Again, in the last week, I have come across a few news items which are worth passing on.
First we have:
Dont let privacy do your head in
Karen Curtis has the tough job overseeing the Federal Privacy Office and National Privacy Principles. She is among the experts who gave Rob O'Neill this how-to guide to managing privacy in your organisation.
The Golden Rule, to treat others as you would expect to be treated yourself, is accepted by so many religions and philosophies around the world that it can almost be considered universal. It is also the simplest of guides when dealing with issues of privacy.
Beth Wilson, Victoria's Health Services commissioner, has her own version, which she urges people to apply when making everyday decisions about sharing information.
"Ask yourself would you want your mum's, brother's or sister's information to be treated like this," she says.
To suggest the privacy regulation has become a battleground of Australian federalism, with states competing with the Commonwealth for jurisdiction, would perhaps be going too far. But there is little doubt the states and the Commonwealth approach issues of privacy differently.
The result is a mesh of requirements and jurisdictions that affect different industries in different places in different ways. The activities of most organisations will be governed by at least two sets of laws and two sets of administration. Some will be governed by more than that.
For organisations operating Australia-wide, up to eight different sets of rules may apply.
Confusing? Not necessarily, say the experts.
Federal Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis says since the Privacy Act was extended to include the private sector, business has mostly complied. This is especially the case in larger organisations and organisations in the financial services industry.
"They were used to doing it and aware of the potential brand damage if they didn't do it right," Ms Curtis says.
John Dickie, acting privacy commissioner of NSW, says Australia's multilayered privacy regime may appear complex but in practice it works well. In general, NSW's privacy principles are the same as the federal principles, he says, and on top of that there are 15 health information principles.
Lots more here:
http://www.businessday.com.au/small-business/dont-let-privacy-do-your-head-in-20090619-cowf.html
This article is quite a good discussion of the issues around health information privacy. (Not clear how old the article is – but it still looks pretty useful).
Second we have:
Scandinavian e-health trip for ACT minister
Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet.com.au
26 June 2009 12:10 PM
Tags: act, e-health, gallagher, denmark, norway, hospital
ACT Health Minister Katy Gallagher has decided to travel to Denmark and Norway in August to learn about the countries' e-health systems.
"Scandinavia is considered a leader in e-health and design of health facilities," Gallagher said in a statement. She hoped to gain some pointers for the territory's e-health investment, which amounted to $90 million in this year's budget (passed early this morning).
In her week away, she said she will visit one of Denmark's hospitals, which is considered to be one of the most modern and progressive university hospital campuses, located in a regional centre of a similar size to Canberra.
She would also meet with the Danish minister for Health and other health officials as well as the organisation responsible for Denmark's e-health record, Sundhed.
In Norway, she will visit two major university hospitals as well as a demonstration centre for the incorporation of digital infrastructure into health facility design.
"The purpose of my visit is to gain a better understanding of best practice health facility design and architecture, including e-health design, and how we can build on established links between the ACT Government, ANU and the University of Canberra through further integrating university and hospital campus development and design," Gallagher said.
More here:
This is a good thing to see. Pity she is not also seeing Holland as it is close and also has been doing very well in the e-Health domain.
Third we have:
Guild bemoans lack of software subsidies
Mark Gertskis
The peak pharmacy owners' body has rounded on the Federal Government and medical software vendors over a new financial incentives program being implemented for doctors.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia national president Kos Sclavos has criticised the Government's new Practice Incentives Program (PIP) eHealth Incentive for leaving out pharmacists.
Set to come into force in August, the PIP eHealth Incentive's information technology component will replace an existing subsidy and will offer payments to doctors for maintaining electronic records and facilitating information transfer and storage.
"It is stunning that payment of up to $50,000 will go to doctors and compare that to community pharmacy where no payment has been offered and furthermore there is no acknowledgement to date that the issue will be addresses in the coming agreement negotiations,” Mr Sclavos told Pharmacy News.
"Software vendors will also get paid for committing to undertake connectivity in the future and agreeing to standards that are yet to be written. What a stark comparison with community pharmacy where software vendor support for PBS Online has discontinued and pharmacists are outraged at being charged by software vendors an additional charge of up to $2,200 per year just in terms of dealing with PBS Online issues."
More here:
http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/articles/Guild-bemoans-lack-of-software-subsidies_z488165.htm
Sometimes one has to wonder about the Pharmacy Guild. Despite being a protected species by an amazing set of anti-competitive and really outdated regulations and rules they are still after more. They need to be careful they don’t overreach in my view.
See here for an alternate view:
Dispensing home truths on pharmacy
Friday, 26 June 2009
ONE of the unfathomable mysteries of the universe as we know it is the great unanswered question... why is it that anyone can own a medical practice, but pharmacies can only be owned by pharmacists?
Moreover, why is it that a new pharmacy can’t open within 1.5 km of an existing one, but a new general practice can open up next door to an existing one without any restrictions?
The strange anti-competitive rules applying to pharmacy seem to be completely out of step with the strict policy governing every other type of business structure in Australia.
Pharmacy ownership, operation and practice are fundamental issues for general practice.
While a number of our professional recommendations for patients are non-pharmaceutical interventions, a significant number of our recommendations end up being over-the-counter preparations or prescription medications dispensed only by pharmacies.
I know this subject is usually treated a bit like the proverbial “elephant in the living room” but we need to pay more than a passing interest.
The pharmacy agreement is set to be renegotiated soon.
This includes government funding of fees for dispensing, fees for providing medicines information (even though a survey found that only 15% of pharmacies actually provide this information) (MO, 6 March), incentive payments for dispensing generics, and so on.
So it is time this particular pachyderm was acknowledged and examined.
Much more here:
http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/Blog/7/63/Default.aspx
and here:
Consumer medicines information (CMI): pack inserts are the best practical option
It was a neat idea: giving Australian consumers up-to-date information about their medicines as a highly usable printout at the point of sale, when they picked up their prescriptions. The decision to do so was the result of one of those rare historical moments when industry and consumers stood shoulder to shoulder in agreement on the best course of action. But it hasn’t worked. Despite much effort, pharmacists, according to the most recent research, still continue after 15 years to deny consumers their rights to information about the medicines they are taking.
In a recent review and case history we at CRI went over this sad record (see CMI and the Pharmacists, and Shorter CMIs: The sad failure of a design project. At a recent conference, where I presented the results of this review and case history, I suggested that pack inserts were the best alternative practical option for both industry and consumers. Some delegates were alarmed; so let me elaborate.
More here:
http://www.communication.org.au/dsblog/?p=127
Fourth we have:
Net nasties caught in AUSTRAC web
Karen Dearne | June 25, 2009
ONLINE dating scams, auction website rip-offs, drug trafficking, tax evasion, illegal immigrants and large-scale identity fraud are among a raft of crimes detected during routine anti-money laundering monitoring over the past year.
Outgoing AUSTRAC chief executive Neil Jensen said many highly illegal activities may have remained undetected, if not for reporting by banks and other businesses required to notify the financial intelligence unit of transactions which appear suspicious.
The agency has released its latest Typologies and Case Studies Report, which contains sanitised versions of more than 40 actual investigations.
"This report puts the magnifying glass on emerging techniques such as card skimming, early release super schemes and share and internet scams," Mr Jensen said. "It also illustrates the practical importance of businesses complying with their obligations under the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws."
Many internet-based scams take place without the victim realising they've been targeted, while the growth of internet shopping has given scammers increased opportunities, according to the report.
Full article here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25689374-15306,00.html
This really shows just how many nasty things go on, on the web.
Fifth we have:
More German market success for Australia’s iSOFT
by Peter Dinham
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Australian listed health IT group, iSOFT has signed up its fifth German customer to deploy its Lorenzo next generation health information system solution.
Under the three-year contract worth $1.9 million, the iSOFT group (ASX:ISF) will this year install its ClinicCentre HIS solution, and gradually replace individual modules with Lorenzo functionality as it becomes available, for Klinikum Saarbrücken, one of Germany’s major general hospitals. Located at Saarbrücken, the state capital of Saarland, Klinikum Saarbrücken is a 600-bed acute care, teaching hospital for the University of Saarland, employing 2,200 staff and treating 110,000 patients a year.
iSOFT’s managing director Central Europe, Peter Herrmann, said Klinikum Saarbrücken was an existing customer for iSOFT’s RadCentre radiology information system, and, as one of Germany’s major general hospitals, was “renowned for using the latest technology in medicine and patient care.”
“Its decision to adopt Lorenzo is further recognition that we have the right strategy; one that offers customers a clear path to migrate to a next-generation solution at a pace that suits their needs and budgets, while building on existing investments.”
Replacement of the hospital’s existing Nexus inpatient system with iSOFT’s ClinicCentre solution is due to be completed in September this year, and Herrmann says the first Lorenzo component is expected to be installed in 2010.
“Based on Lorenzo technology, the iSOFT Collaboration Suite (iCS) portal will allow GPs access to hospital patient records using standard Web browsers. Lorenzo is a next-generation suite of healthcare applications based on service-oriented architecture. iCS allows the secure exchange of patient information between care providers to improve collaboration between care teams.”
More here:
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/25791/1231/
Seems iSoft is continuing to make some progress in Europe. It will be useful for iSoft to update the market soon as to just where the UK situation is up to. There seem to be some doubts emerging as to how things with both iSoft and Cerner are progressing.
NHS finally agrees to fund alternative hospital systems
By Leo King
Created 2009-06-26 07:24 AM
NHS trusts across the south of England will receive funding for alternative patient systems to those mandated under the £12.7 billion National Programme for IT [1], it has been confirmed.
Until now, it had been unclear whether hospitals choosing alternative systems would receive any financial support from the programme.
This will act as test for trusts in the rest of the country, where if BT and CSC do not meet a tough November deadline [3] for a workable patient system, the whole programme may be redesigned.
The decision comes amid mounting problems for the programme. Angry patients this month told Computerworld UK they had been informed of a potential threat to their ongoing care [4] if they declined to take an electronic summary care record.
Last week, the government's own Gateway reviews into the first five years of the programme were published, revealing a lack of stakeholder trust in the programme's suppliers, and serious questions [1] over whether the programme would ever deliver value for money.
Trusts in the south will now be funded for their choice of system from the existing NHS programme budget. They will be able to choose from the additional suppliers in the NHS national programme framework, which include Atos Origin, Logica, Siemens, Perot Systems, Tata Consultancy Services and Agfa Healthcare.
Lots more here:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/networking/nhs-finally-agrees-fund-alternative-hospital-systems-196
Also similar comments here:
Is NHS CIO the answer to a failing NPfIT?
November is not that far off! (Usual disclaimer of having a few iSoft shares)
Sixth we have:
Reinecke in $70k Rudd consulting win
Renai LeMay, ZDNet.com.au
25 June 2009 07:13 PM
Tags: e-health, kevin rudd, nehta, prime minister, ian reinecke, 70,000, government, australia
The former chief executive of Australia's peak e-health group picked up $70,000 for a week's worth of services in late February to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's department, tender documents have revealed.
Ian Reinecke resigned from his post leading the National E-Health Transition Authority in April 2008, after four years of leading the non-profit authority, which guides electronic health initiatives in Australia. He is seen as one of Australia's foremost experts on health technology solutions, particularly electronic medical records.
It is not known whether Reinecke has taken another position since he left NEHTA, although he was also revealed this week to be taking part in the Federal Government's Government 2.0 taskforce, which aims to investigate the ability of Web 2.0 technologies to make government more transparent and increase community engagement.
More here:
Great work if you can get it!
Seventh we have:
Tanner aims for a digital age of democracy
Peter Martin Economics Correspondent
June 23, 2009
DECLARING the fight for freedom-of-information laws largely over, the Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, has proffered a system of government in which Australians not only have access to legislation as it is being drafted but also take part in the drafting process electronically.
Mr Tanner has appointed a Melbourne economist, Nicholas Gruen, to lead a 15-member taskforce to draw up a blueprint for what he is calling Government 2.0, reporting this year.
The taskforce has opened a blog at gov2.net.au, staffed by volunteers.
Two years ago New Zealand redesigned its Police Act by putting the draft legislation on a wiki, a website that can be updated by its users, and inviting comments on each paragraph.
Mr Tanner told the Herald that he would be interested in having such public input from next year, but for legislation involving things such as sudden tax changes or national security measures it would probably never be possible. "But if we … take advantage of the so-called wisdom of crowds, we can get a better result," he said.
Dr Gruen said a British website, fixmystreet.com, enabled enabled citizens to point out and discuss potholes in their streets without the government needing to send out inspectors.
More here:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/tanner-aims-for-a-digital-age-of-democracy-20090622-cu11.html
This work has some interesting implications for health services. I wonder will they also address the culture of government secrecy that will need to change if these sort of initiatives are to work?
Eighth we have:
Fake emails: how easy are they ... to spot or make?
Asher Moses
June 23, 2009 - 4:17PM
With Utegate and that fake email occupying so much of our parliamentarians' time, just how easy is it to dupe someone?
Fake emails flood Australian inboxes every day but digital forensics experts say they can be easy to spot - or create, if you know the tricks.
Using a regular email program, fraudsters can create emails that appear to come from any address they want in a few minutes, said Graham Thompson, a digital forensics consultant who assists in police investigations.
Scammers use the same tricks to fool victims into thinking emails are coming from their bank, or from a friend who urgently needs money transferred to a bank account after being mugged abroad.
The trick in exposing what's fake or real, Thompson explained, is to obtain an electronic copy of the email and look at the "internet headers".
These can be revealed by clicking on email options in the program you use. They will reveal the real email and IP addresses used to send the message.
"I can make an account that says joebloggs@parliament.gov.au on the 'from' field, but it doesn't mean when you reply that it's going to go back to that address, and it doesn't mean it's from that address," Thompson said.
Much more here:
Given last week in parliament a useful warning as to how simple it can be to cause a bit of havoc with e-mail. Hence the need for more secure types of messaging for serious clinical communication.
Lastly the slightly more out there article for the week:
IBM Aims for a Battery Breakthrough
A consortium led by IBM hopes to develop lithium-air batteries that will power electric vehicles for 300 to 500 miles on a single charge
Eager to place itself at the forefront of technology considered crucial to transportation's future, Big Blue is throwing its weight behind batteries.
On June 23, IBM announced a multiyear effort to increase the performance of rechargeable batteries by a factor of 10. The aim is to design batteries that will make it possible for electric vehicles to travel 300 to 500 miles on a single charge, up from 50 to 100 miles currently. "We want to see if we can find a radically different battery technology," says Chandrasekhar "Spike" Narayan, who manages the Science & Technology Organization at IBM Research's Almaden lab in San Jose, Calif.
To do that, IBM (IBM) is leading a consortium that will create batteries using a combination of lithium and oxygen rather than the potentially combustible lithium-ion mix that now dominates advanced consumer electronics and early electric-vehicle batteries. The new batteries could be used to store energy in electric grids as well.
IBM is also eager to reclaim U.S. leadership in battery tech from Asia. While many of the original breakthroughs for the batteries that power today's laptop computers and cell phones happened in the U.S., those batteries now come primarily from Japan and Korea.
Industry leaders have called for just this kind of concerted effort amid concern that the U.S. will miss out on one of the most important technology shifts in history—the switch from gasoline to electricity as the primary power source for light vehicles. The worry is that the U.S. will trade its current dependency on the Middle East for oil with a new dependency on Asia for vehicle batteries. "We lost control of battery technology in the 1970s," laments Andy Grove, former chairman of chip giant Intel (INTC). "Battery technology will define the future, and if we don't act quickly it will go to China and Japan."
Much more here:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2009/tc20090622_116016.htm?link_position=link47
This, if it can be achieved is likely to transform our world. The implications of improved battery technologies for point of care systems is obvious
For those who wanted a technical article I found this amazing!
Windows 7 can run on a very old PC
A user by the name of "hackerman1" has installed Windows 7 on a Pentium II
David Murphy (PC World (US online)) 22 June, 2009 14:08
Tags: Windows 7
I've always wanted to get a modern operating system to work on my graphing calculator. And we're about there, thanks to the efforts of a fellow (or strangely named lady) on The Windows Club forum. A user by the name of "hackerman1" has installed Windows 7 on his PC, which in itself is nothing to write home about. The catch here is that he's gotten a bootable, working installation on no less than a Pentium II system. No, that's not a typo--Pentium Two. The extreme...ly old machine consists of a 266 MHz CPU, a whopping 96 MB of memory, and a next-generation 4 MB graphics card.
Much more here:
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/308332/windows_7_can_run_very_old_pc?eid=-6787
More next week.
David.
What an incredibly sensible decision in the UK - "NHS trusts across the south of England will receive funding for alternative patient systems". Competition gives a market energy and keeps everyone on their toes. Perhaps its time for Victoria’s HealthSMART to do the same.
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