Here are a few I have come across this week.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and a paragraph or two. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
General Comment:
The most important news this week for the whole health sector will be how the Council of Australian Government Meeting on Sunday has played out. See recent blog for comment.
http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2011/02/at-least-partial-deal-has-been-done-at.html
No mention of e-Health I could spot.
There is a good conversation on the PCEHR found here:
http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2011/02/draft-person-controlled-electronic.html#comments
The bottom line to me is that we are all being messed around by the secrecy surrounding just what the PCEHR actually is and how it related to all that has gone before - here and elsewhere!
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E-health project costs rise by millions
- Karen Dearne
- From: Australian IT
- February 11, 2011
THE cost of three lead e-health implementations has risen by $2 million to $14.5m before the projects have even begun.
During the 2010 election campaign, Health Minister Nicola Roxon committed $12.5m to hand-picked GP divisions – GP Partners in Brisbane, GP Access in the NSW Hunter Valley and Melbourne East – to act as lead sites for the government’s $467m personally controlled e-health record program.
Health department documents show each site received $4.83m in grant funding on February 2, bringing the total to $14.5m. The projects are due for completion by June 30 2012, when a PCEHR is supposed to be available for every Australian who wants one.
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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/gps-urged-to-be-wary-of-medicine-bought-online
GPs urged to be wary of medicine bought online
10th Feb 2011
GPs have been advised to be wary of counterfeit medicines purchased over the Internet as part of the TGA’s latest initiative to reduce the sale and consumption of illegitimate medicines in Australia.
The initiative includes a new reporting function that went live on the watchdog’s website earlier this week. The online reporting portal allows consumers and health professionals to submit information relating to possible breaches of the TGA’s act.
According to figures released by the TGA, the watchdog has received 146 reports of counterfeit medical products over the last 12 months, with the majority of reports relating to lifestyle medications imported by individuals from unknown Internet sites.
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http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/ipad/health-tech-setback-as-ipad-halted-20110209-1an3d.html
Health tech setback as iPad halted
Julia Medew
February 10, 2011
HOSPITAL staff will have to continue queueing for computers in Victorian hospitals after the new Coalition government dumped a trial of 500 Apple iPads, which it was hoped would improve internet access this year.
In July last year, the former Brumby government said it had allocated $500,000 for 500 iPads to be given to graduate doctors and nurses in January to help them use the internet as they move around hospitals.
But when The Age asked the new government about the trial this week, a spokesman for Health Minister David Davis said the Brumby government had made no budget-level commitment to the program, leaving a ''black hole''. The spokesman said ''core wireless infrastructure'' required for the mobile iPads was also missing from the former government's plan.
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Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors
Wednesday, 9 February 2011, 3:07 pm
Press Release: Pharmacy Guild
MEDIA RELEASE
9 February 2011
Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors
The electronic prescribing pilot involving two wards at Dunedin Hospital may be extended across the entire hospital, and to Wakari Hospital, after the pilot exposed inadequate prescribing and administration practices.
In yesterday’s Otago Daily Times it was reported that from a sample of 100 paper charts, the pilot uncovered 2,623 instances of harm or near misses from medication errors last year - most of which were unreported or unrecognised.
“The Guild has always asserted that there is a serious prescription error problem in primary health care,” says Annabel Young, Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand Chief Executive. “This is both a patient safety issue and a cost issue for health care.
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CSC takes prime role in multi-million dollar eHealth Defence deal
Defence is investing more than $55.7 million into its Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI) system
- Julia Talevski (ARN)
- 09 February, 2011 12:56
CSC has been selected as the prime system integrator with the Department of Defence to develop and implement a multi-million dollar eHealth system for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Called the Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI) system, it has also been developed inconjunction with Defence and IT services company, Oakton.
The JeHDI system will provide an eHealth record for all personnel, and also give the Department of Defence the ability to map health-related trends of the ADF and derive financial reports on its healthcare costs.
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http://www.techworld.com.au/article/376036/defence_signs_five-year_e-health_deal_csc/
Defence signs five-year e-health deal with CSC
Undertakes e-health records project
- Georgina Swan (Computerworld)
- 09 February, 2011 12:18
The Australian Department of Defence has has signed a five-year information technology contract with CSC to develop and implement an electronic health information system for the Australian Defence Force.
The system, dubbed as Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI), will be one of the first comprehensive e-health records projects in Australia, according to CSC Australia president, Gavin Larkings.
“This project is an important example of a modernised health system optimising the use of e-health technologies to provide the right healthcare at the right time in the right place,” he said in a statement. “JeHDI is a significant project for Defence and we foresee it as a showcase for Australia's e-health evolution."
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http://delimiter.com.au/2011/02/09/csc-core-to-55-7m-defence-ehealth-project/
CSC core to $55.7m Defence eHealth project
The Department of Defence this morning unveiled plans to build a $55.7 million electronic health system to maintain records about armed forces personnel, commissioning IT services companies CSC and Oakton to assist it with the work.
The project has been named the “Joint eHealth Data and Information” (JeHDI) system and will deploy a military specific, primary care solution known as EMIS into the Defence Information Environment.
In a statement, Defence said it was spending more than $55 million to develop and deliver the JeHDI, which is predicted to be completed by 2014. Gaving Larkings, president of CSC in Australia, said JeHDI was a significant project for Defence and would support the modernisation of the whole organisation.
“This project is an important example of a modernised health system optimising the use of eHealth technologies, to provide the right healthcare at the right time in the right place,” he said.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/defence-touts-55m-e-health-system-339309075.htm
Defence touts $55m e-health system
By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on February 9th, 2011
Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel has officially kick started work on a new multimillion-dollar, web-based e-health records management platform.
Announced by Minister for Veterans' Affairs Warren Snowdon in Canberra this morning, the Joint e-Health Data and Information system (JeHDI) will hold an ADF member's e-health record, containing medical information from recruitment right through to discharge and is, according to the minister, set to improve the quality of healthcare provided to ADF personnel.
"JeHDI is a web-based system which can be accessed wherever internet is available, while still maintaining confidentiality and data integrity, JeHDI will simplify record management and provide immediate access to patients' medical records and other healthcare information," Snowdon said.
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Software group provides healthier outlook for military
Published on Thu Feb 10 12:59:30 GMT 2011
HEALTHCARE software group EMIS has won a major contract to monitor and help improve the health of Australia’s armed forces.
The Leeds-based group, founded by two North Yorkshire GPs in 1987, yesterday revealed it has been appointed by global technology giant CSC to supply a new electronic health information system for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Under a five-year contract, CSC Australia use EMIS’s clinical software to deliver a health records system covering all personnel in the ADF, called the Joint e-Health Data and Information (JeHDI) system.
The new system, which will be based on EMIS’s clinical software – will create a detailed electronic health record for each ADF serviceman and woman, featuring data from recruitment to discharge.
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Registration bungle stops nurses working
- Sue Dunlevy
- From: The Australian
- February 12, 2011
NURSE graduates due to start their first day on the job were turned away at the hospital door this week because the new national health registration agency failed to process their registration on time.
The Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency confirmed it was unable to register more than 10 NSW nurse graduates before they started their first nursing job.
Nurse graduate Penny Foy says she saw four nurses turned away from her new workplace, Gosford Hospital. "We know of 20 that were not registered at the end of last week," she says.
Foy tells Weekend Health her registration arrived a week ago Tuesday, but only after she phoned the agency twice a day and asked opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton to intervene on her behalf.
A spokeswoman for AHPRA says up to 60 NSW nurses turned up at the agency's office on Friday because their registration hadn't come through and agency staff had worked through the weekend to get most of them registered.
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http://idm.net.au/article/008225-dca-secures-nt-messaging-tender
DCA secures NT messaging tender
02.09.11
The Northern Territory department of Health and Families has awarded DCA the tender to provide a territory-wide infrastructure to support secure exchange of health records based on the NEHTA Secure Message Delivery (SMD) specification.
The infrastructure will enable existing software products residing in hospital, community health and aboriginal medical centres to send and receive secure messages amongst each other using a common protocol. The project is a collaboration between DCA, NTDHF, NEHTA, and the major existing software vendors Ascribe and Communicare.
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http://www.techworld.com.au/article/376040/toughbooks_take_precedence_sydney_adventist_hospital_cio/
Toughbooks take precedence at Sydney Adventist Hospital: CIO
Paperless environment a long-term strategy
- Hamish Barwick (CIO)
- 09 February, 2011 11:42
The Sydney Adventist Hospital has made the decision to adopt the Panasonic Toughbook H1 Health mobile clinical assistant for its pharmacists, after literally weighing up the benefits of the device.
The hospital’s CIO, Chris Williams, told CIO Australia that after weighing up the large amounts of documents each pharmacist had to lug around compared to the weight of the Toughbook H1, the hospital decided to purchase eight of the device for its pharmacy.
In addition, other benefits of the device include pharmacists being able to continually update discharge notes and modify them as a doctor prescribes drugs, and patients will receive printed, instead of hand written, prescriptions when they leave the private hospital.
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Victorian Department of Human Services extends reach of the cloud
- Jennifer Foreshew
- From: The Australian
- February 08, 2011
THE Victorian Department of Human Services is planning to put more sensitive systems into the cloud after a US enterprise software service provider began using a local data centre.
Oracle has set up a dedicated CRM On Demand package at its new Sydney Data Centre for the department's 350 users accessing the Victorian Bush Fire Recovery case management system, which supports Black Saturday victims.
The department took possession of the Oracle software in February 2009, when it was run out of Oracle's data centre in Austin, Texas.
CRM On Demand went live at the Sydney data centre in October last year.
Plans for establishing the centre were revealed in September, including a deal with hosting company HarbourMSP.
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http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/acute-care/6629/isoft_wins_double_kiosk_deal
ISoft wins double kiosk deal
10 February 2011 Sarah Bruce
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust have signed a contract for iSoft’s patient check-in kiosks in a deal worth £275,000.
West Hertfordshire is taking eight of the Savience kiosks for its outpatient departments at Watford General, Hemel Hempstead, and St Albans City hospitals.
The trust, which deals with 374,000 outpatient appointments a year, has signed for a fully managed service over five years, which includes six plasma screens and audio equipment for patient calling.
North Cumbria has ordered two kiosks initially, for the West Cumberland Hospital at Whitehaven, under a proof-of-concept project.
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http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/acute-care/6626/two_trusts_use_isoft_pathology_tool
Two trusts use iSoft pathology tool
9 February 2011 Lyn Whitfield
ISoft has announced the first UK sales of its CorVu laboratory management reporting tool.
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust and St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust have both taken the system, which iSoft has been able to introduce to the UK because of a partnership with US based developers Rocket Software.
The two companies formed a strategic partnership in 2009 to develop Business Intelligence and strategic management applications across iSoft’s portfolio.
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust will use CorVu to analyse department statistics to improve its turnaround times for pathology tests at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
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No budget for huge health e-record development task
- Karen Dearne
- From: The Australian
- February 08, 2011
SOFTWARE vendors face 10-15 staff years of development work to meet the complex requirements of the $467 million e-health record program, but there's no plan to pay for it.
Health Communication Network chief executive John Frost said the federal government was spending "obscenely large" sums on the personally controlled e-health record, including $38.5m over the next six months on the National E-Health Transition Authority (Nehta).
"That money, frankly, will be spent on consultants," he said. "The government has allocated $12.5m for the three lead implementation sites, $55m for second-wave sites, and $467m for just the first phase" of the personalised e-health record program.
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Health record identifier held up because of safety concerns
- Karen Dearne
- From: The Australian
- February 08, 2011
THE Health Department has banned the use of the $90 million Healthcare Identifier service in any live environment due to concerns over the system's safety.
The service, operated by Medicare, was declared live by Health Minister Nicola Roxon in July, but has been sitting idle while software interface specifications, licensing arrangements and compliance issues are thrashed out.
Last week, the department prohibited use of the service until all concerns were resolved.
Despite the fanfare over meeting Ms Roxon's deadline for the start of the service -- Medicare issued every Australian with a 16-digit unique number on July 1-- fears have grown of the potential for mis-identification of patients and mis-matching of medical records.
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Clear IT vision ahead for Mater Health Services
Application development leads to department integration
- Hamish Barwick (CIO)
- 07 February, 2011 12:28
Doubling the rate of eye tissue donations is just one of many positive outcomes for Mater Health Services following the introduction of a new application development platform, InterSystems Ensemble.
Since implementation in March 2010 by the Brisbane-based health provider, a total of 15 applications have been developed including data quality checking, discharge summaries, outpatient appointments and test results acknowledgment, with work for a general practitioner (GP) portal in development.
Ensemble also provides message translation for Healthcare Seven (HL7), an health industry standard which supports structured messages containing complex clinical and administrative data. More than 100,000 HL7 messages are generated by Mater Health Service’s systems daily.
One of the major new apps to be created on the new platform is an eye tissue donation system monitors HL7 messages captured by the electronic patient record from Mater’s patient administration system. After a potential eye donor dies and the death is registered in the system, it generates an email which is converted into an SMS message and sent to Queensland Health which lets the tissue banks know of an incoming donation.
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http://www.cfoworld.com.au/news/533868/global-health-secures-e-health-contract/
Global Health secures e-health contract
18:29, 7th February 2011
By Dylan Bushell-Embling (CFO World)
Australian e-health solutions provider Global Health (ASX:GLH) has revealed it has secured a contract to deploy two of its suites at 40 youth mental health centres.
National youth mental health foundation headspace will deploy Global Health's MasterCare Clinician platform and ReferralNet Secure Messaging suite across its centres nationwide.
The foundation has 30 centres across Australia, with another 10 due to be opened in the second half of 2011.
Under the terms of the deal, Global Health will update the MHAGIC mental health case management system it had previously provided for headspace with the shared electronic medical records provided through MasterCare, while implementing some specific customisations.
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Enjoy!
David.
1 comment:
Gee, after the NHS experience, you would think that perhaps CSC would learn from it's mistakes. Surely EMIS is wonderful product in its native country - but where has it ever been implemented in this country? Who decides these things? Really, it beggars belief!
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