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
There have been a few big things happen this week. We have has an agreement between the NBN Co, Government and Telstra announced which may, or may not, be a good thing. Time will tell.
We have also seen the takeover of iSoft by CSC more pretty much to finality and the odd continuing problem with the Qld Health Payroll systems.
The articles on hacking and document verification have obvious e-Health relevance and need to be factored in to planning for e-Health.
All in all quite an interesting week!
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/391231/nbn_101_how_nbn_can_change_australian_healthcare/
NBN 101: How the NBN can change Australian healthcare
The National Broadband Network has the potential to make widespread e-health deployment a reality
Back when he was a far more popular figure among the ALP hierarchy, Kevin Rudd led Labor to victory with the grand promise of a nationwide high-speed broadband network that would provide ubiquitous access for all Australians.
The $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) has the potential to enable a host of new and innovative applications and radically change a number of Australian industries.
In the realm of education, it could revolutionise how Australians teach and learn[3]. The effect it stands to have on Australian healthcare is no less dramatic. Although a network on the scale of the NBN is not necessarily a technical precursor to the rollout of many e-health technologies, with its bandwidth and the scale of its deployment it can act as an enabler that eliminates some of the constraints on the implementation of unique healthcare identifiers and personally controlled electronic health records, for example, and enhance access to telehealth and videoconferencing.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/391232/snapshot_e-health_landscape_australia/
Snapshot: The e-health landscape in Australia
How e-health is making its mark down under
This article accompanies 'NBN 101: How the NBN can change e-health'
Under its $7.8 billion national heathcare reform project, to be completed over a five year period, the Gillard Government has committed to improving hospitals and primary healthcare, providing more training for health professional including doctors and nurses, investment in prevention, increasing support for mental illness and aged care, and bringing the health system up to date.
As part of this health reform project, the government has established a Healthcare Identifier Bill 2010 to govern a timeline to have unique healthcare identifiers (HI) in operation within 10 years, a project spearheaded by Medicare. This will mean Australian has a unique health record held in a single national database that can be accessed by different healthcare professionals.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/nbn-demands-health-restructure-339317296.htm
By Phil Dobbie, ZDNet.com.au on June 23rd, 2011
You can do all you want with communications technology, but the telemedicine benefits won't be realised without a fundamental rethink about how we structure our healthcare industry.
After listening to today's program, you may begin to wonder whether, in the case of health, the NBN sees us building a big broadband network and claiming the benefits, without understanding how to organise the health sector to make the most of it.
Note: Links to 30 minute podcast.
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http://ehealthspace.org/news/interview-peter-fleming-chief-executive-nehta
Posted Mon, 20/06/2011 - 11:17 by Josh Gliddon
Mark Jones: Peter Fleming, thanks for joining us on eHealthSpace TV.
Peter Fleming: Pleasure, thank you for inviting me.
Mark Jones: How would you clarify what NEHTA's mission is?
Peter Fleming: NEHTA was established almost six years ago now, by the Council of Australian Governments. To quote some of our directors, they talk about the [rail gate] scenario and ensuring that we don’t end up down that process. So it's very much around putting in place the standards throughout the nation that allow us to operate in one healthcare community, and also put in place the infrastructure to leverage that.
So there are key components in infrastructure that only government can deliver, the secure message, the NASH services, the SNOMED services around clinical terminology, et cetera. So it's getting those components in place.
The level above that, certainly the standards around things such as discharge referral, medication management, pathology, et cetera, are all key, both from a clinical standards perspective and a technology standards perspective.
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http://www.healthcanal.com/geriatrics-aging/18254-Getting-older-costing-more-healthcare-sector-facing-challenges-more-efficient.html
22/06/2011 02:07:00
The Australian healthcare sector’s supply chain is in need of an overhaul to meet the challenges of rising costs, as well as a growing and ageing population, according to a new University of Melbourne study.
And according to study author Dr Vikram Bhakoo, hospitals may be running up to 20 per cent less efficient than they could be by not taking full advantage of e-business technology that is in widespread use across the retail and grocery sectors.
The “E-business Adoption within the Australian Pharmaceutical Hospital Supply Chain” study, the first of its kind to be conducted in Australia, involved detailed case studies of 15 key organisations across the pharmaceutical supply chain, from medicine manufacturers and wholesalers, to logistic service providers and public hospitals.
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http://www.techworld.com.au/article/391033/qld_health_needs_cut_payroll_staff_a-g/
Queensland Health's payroll woes have improved but the government should look at how it can cut payroll staff to reduce its costs, the state's auditor-general says.
- AAP (AAP)
- 22 June, 2011 08:38
Queensland Health's payroll woes have improved but the government should look at how it can cut payroll staff to reduce its costs, the state's auditor-general says.
A report by the auditor-general into the government's IT systems has found poor planning and management among some projects in an audit of 14 public sector entities.
Among the departments audited was Queensland Health (QH), following the disastrous introduction of its new payroll system in March 2010 that caused catastrophic errors with staff pay.
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http://www.news.com.au/national/nurse-docked-thousands-by-fixed-queensland-health-payroll-system/story-e6frfkvr-1226080490539
A NURSE has warned Queensland Health's disastrous payroll system is far from fixed after she was recently docked more than $14,000 for a HECS debt she repaid seven years ago.
While payroll bungles continue to dog the system, Queensland Health has referred some staff to police for claiming hardship payments during the debacle, reported The Courier-Mail.
Payroll workers throughout the state are so incensed over the ongoing fiasco they will rally today demanding more recognition for the extra work and expertise involved in running the new system.
The nurse said she had been forced to work for an agency on her days off from Queensland Health and borrow money from family after being grossly underpaid for months.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/391237/queensland_health_payroll_system_overpayments_continue/
Queensland Auditor-General finds ICT management, program and project management, information security, and disaster recovery planning could all be substantially improved
Improvements in Queensland Health’s bungled payroll project have been made but issues with salary overpayments and emergency cash payments persist, according to the Queensland Auditor-General.
Detailing the state of the system, the Auditor-General, Glenn Poole, said Queensland Health was progressing the improvement of the payroll and rostering systems with a new payroll operating model being implemented.
While improvements had also been made to reduce the number of unprocessed payroll transactions, there were ongoing payment issues with the system, though at a reduced level in recent pay cycles.
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http://ehealthspace.org/news/profile-nsw-s-emr-complements-pcehr-not-replaces-it
Posted Tue, 21/06/2011 - 09:30 by Josh Gliddon
Concerns that state investments in electronic healthcare records will be superseded by the Commonwealth government’s personally controlled electronic healthcare record (PCEHR) are being laid to rest as state authorities highlight mature interoperability efforts to ensure the projects complement rather than conflict with each other.
NSW, for one, has been proactive in electronic healthcare: in 2009, the state government committed $100 million to developing its own electronic medical record (EMR) framework. The investment was part of a strategic program, which began in 2006 and is now well-advanced in the leadup to its slated 2011 conclusion, that would see health ICT in the state totally redeveloped.
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http://ehealthspace.org/news/consortium-wins-pcehr-implementation-contract
Posted Wed, 22/06/2011 - 12:45 by Josh Gliddon
A consortium led by PriceWaterhouseCoopers has won a federal government contract to be the benefits and evaluation partner for the Commonwealth government's $467 million personally controlled electronic healthcare records (PCEHR) project.
The government has also appointed Ernst & Young to provide independent quality assurance for the PCEHR.
According to health minister Nicola Roxon, the two appointments will provide expert advice to ensure the PCEHR delivers clinical, financial and economic benefits.
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http://www.cio.com.au/article/390700/nsw_cancer_institute_seeks_cio/
The newly created role will oversee the IT department and ensure the delivery of IT and business strategies
The NSW Cancer Institute is calling for applications to fill the newly created role of CIO to head up the organisation’s ICT team.
Reporting to the chief operating officer, the successful candidate will develop technology solutions and services to aid its NSW Cancer Plan and Cancer Information strategy.
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http://www.motioncomputing.com/about/news/press_release_062111.asp
The Motion C5v Helps to Reduce Errors, Saves Time and Enhances Point of Care for Patients
AUSTIN, TX and SYDNEY – June 22, 2011 – The enthusiasm shown by its medical staff made it an easy decision for the Tairawhiti District Health Board (TDH) to upgrade its mobile technology solutions to the Motion® C5v Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA), a tablet PC designed specifically for healthcare environments.
In 2010, TDH made the decision to equip its staff with a powerful mobility solution that met its strict operating criteria and implemented the IT infrastructure required to support the pending deployment. “It was a straightforward decision for the Board to implement a mobility solution that supported the clinicians’ requirement to have access to patient records at a moment’s notice,” said Max Ponomarev, team leader, IT Infrastructure, Tairawhiti District Health Board.
TDH began testing laptops, but quickly realised that the devices would not meet its specific requirements. “Further research led us to Motion’s C5v, and once our infrastructure prerequisites were met, we were ready to begin a trial with the device,” said Ponomarev. “After Motion supplied the initial product information, NZ distributor Simms International followed up on our requests, made further suggestions and arranged plenty of time with the demo tablet.”
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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/divisions-may-lose-medicare-local-slot
20th Jun 2011
Byron Kaye
THE AGPN has warned GP divisions that failing to present a tender in the next round of bids for Medicare Locals could see contracts go to an outside entity.
While the Federal Government kept the first round of ML applications exclusive to divisions, it has said it will consider non-division entities in the next two rounds.
With some divisions yet to form unified consortium bids, and others refusing because they oppose MLs, AGPN chair Dr Emil Djakic warned that those taking a “no-compromise position” did so “at their own peril”.
“If another organisation that can create an argument for eligibility for the criteria in that patch chooses to, with or without the participants of those [divisions], then the [Health] Department has clearly said it will fund them,” he told MO.
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http://www.techworld.com.au/article/390937/isoft_takeover_cleared_by_regulators/
The EC has cleared the $188m takeover of iSOFT (ASX:ISF) by IT services company CSC, so the deal now has all the required regulatory approvals
Health IT company iSOFT (ASX:ISF) has revealed that European regulators won't stand in the way of its acquisition by US-based IT services company CSC.
CSC has received unconditional clearance from the European Commission to proceed with the $0.17 per share acquisition, which iSOFT endorsed in April. The deal is worth a reported US$188 million ($178 million).
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http://www.hospitaliteurope.com/article/25950/Hospital-wide_roll-out_of_Lorenzo_Nursing_at_Dutch_hospital
Monday 20th June 2011
Lorenzo Nursing, the iSOFT Lorenzo Enterprise solution for nurses, went live today on another surgical ward at the St Jansdal hospital in Harderwijk, the Netherlands. This go-live follows the successful completion of a pilot on the surgical ward 1 West, and signifies the starting point for the roll-out of Lorenzo Nursing on all surgical and medical wards at St Jansdal.
Lorenzo Nursing is a software environment for nurses to view the patients’ electronic care file and record the nursing documentation and clinical notes. They can also view the results of laboratory tests as well as data on the course of the disease.
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http://www.theage.com.au/technology/more-than-just-data-lost-in-cruel-hack-20110624-1gjj4.html
Adam Carey
June 25, 2011
SOME say it was an act of evil.
On the Queen's Birthday long weekend, a Melbourne IT company's hard drives were hacked and thousands of files and websites erased. Today that company, Distribute.IT, is dead - its business and reputation so trashed that its owners were forced this week to sell it to a competitor. Thousands of small Australian businesses whose websites it hosted are picking up the pieces.
The hacker obliterated 4800 websites in a lightning nighttime strike upon Distribute.IT on June 11, leaving a message on the company's home page: ''owned by evil at efnet you mother f***ers need to get a clue before you run a business your security is horrible !!!!! the one and only evil at efnet i am back mother f***ers!!!''
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/it-business/nations-health-in-good-hands/story-e6frganx-1226078137767
BEFORE the Nursing Board of Victoria (NBV) became the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in July last year, its Melbourne data centre was nationally recognised for its sophistication.
AHPRA is now the organisation responsible for the registration and accreditation of 500,000 health professionals in Australia. It replaced all the previously independent state boards separated by professions.
As NBV chief information officer, Michael Hoffman undertook a major virtualisation and consolidation project to deliver greater reliability and uptime.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/banks-telcos-to-get-verification-access/story-e6frgakx-1226078803549
THE Document Verification Service, initiated by the federal government five years ago but plagued by jurisdictional problems and a lack of agency support, is to be opened up to the telecommunications and banking sector for the first time.
A renewed push by the commonwealth to have Victoria and Western Australia sign up to the system is making headway, with all states and territories expected to be facilitating real-time identity checks by early next year.
With immigration documents, birth certificates and driver's licences already able to be verified - subject to the gaps in data Victorian and West Australian data - the commonwealth also plans to add details of Centrelink and Medicare cards and push for marriage and name change information to be available.
According to documents obtained by The Australian under freedom of information laws, the move to value-add the system will coincide with the service being offered to the private sector on a full-cost-recovery basis.
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http://www.cio.com.au/article/391185/telstra_nbn_co_government_sign_off_11b_nbn_deal/
Definitive Agreements on the structural separation of Telstra and the use of its network assets in the National Broadband Network (NBN)
After two years of protracted negotiations Telstra, the Federal Government and the NBN Co have come to definitive agreements on the structural separation of Telstra and the use of its network assets in the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The agreements, which need the approval of a majority of Telstra shareholders at the telco’s 18 October annual general meeting, hinge on the Australian Consumer and Competition Commissions’ (ACCC) acceptance of Telstra’s structural separation undertaking and approval of its migration plan.
Explaining the agreements Telstra chairman, Catherine Livingstone, said in a statement that the Federal Government’s drive to secure the NBN’s future and other related policy changes had brought the telco to conclude that it should participate in the NBN rollout.
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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/nbn-answers-needed-before-vote/story-e6frez7r-1226081089630
- By Jeff Whalley
- From: Herald Sun
- June 24, 2011 12:00AM
TELSTRA needs to address unanswered questions over its $11 billion NBN deal in the lead up to the critical shareholder vote that could yet scuttle the landmark agreement, analysts say.
Ratings agency Moody's yesterday placed Telstra on review for a possible downgrade on fears its margins may be squeezed.
Under the $11 billion deal, Telstra will close its copper wire network and shift customers to the National Broadband Network.
Capping off a day that promises to reshape Australia's telecommunications landscape, Optus also signed an $800 million deal to close its overhead copper network and migrate business to the NBN.
Analysts yesterday said the agreement - which was supposed to bring certainty to Telstra shareholders - instead posed more questions.
BBY analyst Mark McDonnell said the deal showed Telstra to be ploughing $2 billion of its own cash into preparing infrastructure before the NBN Co took over.
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http://www.news.com.au/technology/internet-filter/telstra-optus-to-begin-censoring-web-next-month/story-fn5j66db-1226079954138
- By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
- From: News Limited newspapers
- June 22, 2011 1:00PM
MOST Australian internet users will have their web access censored next month after the country's two largest internet providers agreed to voluntarily block more than 500 websites from view.
Telstra and Optus confirmed they would block access to a list of child abuse websites provided by the Australian Communications and Media Authority and more compiled by unnamed international organisations from mid-year.
But internet experts have warned that the scheme is merely a "feel-good policy" that will not stop criminals from accessing obscene material online and could block websites unfairly.
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/230547/10_musthave_firefox_extensions.html
Make Firefox the browser you want it to be, with extensions for faster, safer, more efficient browsing.
By David Daw
Jun 19, 2011 9:00 PM
Using browser extensions is a lot like tricking out your car with a new air spoiler, tinted windows, chrome rims, and big flame decals. Too much junk, and you bog down your ride and look silly. With thousands of Firefox extensions to choose from, the main challenge is finding the right ones--and avoiding the lame ones.
I've rounded up ten of the most useful Firefox add-ons, all of which strike the right balance by increasing performance and saving time. I'll let you worry about whether you should add racing stripes to your Toyota Camry.
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Enjoy!
David.