those in management positions and policymakers, throw a lot of effort, money, hours and ingenuity at making things better. They develop information technology to monitor 'adverse events', design special systems to pinpoint the root causes when things go wrong and run campaigns to improve the rates of hand washing, proper use of medications and communications. But where is the actual improvement? Latest figures from international studies show that 10 per cent of admitted patients are harmed by preventable errors. Many initiatives are well reasoned, but in the end they are grab bag and poorly integrated. We need a more coherent, and system-wide approach.
Much more here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/08/2538531.htm
While I am not sure the proposal contained in this opinion piece will fly there is no doubt at all of the importance of the patient safety issue. The determination on the part of health system managers to ignore the importance and the scale of the problem just leaves me gasping.
It is a pity the editorial did not point out that introduction of appropriate Health Information Technology can have a major positive impact on the issue!
Second we have:
Ex-biomedical chief heads-up IT at CSIRO
New chief to drive research awareness
Darren Pauli 09 April, 2009 11:03
Tags: csiro
The CSIRO has appointed a former biomedical executive to head up the organisation’s ICT arm, the Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC).
Dr Phil Gurney replaces CEO, Gary Morgan, who moved to deputy director of operations for the CSIRO’s ICT centre. He said AEHRC will need to extend its engagement with the medical community to ensure its research is adopted.
Dr Gurney was previously a senior executive at Leica Biosystems, where he focused on developing market opportunities for tissue pathology research, and led the acquisition of a US pathology image-analysis company and development of error minimisation in pathology sample handling.
Brisbane-based AEHRC was established in 2003 as a joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland government to advance ICT health research. It recently received some $20 million in government funding to support its operations until 2012, through which it will deliver to CSIRO's Preventative Health Flagship.
More here:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/298777/ex-biomedical_chief_heads-up_it_csiro?eid=-6787
Good to see the AEHRC continues to develop. The plans to more engage clinicians seems to be a very sensible plan.
Third we have:
State tech fund, watchdog to improve health system
Karen Dearne | April 07, 2009
NSW'S troubled public hospitals will get a massive injection of technology funding and an independent e-health watchdog, as the Government adopts the recommendations of special commissioner Peter Garling.
Mr Garling, who spent 10 months inquiring into the state's acute-care services, ordered an IT program including essential upgrades and new systems costing more than $705million on top of the $315.5million committed to project schedules until July 2011.
It is supposed to happen fast, with the special commissioner demanding the provision of critical infrastructure, hospital and community information systems and a statewide e-health record system within four years, not the present eight- to 15-year time frame.
Last week, the NSW Government agreed to adopt almost all of Mr Garling's recommendations, including the creation of a Bureau of Health Information -- separate from NSW Health -- to access, interpret and report on all data on safety and quality of patient care.
When releasing his report in November, Mr Garling said the "risks to safety and quality of patient care occasioned by delays in the introduction of an up-to-date IT system throughout NSW Health cannot be over-emphasised".
The Government is yet to announce funding for the various projects.
More here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25299889-15306,00.html
Hardly a very positive article with the absence of any funding being announced.
The last 3 paragraphs say it all in my view:
“However, electronic records of clinical handovers, and emailing discharge summaries to a patient's local doctor seem a lower priority.
The plan allows written records of staff handovers to the next shift, rather than mandating an electronic record of the patient's condition and treatment.
Meanwhile, NSW Health notes that doctors have a "responsibility to liaise with the GP regarding their individual patients".”
To paraphrase – clinicians will have to just ‘make do’! We have no plans to really try and help! Just typical of an administratively controlled and run bureaucracy for whom patients are basically a nuisance!
Fourth we have:
Medical records on the iPhone debuts at health IT expo
Doctors will be able to access digital patient records on their iPhone or iPod touch using the app, Allscripts Remote
Dan Nystedt (IDG News Service) 07/04/2009 05:10:00
Doctors with an iPhone or iPod Touch will be able to view patients' electronic health records using a new application available on Apple's Apps Store.
Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions created the app, called Allscripts Remote, so physicians will be able to help patients no matter where they are. A doctor called for an emergency in the middle of the night, for example, would be able to access a patient's health records immediately on their iPhone so they could talk with emergency room staff.
The doctor could also use Allscripts Remote to fax a patient's medical summary to the emergency room, complete with any notes the doctor deemed vital to include.
The software includes ePrescribing to a patient's regular pharmacy.
More here:
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/298269/medical_records_iphone_debuts_health_it_expo
Now not only prescribing but medical records on your phone! The pace of progress seems relentless.
Fifth we have:
Microsoft updates e-health data-aggregation software
New version of Almaga aims to improve flow of information between doctors and patients
Elizabeth Montalbano (IDG News Service) 07 April, 2009 05:04
Microsoft on Monday will unveil a new version of its software for aggregating health records that makes it easier for patients and doctors to share information electronically.
The new release, Almaga Unified Intelligent System 2009, offers bi-directional integration with Microsoft's HealthVault, an online repository where people can store and manage their health and wellness information, said Steve Shihadeh, a vice president in the Microsoft Health Solutions Group.
In addition to linking Almaga to HealthVault, Microsoft also is adding a Web interface to the system so health-care practitioners who have the right to access information from Almaga can do so through a Web portal, he said. The company also has added new features to the system, one of which that allows images such as X-rays and MRIs to be stored.
Managing health-care records and information is a huge pain point for the industry. The health-care information system in the U.S. is difficult for both patients and doctors to navigate.
More here:
Microsoft continues to
Sixth we have:
IBA Announces LORENZO Health Studio to the US Market
06 Apr 2009
Sydney – Monday, 6 April 2009 – IBA Health Group Limited (ASX: IBA) – Australia's largest listed health information technology company, today introduced LORENZO Health Studio, iSOFT’s next-generation healthcare information technology solution, in the United States.
iSOFT unveiled its LORENZO Health Studio Partner Programmeat the HIMSS health IT conference held in Chicago this week as it taps growth opportunities in the U.S healthcare market. Selected healthcare providers now have an outstanding opportunity to participate in the new electronic healthcare marketplace created by U.S President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package.
iSOFT has the potential to play a critical role in resolving the challenges that U.S healthcare providers face as they seek interoperable IT solutions to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce its cost among more than 300 million patients.
More here:
http://www.ibahealth.com/html/iba_announces_lorenzo_health_studio_to_the_us_market.cfm
With the Obama health IT stimulus it seems important Australia see if it can get a small slice of the pie! (Usual disclaimer that I have a few, now iSoft, shares)
Lastly some slightly more technical information:
First aid for your computer
Dan Warne
April 6, 2009
Does your PC or laptop sometimes run slowly or freeze? Stick this article on the fridge: it could save your machine's life and your sanity, writes Dan Warne.
If your computer has been running slower lately, no doubt you've sought help from friends, family and the IT people at work. Suggestions may range from the merely outdated "have you defragged it?" to the misinformed "there's too many icons on your desktop . . . they're clogging it up" or the fatalistic "mate, nothing will fix it except blowing it away and starting again".
We've all heard the lines and none of them are particularly helpful. In fact, the computer industry thrives on people who've been given bad advice, throw up their hands in despair and end up buying a new PC.
Here are some ways to clear out your computer and get it back to optimal performance.
Much more here:
Worth a look to make sure you know about all the ideas offered if you have to manage your (and maybe a few other) PCs.
Just finally an alert. For those interested in really using Linux in a business environment this looks interesting.
Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
If you're looking for a practical business desktop replacement for Windows, your best choice is Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11: a true Windows replacement.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols 06 April, 2009 11:52
There are lots of Linux distros being touted as great desktop operating systems for PCs. However, there's only one that we can wholeheartedly recommend to business owners as a Windows replacement: Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (SLED).
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11, which was released on March 24, stands above its competitors because it works and plays well with existing Windows business networks, data files and application servers. You can, of course, add this functionality to other Linux distributions - if you're willing to do it manually. SLED gives you pretty much the full deal out of the box.
This new desktop is based on openSUSE 11.1. If you've already used openSUSE, you might think at first glance that SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 is little more than openSUSE with a US$120 annual service contract. It's more than that, though. Here's what we found in our recent run with it.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 is built on Version 2.6.27 of the Linux kernel. You get two choices for a desktop: Gnome 2.24.1 or KDE 4.1.3.
For the default file system, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 is now using the rock-solid ext3 instead of ReiserFS. ReiserFS will, however, still be supported.
More here:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/298224/novell_suse_linux_enterprise_desktop_11?eid=-6787
More next week.
David.
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