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
Very quiet week, with a huge amount of paid propaganda coming from the ADHA. I sense a little unease with the Senate Enquiry etc. A little bird tells me the press might have some good stories next week!
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Qld Health's new ERP system faces funding shortfall
Expected to blow $105m budget.
Queensland Health’s second attempt at replacing its long out-of-support ERP system faces the prospect of falling into the red due to complications with integration and change management.
The new SAP system, which was due to be up and running last month, has also come up against delays, though the department is still convinced it can deliver the project by the end of this year.
The department has been working on the $105 million financial system renewal project (FSR) since December 2016, after aborting its $36 million first attempt to replace the system in 2014-15.
The project is intended to replace the department’s heavily customised, 20-year-old SAP R/3 4.6 ERP suite known as the finance and materials management information system (FAMMIS), which has been out of support for a decade.
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Real-time script monitoring roll-out begins
Monitored drugs include zolpidem, quetiapine and codeine
3rd September 2018
The first wave of GPs are now able to track opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions in real time under Victoria's new system to combat doctor-shopping, addiction and overdoses.
The monitoring regime started on Monday for doctors and pharmacists based in the western part of the state.
It will be rolled out in the rest of Victoria at the beginning of next year, and cover some 6000 GPs.
"The main problem is not so much that of people doctor-shopping deliberately, but accidental doctor-shopping," says Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, acting director of the department of addiction medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.
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5 September 2018
Victoria ready to trial real-time drug monitoring
Victoria is about to launch a long-promised real-time prescription monitoring system to cover all restricted drugs, with a trial to begin next month in the state’s west.
The SafeScript system will be trialled by doctors, pharmacists and nurse practitioners in the Western Victoria Primary Health Network, before being rolled out across the state early next year.
“Too many Victorians have died from the misuse of prescription medications. SafeScript will save lives,” Health minister Jill Hennessey said.
The system will guarantee “up-to-the-minute” information on patients’ prescription histories to avoid the dispensing of unsafe quantities of medications, the government said.
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First GPs to trial real-time prescription monitoring system in Victoria
Doug Hendrie 4/09/2018 4:30:57 PM
The SafeScript program rolls out next month and will be mandatory by 2020.
Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy calls SafeScript a ‘cutting-edge real-time prescription monitoring system’.
GPs in western Victoria will be the first in the country to test out a large-scale real-time prescription monitoring system, as the state moves to tackle a growing spate of deaths from addictive legal drugs.
The SafeScript program will become available to GPs across the Western Victoria Primary Health Network from October, ahead of a state-wide roll-out next year that will cover 6000 GPs.
The move brings Victoria a step closer to the long-sought goal of real-time prescription monitoring, which is designed to cut down on doctor-shopping by patients addicted to potent pharmaceuticals.
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An inferior solution
A better solution is needed for codeine-containing medicines says Warwick Plunkett, in our final UTS Pharmacy Barometer article
Responses to the UTS Barometer survey about the removal of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines containing codeine this year has raised questions about the role pharmacists play in the real-time monitoring of patients on prescription opioid drugs.
The MedASSIST tool, which closed down after pharmacists stopped selling non-prescription codeine medicines in February, had played a significant role in identifying opioid addicts.
The UTS Pharmacy Barometer results from November 2017 showed the vast majority of pharmacists were very comfortable using MedASSIST. Overall, the tool achieved a comfort reading of 7.46 out of 10, which meant most pharmacists felt confident identifying patients at risk of codeine dependence and help them find the best clinical support.
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Victoria announces first stage launch of its SafeScript prescription monitoring system for October
Lynne Minion | 07 Sep 2018
Victoria’s SafeScript real-time prescription monitoring system will come online next month, with the Western Victoria Primary Health Network poised to be the first to use the platform designed to prevent doctor shopping.
SafeScript will be activated across the state early next year, according to the state’s Minister for Health Jill Hennessy, who this week joined clinicians at a Yarraville pharmacy to announce the initial October go-live.
“Too many Victorians have died from the misuse of prescription medications. SafeScript will save lives,” Hennessy said.
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Why SafeScript is like seat belts
SafeScript is set to roll out in one Victorian PHN area, ahead of its state-wide expansion next year
And president of the Pharmacy Guild Victorian branch Anthony Tassone has compared the system to the implementation of road safety measures.
Minister for Health Jill Hennessy joined clinicians at the Carnovale Pharmacy in Yarraville, inner-western Melbourne, over the weekend to announce that the program will begin in the Western Victoria Primary Health Network catchment in October.
SafeScript is set to give pharmacists, doctors and nurse practitioners access to up-to-the-minute information about their patients’ prescription histories, says the Andrews Labor Government.
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5 September 2018
Mobile apps prove effective for heart medication
Smartphone apps designed to help patients with their for heart medication do work, but there’s no need to splash out on a flash one, an Australian study has found.
University of Sydney researchers told the European Society of Cardiology Congress last month that even basic apps, some of which are cost-free, were effective in improving medication use.
A three-month randomised clinical trial involving 160 mainly male patients, with an average aged of 58 years, compared medication usage of patients in usual care to those supported to download and use medication apps.
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BUPA turns to tech to simplify health insurance
'Curates' paths through complexity for customers.
Health insurer BUPA is hoping to use technology to “curate” paths for customers through Australia’s complex healthcare system, augmenting mandated simplifications due next year.
Growth and performance managing director David Hirsch told the Adobe Symposium Australia 2018 last month that BUPA was yet to “nail” a simple experience for customers.
The importance of doing so is two-fold. First, the industry must conform to new regulations next year that aim to cut the complexity out of categorising hospital insurance products.
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Concerns raised over genetic test interpretation
It comes as MBS funding has increased access to the tests
6th September 2018
Genetic specialists are concerned that MBS funding for genetic tests for patients at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer may lead to patients being falsely reassured by negative results.
Associate Professor Judy Kirk, head of the Familial Cancer Service at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital, is worried that specialists who do not have appropriate training or genetic counselling experience are able to order genetic tests for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
The tests have been MBS-funded since last November.
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Machine learning cuts surgical infections by 74 percent
Dash Analytics now investigating using machine-learning techniques for other medical procedures
By applying predictive analytics and machine learning techniques to patient data and real-time data from operating theatres the University of Iowa Hospital in the US managed to reduce the incidence of wound infections acquired during surgery by 74 percent.
The hospital has now spun-off a company, Dash Analytics, to commercialise its technology.
Dr John Cromwell, associate chief medical officer at University of Iowa Hospital, and now also CTO at Dash Analytics, initiated the project in 2012.
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Vic Health dumps Lotus Notes
12,000 users move to Office 365 over a year, but apps to hang around for ages.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has commenced a project to migrate from Lotus Notes to Office 365.
The move sounds the death knell for the one of the last and largest known hold-out enclaves of the once mighty and celebrated fax-era platform.
A post by Victorian DHHS CIO Steve Hodginkson revealed that the department started the move a few weeks ago, with around 400 users moved to the Microsoft platform already but another 12,000 plus waiting to migrate “over the next year.”
iTnews understands that Notes has been present at the Department since 1998 after it was adopted across much of the Victorian public service. That gives it three decades on the clock.
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Work on $100 million National Oracle Solution suspended
Tuesday, 4 September 2018
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Work on developing a national financial management and procurement IT system for DHBs has been suspended following the release of an independent review of the project.
Late last year, the Ministry of Health commissioned Deloitte to review the National Oracle Solution programme to inform its advice to the Government after New Zealand Health Partnerships, which is leading the design and build, asked for a further $22.8 million for the project.
More than $100 million has already been spent on the solution since 2012 “with little to show for it”, says Health Minister David Clark, adding that the Deloitte report is a window into a troubled project.
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South Australia seeks to lure space agency
State budget funds Australian Space Innovation Precinct
South Australia’s government has set aside funding to develop the ‘Australian Space Innovation Precinct’ at Lot Fourteen (the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site) as part its efforts to lure the Australian Space Agency to the state.
The state budget, handed down today provides $200,000 in 2018-19 and a further $356,000 a year over three years from 2019-20.
The site will be developed to make it “a perfect location to house the Australian Space Agency, as well as other key space sector organisations,” budget documents state.
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Clinical Informatics White Paper launched
Digital health leaders are invaluable to the transformation of Australian healthcare. More and more we are seeing leaders across the health system called on to help educate, inform and inspire change in hospitals and healthcare organisations.
In acknowledging the important role clinicians play in leading digital transformation in health, HISA is pleased to launch a White Paper on Leadership in Clinical Informatics.
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‘An absolute mess’
Guild leader blasts doctors’ handling of Health Care Homes amidst floundering recruitment numbers
Pharmacy Guild national president George Tambassis has criticised the rollout of Health Care Homes in a session about the 6CPA held at the Pharmacy Connect conference in Sydney on Friday.
Health Care Homes are general practices or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) that provide coordinated, team-based care for Australians with chronic and complex health conditions.
More than 170 practices and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) are providing Health Care Home services around Australia.
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Snooping Perth hospital staff caught in 40 patient privacy breaches
Regina Titelius PerthNow September 2, 2018 2:00AM
DOZENS of snooping hospital staff have been caught accessing patient medical records without proper authority.
The 40 breaches of patient confidentiality under the State’s Health Services Act occurred between 2014-15 and 2016-17.
Not a single staff member lost their job as a result of the privacy breaches.
Discipline involved counselling, written warnings, a formal reprimand, “improvement action” and training.
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Privacy Law Update 2018
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Data breach book: practical advice on how to handle aftermath of a break-in
- 03 September 2018
- Written by Sam Varghese
"If there's one thing worse than a bungle, it's a cover-up. And if there's one thing worse than a cover-up, it's being caught covering up." Wise words those, from the authors of a small, but very useful, book on data breaches and how to manage them.
Peter Coroneos, a well-known figure in Australian IT circles, and brand consultant Michael Parker have put out their Cyber Breach Communication Playbook at an opportune time, a few months after Australia began enforcing a data breach law.
Both authors are pragmatic about the possibility of a breach; their stance can be summed up in the words, "it's not whether, but when". And, accordingly, their book, which is an excellent read, concentrates on advising businesses the best way to react after the deed has occurred.
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Hospitals told: Don't write to GPs, write to patients
This should help patients better understand what's going on, says new UK guidance
7th September 2018
GPs in the UK will no longer receive letters from other specialists; instead they’ll get copies of letters written to their patients, under new guidance.
The concept — which is not mandatory but considered best practice — aims to help patients better understand what is going on and to make them feel more supported, according to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
“Writing directly to the patient ... should also avoid awkwardness caused by writing about patients in the third person,” the academy adds in a new report.
It has told hospital doctors to ensure the letters contain everything the GP needs to know, including all relevant facts and details of the patient’s management plan.
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Aug 31, 2018,9:00 am
58% Of All Healthcare Breaches Are Initiated By Insiders
Louis Columbus Contributor
- 58% of healthcare systems breach attempts involve inside actors, which makes this the leading industry for insider threats today.
- Ransomware leads all malicious code categories, responsible for 70% of breach attempt incidents.
- Stealing laptops from medical professionals’ cars to obtain privileged access credentials to gain access and install malware on healthcare networks, exfiltrate valuable data or sabotage systems and applications are all common breach strategies.
These and many other fascinating insights are from Verizon’s 2018 Protected Health Information Data Breach Report (PHIDBR). A copy of the study is available for download here (PDF, 20 pp., no opt-in). The study is based on 1,368 incidents across 27 countries. Healthcare medical records were the focus of breaches, and the data victims were patients and their medical histories, treatment plans, and identities. The data comprising the report is a subset of Verizon’s Annual Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) and spans 2016 and 2017.
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Five Eyes to tech industry: Make access to online communications possible, or else
Five Eyes nations call for ICT service providers to make it easier for police to access data
The attorneys-general and interior ministers of the Five Eyes nations — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US — have called for ICT service providers “to voluntarily establish lawful access solutions to their products and services that they create or operate in our countries”.
The ‘Statement of Principles on Access to Evidence and Encryption’ was one of the outcomes of a five country ministerial meeting held on the Gold Coast on August 28 and 29.
“Governments should not favor a particular technology; instead, providers may create customized solutions, tailored to their individual system architectures that are capable of meeting lawful access requirements,” the statement says. “Such solutions can be a constructive approach to current challenges.”
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03 Sep 2018 10:16 AM AEST
Philips signs two 20-year strategic partnership agreements in New South Wales, Australia for medical imaging solutions
· Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District engage Philips in long-term managed equipment services agreements
· Partnerships to support nine hospital sites across New South Wales in lifecycle management, financing, maintenance and performance optimisation for all major imaging solutions
· Agreements mark first-of-its-kind service delivery model for Philips in Australia and the ASEAN Pacific region
Sydney, Australia and Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced it has entered into two 20-year strategic partnership agreements for Managed Equipment Services with Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District in New South Wales. Under the terms of the two agreements, Philips will provide delivery, upgrade, optimisation, replacement and maintenance services for all major medical imaging solutions. The partnerships will support precision diagnosis and therapy and drive operational performance across nine hospital sites. This managed service delivery model for medical imaging technology is the first-of-its-kind for Philips in Australia and the ASEAN Pacific region.
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Labor slams govt over NBN 'cost blowout' of $2b
- 31 August 2018
- Written by Sam Varghese
The Australian Labor Party has described the national broadband network as being on "life support" with the announcement on Friday that the total outlay would be $51 billion, compared to the earlier figure of $49 billion, described as "a cost blowout" that was "nothing short of a disaster".
Labor Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said in a joint statement that there was a serious question over whether Communications Minister Mitch Fifield could continue in the portfolio.
NBN Co announced its corporate plan 2019-2022 on Friday. The rollout is scheduled to be completed in 2020, but issues with both HFC and fixed wireless have led to missing some financial targets.
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Downloads soar once Australians get on the NBN, Telstra numbers show
By Adam Turner
5 September 2018 — 11:25am
As Aussies develop a taste of Ultra HD video streaming, the average household is chewing through almost 200GB every month and their unquenchable thirst for data shows no sign of abating.
Household fixed-line data usage grew 40 per cent in the 12 months to July 2018, maintaining steady year-on-year growth for the last five years, according to the latest Telstra figures. Across the country, Telstra customers downloaded 243,300TB in July alone.
The nationwide NBN rollout is helping feed this demand for data, with monthly household downloads leaping by 50 per cent once homes move across to the new high-speed network. The increasing usage is not just driven by faster speeds, with households on ADSL still managing to download 23 per cent more data in the last year.
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NBN Co launches medical alarm discount scheme
Encourages owners of unmonitored medical alarms to upgrade
NBN Co has released details of a subsidy scheme to help households upgrade unmonitored medical alarm systems that rely on the copper network to call for help.
Unmonitored medical alarms can be used to call emergency services or a person’s emergency contact. NBN connections rely on premises having access to power; as a result, during power outages older unmonitored medical alarm systems may not function. Some newer medical alarms can connect over the NBN and also offer cellular-based backup connections if mains power is lost.
The new subsidy will cover up to 80 per cent of the cost of a new alarm, up to a maximum discount of $300. Currently two providers, CareAlert and the INS Group, are participating in the scheme.
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NBN to subsidise medical alarm upgrades
NBN will provide up to AU$300 towards upgraded unmonitored medical alarms to help ensure they do not stop working during the migration from legacy services.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) has announced that it will be meet 80 percent of the cost for upgrading unmonitored medical alarms, saying it will improve customer experience during the migration from legacy broadband services.
Unmonitored medical alarms, which alert a chosen contact or emergency services when triggered, may need upgrading so they can dial out during power outages -- and when broadband connections are switched off during an NBN migration.
NBN is providing up to AU$300 off the cost of a replacement when a user is registered with NBN's Medical Alarm Register, which currently has more than 260,000 members.
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Enjoy!
David.
5 comments:
Look forward
To
Reading these upcoming articles you mention David. For those interested at least some are open and transparent. A submission to the enquiry.
https://futurewise.org.au/files/20180910_myHR.pdf
The APF submission to the Senate Inquiry has been accepted and is available here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/MyHealthRecordsystem/Submissions
I'm on at 5:15pm
Reads well Bernard and makes no apologies. Seems odd yours is APF is the only submission available
I understand lots more are coming! They are working through 'accepting' them!
David.
That was an interesting session. It was clear by the end a common theme was the communications project was a wasted oppertunity and another pot of money down the toilet. Tim Kelsey will need to step down if we are ever to be save from the fax.
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