Here are a few I have come across the last week or so.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. 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
A quiet week on the surface but it seems all sorts of things are going on under the radar. You can mine for clues as to what is happening in the following!
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The feds have caught data fever but does the public share the enthusiasm?
By Stephen Easton
10.10.2017
The federal government is clearly sold on big data and is combining massive stores of sensitive public information. It needs to bring the public along but while privacy concerns abound, there’s little sign that many Australians share the enthusiasm.
The federal government is increasingly keen on big data, whether it’s used in academic research, private business or its own bureaucracy, but appears unsure of how to bring the public with it and establish confidence that it can be trusted to balance the benefits with risks to privacy.
A lot of people in government, business and research are very clear on the value of big data and keen to maximise its value by combining and sharing as much of it as possible to create the largest possible statistical resources.
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Why Australians won't use myGov to opt out of e-health records
By Justin Hendry on Oct 10, 2017 6:30AM
Govt builds separate portal.
Australians that choose to opt-out of the My Health Record will do so through a standalone portal and not via the myGov online service portal, the Australian Digital Health Agency has revealed.
The e-health record operator has created the opt-out portal to remove the need to force individuals to register for a myGov account.
It was first tested during the opt-out trials in the Northern Queensland and Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Networks last year, at a time when myGov was plagued by complaints about its reliability and usability.
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New My Health Record resources released
Monday, 09 October 2017
We have published new resources to assist healthcare providers understand their privacy obligations under the My Health Record system.
My Health Record is an Australian Government initiative to provide secure online summaries of individuals’ health information. A My Health Record allows an individual’s doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers to view the individual’s health information, in accordance with their access controls. Individuals are also able to access their record online.
As the independent regulator for the privacy aspects of the My Health Record system, the OAIC is working with the health sector as it prepares for the system to become opt-out by the end of 2018.
The resources are:
- Guide to Mandatory Data Breach Notification in the My Health Record system
- Ways you can protect patient privacy when using the My Health Record system
- Handling personal information in the My Health Record system
- My Health Record Data Breach Response Plan (PDF 356KB)
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Australia invests $13mn in new medical technologies
Catherine Rowell.
Australia is looking to invest $13 million in three new medical technologies to support those with long-term mobility issues and chronic conditions, such as back pain. Part of its $500 million Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) the investment will see $250 million of Commonwealth funding “matched by private investors,” according to the company website.
The co-investment venture capital programme will aim to support local health companies in Australia who are working to develop medical technologies and support economic growth. It is the main focus of President Malcolm Turnbull’s National Innovation and Science Agenda.
“This vital funding will support researchers when they need it most – for clinical testing, developing prototypes and other requirements before a high potential product or service can come on the market,” Minister for Health and Sport Greg Hunt has said.
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13 October 2017
Digital crossroads No2: ‘Collaborate or fail’
Collaboration is the new black, suggests Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Tim Kelsey.
It’s 10.14am and I’m about to be late for a catch up with Tim Kelsey, the CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). I can’t find the Flying Egg Cafe. If I miss him, that’ll be it for another couple of months. He’s a truly busy man.
I’ve given up and I’m standing in the middle of the courtyard where the shop should be, despondent. I feel a little like I’m the has-been rock journo in Almost Famous and I’ve just missed Russell, the lead singer of the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.
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National Press Club Address - Silent Dangers - Launch of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s 2017 Threat Report
Release Date: 10 October 2017
Today, business for cybercriminals is booming.
People are falling for online scams, email phishing, identity theft, credit card fraud, and ransomware at an alarming rate.
Yet these crimes continue to fly under the public radar.
This must change.
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Medicare card web scare triggers security crackdown call
- The Australian
- 12:00AM October 14, 2017
David Crowe
A security scare has triggered an official call for stronger checks on millions of Medicare cards in a clear warning to the Turnbull government about the threats to a vast system that pays $35 billion in benefits each year.
A high-powered government review is warning that access to personal card information has become too easy at a time of growing fears about payment fraud, identity theft and other “illicit activities” that leave taxpayers carrying the bill.
The report singles out the lax controls on government phone services that answer 588,000 requests every year for personal Medicare numbers, raising questions about the checks on those who gain access to the information.
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Call for stricter access to Medicare cards
An independent report says health professionals should be required to get consent from their patients before being allowed to access their Medicare numbers.
Roje Adaimy
Australian Associated Press October 14, 20179:54am
Australians could be handed greater control over who can access their Medicare card details amid fears the information can be too easily obtained.
An independent report, released on Saturday, has suggested tighter security following a review ordered by the federal government in July after a small batch of card numbers were sold on the dark web.
It noted that while there had been no risk to patients' health records as a result of the sale, Medicare card numbers are susceptible to theft for identity fraud and other "illicit activities".
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Department of Human Services plans next generation of virtual assistants
DHS uses virtual assistants to boost productivity, customer service
11 October, 2017 08:40
The Department of Human Services has revealed its plans for a next generation of virtual assistants.
DHS is planning to deploy ‘Oliver’ and ‘Argus’ (Gus), which the department says will have the ability “to capture and send information to other applications and assist in processing.”
Gus and Oliver will add to the ranks of virtual assistants already in use at the departments.
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Corporate tech giant leaves secret data exposed to public internet
Ben Grubb
Published: October 11 2017 - 12:58PM
A world-leading corporate consultancy and technology outsourcer left at least four cloud-based storage servers unsecured and publicly downloadable, exposing secret data, authentication credentials, certificates, decryption keys, customer information, and more data that could have been used to attack both the provider and its thousands of clients.
Fairfax Media can reveal that Accenture — one of the world's largest corporate consulting and management firms that has offices across Australia, and is also behind the national e-health record system — inadvertently allowed files belonging to its clients to be publicly available.
While there is no evidence to suggest that Australia's e-health system was compromised by Accenture's unsecured servers, Fairfax Media can reveal that data belonging to ASX-listed Caltex Australia was exposed as part of the huge trove of highly sensitive information left unsecured.
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Government launches mental health portal
10 October 2017
A new federal government website aims to provide a one-stop shop for patients to access mental health services “before they reach crisis”.
Head to Health is a gateway to 370 mental health services and resources including websites, evidence-based apps and online programs, as well as dedicated forums for patients and carers to share their experiences.
The website also offers resources on ‘meaningful life’, explanation of mental health conditions and a detailed list of service providers such as headspace, beyondblue and SANE Australia.
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Practice software should help GPs refer to the right specialist
13 October 2017
IMPROVING PRACTICE SOFTWARE
The Issue
The broad nature of general practice means that GPs need to make relatively small numbers of referrals infrequently to any one type of a wide range of other health professionals.
As a result, GPs often have to search for appropriate health professionals for patients with particular types of problem or needs. This is even more of an issue for GP registrars and GPs who are new to the practice.
The address books in clinical software include health professionals to whom none or few patients have been referred. Current workarounds include asking colleagues in the practice, and making notes that some clinical software packages allow in their address books.
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Keeping the network alive through 24/7 care
George Wilson | 10 Oct 2017
n 2016, the NSW government allocated $400 million to support technology advancements in hospitals and health facilities, to ensure safer, higher quality and more efficient patient care. With technology being harnessed like never before, IT departments are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand and increasing challenges to ensure no disruptions are experienced. With increasing numbers of devices being added to hospitals every day, network monitoring is becoming incrementally important to ensure there are no interruptions to patient care. The fact is, when a patient is in a critical condition, every second counts; doctors, nurses and technology all have to work together with seamless precision.
As a result, the healthcare industry has recognised the need for improvement, and is undergoing a digital transformation to streamline treatment and patient care processes. Now, we’re witnessing a ‘digital first’ mentality taking over, as administrators switch from traditional paper methods to digital channels.
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Nib eyes e-health to draw under 30s to insurance
By Staff Writers on Oct 13, 2017 12:20PM
Welcomes discounts but says more needed.
Private health insurer nib believes getting more young people enrolled in insurance could be achieved with greater digitisation of the way health services are managed and consumed.
The insurer welcomed a package of reforms announced by health minister Greg Hunt this morning that aim to simplify private health insurance and improve affordability.
One of the measures will see people aged 18 to 29 offered discounted hospital insurance premiums.
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Is My Health Record secure?
While the perception that e-health records are not secure persists among many health professionals, we look at the measures that have been put in place over the past few years
Back in 2012, an expert security organisation warned Australians not to opt in to the national e-health record system, at the time called Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).
The Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) warned that users faced the risk of identity theft due to insufficient security protections.
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Electronic medical record blamed in death of 41-year-old WA man
Lynne Minion | 09 Oct 2017
Over-reliance on the electronic medical record at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital has been blamed in the death of a 41-year-old man from a serious adverse drug reaction, the West Australian Coroner has found.
Jared Olsen died on 5 March 2015, weeks after being prescribed an immunosuppressant medication, 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP), to treat his Crohn’s colitis.
Coroner Ros Fogliani found that blood tests ordered at FSH on 8 February had determined Olsen was unable to metabolise 6-MP due to two non-functioning copies of the TPMT gene. PathWest had uploaded the “critical” results into the FSH iCM electronic record system on 19 February 2015, with a red flag indicating an abnormal result.
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11 October 2017
Believe it or not! Same-day discharge summaries for GPs
A Queensland hospital service is aiming high with a “real-time” policy to send discharge summaries to GPs on the same day that patients leave the hospital.
The Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service plans to introduce the zero-delay target on October 16 with the objective of ensuring continuity of care as patients move from the acute setting to primary care.
A document circulated by GPs on Twitter, which appears to be part of a poster campaign for the no-delay target, bears the slogan: No summary. No discharge!
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HealthEngine launches Medication Manager to improve patient medication literacy and continuity of care
Perth, Australia — 12 October 2017: HealthEngine, Australia’s largest online healthcare marketplace, today announced the launch of a new service, Medication Manager.
Through the HealthEngine app, Medication Manager allows patients to monitor their daily medication, get reminders when to take their prescribed doses, and be prompted to re-book doctors appointments before their script runs out. The opt-in service also allows patients to monitor their medicine and record feedback from medication that can be shared with their GP.
“At HealthEngine, one of our core focuses is to enable patients to take more control and responsibility of their health. Medication Manager is our latest step in this journey,” said Dr Marcus Tan, CEO and Medical Director of HealthEngine. “When juggling multiple medications, it can be difficult to keep up with where you’re at. Medication Manager helps patients stay on top of their medication, which in turn ensures their quality of care is improved.”
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Fitbit Ionic a dream come true for poor sleepers
- The Australian
- 12:00AM October 10, 2017
Chris Griffith
Three hours 44 minutes average sleep. That’s all I’ve been getting for weeks, maybe months. I knew I was a light sleeper, but it took wearing Fitbit’s Ionic smartwatch to quantify how light.
Talking sleep quality is overdue in the health debate, which usually concentrates on other worthy aspects such as activity and nutrition. But it’s a particularly big problem among older people, busy folk and of course the parents of newborns.
Many readers of The Australian in government, business and politics snugly fit the sleep-deprived demographic.
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National security contractor’s network compromised
Details of contractor hack revealed
10 October, 2017 10:32
Australia’s cyber security minister Dan Tehan will today reveal details of an attack on an Australian company that has contracting links to national security projects.
In November last year, the Australian Cyber Security Centre became that “a malicious cyber actor” had compromised the network of the company, the minister assisting the prime minister for cyber security said in remarks prepared for a National Press Club address later today.
Analysis by the ACSC confirmed that the attacker successfully obtained “sustained access to the network for an extended period of time and had stolen a significant amount of data”.
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Chinese launched cyber attack on Aussie defence contractor
- The Australian
- 12:00AM October 10, 2017
Greg Brown
A “malicious” cyber hacker has stolen “significant” data from an Australian defence contractor as the government warns that infrastructure is being targeted by increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals.
Today the the federal minister responsible for cyber security, Dan Tehan, will reveal a hacker had access to the network of a small defence contractor for an “extended period of time” before security authorities became aware of the breach last November.
The Australian understands the hacker was based in China.
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From GP booking app to online healthcare behemoth: HealthEngine continues its growth
Lynne Minion | 10 Oct 2017
HealthEngine continues to solidify its place as Australia’s leading online healthcare booking platform with the addition of one of the nation’s largest dentist communities to its roster.
Over 1800 practices registered with dental management specialist Prime Practice will be assisted to transition to the digital platform, increasing the options available for customers from 700.
The partnership is part of the broadening of HealthEngine’s focus from GP appointment bookings to its evolution as an “online healthcare marketplace” representing related industries keen to connect.
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NT Health seeks CIO after Moo’s departure
Department of Health advertises for chief information officer to replace Stephen Moo
09 October, 2017 13:04
The Northern Territory’s Department of Health has formally begun seeking a new chief information officer after Stephen Moo resigned from the position.
Moo resigned last month, with the NT Police confirming it had received a referral from the department relating to the former CIO. It is understood that no charges have been laid in relation to the referral.
The department says it is offering an executive contract of up to four years and a salary of $226,126.
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NHMRC funding success to deliver world-leading oncology, digital health and patient safety research
11 October 2017
The Australian Institute of Health Innovation in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Macquarie University has been awarded more than $7.3 million in grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), announced today.
Among the grants are two Centres of Research Excellence, two Partnership Projects, and an Early Career Fellowship award.
In total Macquarie as a whole has been awarded more than $8 million in grants.
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Recent hospital-GP discharge tragedies are just the tip of iceberg
11 October 2017
COMMENT
Change is moving at a glacial pace, writes Dr Justin Coleman.
When coroners in two states point their fingers hospital discharge summaries, as happened last week, you just know it's time for another annual round of ‘we’re improving our discharge systems’ claims.
Having lived as a GP through 20 such annual cycles of improvement, it’s no wonder we have reached a point where discharge summaries are ‘timely, relevant and succinct’ ... Yep, I remember reading one of those back in June.
Hospitals have robust systems for ensuring adequate clinical handover from ED to the ward, from one medical team to another, and even one shift to the next.
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9 October 2017
Platform delivers more care, less paperwork for GPs
An online medical platform which lets GPs work in aged care facilities and other settings without being tied to a physical practice has been named Telstra’s Australian Business of the Year.
Founded by Adelaide GPs Troye Wallett and Sebastian Rees, the technology, called GenWise Health, saves doctors time, earns them extra cash and provides peer support, the developers said.
In return for a fifth of their billings, the “virtual clinic” also allows GPs to work during the hours they prefer.
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The surveillance state is here already. We must pause and rethink what this means
Nicholas Stuart
Published: October 11 2017 - 12:15AM
Have no doubts: you are being observed. Malcolm Turnbull's move to create a massive, facial-recognition database of every Australian over 18 is merely a desperate catch-up measure. Even once this is implemented, the government will still lag way behind private companies (like Facebook) in the surveillance stakes. Our politicians are only just now, finally and belatedly, groping their way towards an incomplete understanding of the new, enormous power conferred by the internet.
Start with the grid. The enormous development of computing power means the analogue world in which we grew up is being translated into a digital one. We've embraced this wholeheartedly. Whether it's the ability to share baby photos with grandparents in another state or trace our friends' movements across the world, instant communications allow us to flourish, extending our contacts and interactions.
And each and every movement leaves a small, electronic trail, stretching out through the ether ...
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Significant cyber security failures by government contractors, but MyHR data remains safe
Lynne Minion | 12 Oct 2017
The federal government agency responsible for the roll out of the My Health Record claims Australians’ health information is safe in the wake of a massive data exposure by the company contracted to secure MyHR against cyber attack.
Global professional services company Accenture inadvertently exposed at least four cloud-based storage servers, leaving the contents unsecured and publicly downloadable. But the Australian Digital Health Agency said its data remains secure.
“There has been no impact on the My Health Record system following media reports of an alleged data breach at Accenture in the United States,” an ADHA spokesperson told Healthcare IT News Australia.
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How prepared is your practice for cyberattack?
Authored by Hugo Wilcken
IN May of 2017, Britain’s National Health Service was hit by a particularly virulent cyberattack. Within just hours, thousands of computers and medical devices – including magnetic resonance imaging scanners, theatre equipment and blood storage refrigerators – had been contaminated by a virus known as WannaCry, triggering a digital lockdown to prevent further spread. Patient records were compromised and the problem became so serious that some hospitals had to turn away non-critical emergencies and divert ambulances to unaffected emergency departments, often many miles away.
WannaCry was what is known as ransomware, or a virus that typically encrypts a computer’s entire hard drive and then asks the user for a ransom fee to unlock it. Selling ransomware is one of the fastest growing businesses in the darker reaches of the internet, and while health care providers are by no means the only victims, they are a particular target.
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- Updated Oct 9 2017 at 11:01 AM
NBN critics 'disconnected from reality': Communications Minister Mitch Fifield
by Mitch Fifield
Clickbait headlines like "NBN slower than Kenya, ex-Soviet bloc" might be eye-grabbing, but they're completely disconnected from reality.
In a case of "lies, damned lies, and statistics", the article published in The Australian Financial Review (October 5) repeats a number of misleading claims about Australian broadband speeds – including the howler that Australia's internet is slower than Kenya's.
The facts tell a very different story. Kenya has a broadband penetration rate below 2 per cent – meaning that 98 per cent of people living in Kenya have no access to a fixed broadband connection.
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Why the NBN is a fiscal debacle
- The Australian
- 12:00AM October 9, 2017
Adam Creighton
The National Broadband Network got personal last week. I joined the 2.98 million households that have signed up to an “NBN” plan only to find the service appalling.
Not being much of a “web surfer”, and erring on the frugal side, I went for the $50-a-month “hassle-free” plan from Belong, an internet service provider owned by Telstra.
“Hassle-free” is not quite accurate. Yesterday the download speed was 6.5Mbps (about half the advertised “up to 12Mbps”). That’s the average achieved by Turkey, Chile and Mexico four years ago, when the average in Japan and Switzerland was 15Mbps. And that’s when it works.
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Government details 5G strategy
5G working group to bring together government and industry
13 October, 2017 10:55
The federal government will convene a working group to assess issues and opportunities for the adoption of 5G.
The group, that will bring together government and industry, will help ensure that regulatory settings across a range of industries are primed for the rollout of the new mobile standard once it’s finalised by the International Telecommunication Union.
A directions paper released by the Department of Communications and the Arts outlines a four-pronged strategy to prepare Australia for the rollout of 5G.
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Enjoy!
David.
David, I want to make a few comments in regard to the Digital crossroads No2: 'Collaborate of fail' article in the Medical Republic.
ReplyDelete1. I agree Australia cannot afford to miss the digital health revolution. Having said that, we are creating a Tower of Babel as opposed to making organized, purposeful progress evidenced by apparent value in terms of delivered outcomes.
2. Tim Kelsey's argument (and presumably his predecessors) that the 'platform' is a centralized register of personal health information misrepresents the challenge and fails to recognize opportunity completely. The idea to focus on Electronic Health Records using a government-led approach has not achieved the success we seek and in the process has cost us a fortune. Australia is not alone in this experience.
3. The real issue is handling the scale of what is happening. We need a new idea and a new approach as the basis for e-Health policy. We can start by recognizing that health care is a Service Industry and as such value creation is based on mutuality, not the maximization of scarce resources.
4. Collaboration is the sine qua non of knowledge-intensive service industries.
5. Partnering within and across the health sector is the challenge. A higher level of trust is required; higher than present today.
6. Further, technology strategists have totally missed the point in regard to the “seamless integration of information at the point of care” to assist decision making and healthcare provider action and to aid in patient self-management.
7. Health care requires a horizontal, network-centric way of thinking and acting.
8. Our new e-Health strategy IMHO should address the challenge and opportunities associated with three issues:
a) How the health system can be made safer, higher quality, and more efficient
b) How the health system can maximize the benefits of working together
c) How the health system can contribute to national productivity and value and wealth creation
9. This is the value of working toward a Total Frame of Reference.
10. The current debate surrounding ADHA and the MyHR represents IMHO 'fiddling while Rome burns', to borrow from the past.