Note: I have excluded (or marked out) any commentary taking significant funding from the Agency or the Department of Health on all this to avoid what amounts to paid propaganda. (e.g. CHF, RACGP, AMA, National Rural Health Alliance etc. where they were simply putting the ADHA line – viz. that the myHR is a wonderfully useful clinical development that will save huge numbers of lives at no risk to anyone – which is plainly untrue) (This signifies probable ADHA Propaganda)
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Senate inquiry signs off My Health Record's new private parts
By Simon Sharwood , Matt Johnston on Oct 12, 2018 6:07PM
But ALP and Greens call for extension of opt-out and extra protections.
A parliamentary inquiry into the My Health Records system has produced a single recommendation – pass the bill with proposed privacy-enhancing amendments – but done so largely along party lines.
The My Health Records system became a hot topic after the government made it opt-out rather than opt-in, with a deadline of October 15th to make a decision. That deadline saw increased scrutiny of the system’s privacy provisions, resulting in concerns that the system meant data could be shared with law enforcement agencies, see minors’ sexual histories shared with their parents, and that deletion of records was not permitted if citizens opted out at a later date.
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Labor seeks updated My Health Record legislation to prevent privatisation
Australia's federal opposition party wants guarantees that My Health Record will never be privatised or commercialised, and that health data will be kept far away from private health insurers.
The federal opposition wants to fix the Australian government's controversial My Health Record, focusing in particular on amending legislation to ensure control of the online medical file can never be privatised or commercialised.
Labor has touted its plan as protecting the privacy of employees and women fleeing domestic violence, and as one protecting the public from having their medical history used by the likes of health insurers.
"Labor supports electronic health records. But the Senate inquiry we initiated into the My Health Record has exposed a range of deficiencies that must be addressed before this scheme rolls out to every Australian," a statement from Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare Catherine King said.
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11 October 2018
The digital health land that time (and govt) forgot
At last month’s senate hearings into the My Health Record (MHR) one of the star witnesses for the defence (the defence of the MHR that is), was the Australian Digital Health Agency’s (ADHA) chief operating officer, Bettina McMahon.
Ms McMahon is a very strong second act to the ADHA’s charismatic and articulate CEO Tim Kelsey. Mr Kelsey was previously an accomplished war correspondent, highly successful entrepreneur in healthcare, and a senior figure in the British government’s rollout of transformational digital health strategies through the NHS a few years back.
Neither Mr Kelsey nor Ms McMahon get rattled much. And they’ve had a lot of reasons to be rattled lately.
Even though the MHR opt-out rollout had faltered enough on privacy and a few other key issues to be referred by the Greens for a senate inquiry, and many in the public were aiming their submissions aggressively and squarely at what they felt was some fairly major screw-ups in rolling out this major piece of future health system infrastructure, both Mr Kelsey and Ms McMahon maintained an air of calm. And, importantly, they usually had a reasonable and logical-sounding explanation for nearly everything that was thrown at them.
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October 12 2018 - 8:58AM
Macarthur doctor urges locals to check with their GP before opting out of My Health Record
· Jess Layt ADHA Propaganda
If you’re having doubts about the Australian Government’s new My Health Record scheme, you should check with your GP before opting out.
That’s the message from Myhealth Medical’s Dr Mohammed Hasan.
The opt-out period for the new online medical record – which will be created for all Australians who do not elect to opt out – has been extended to November 15.
But Macarthur Square-based GP Dr Hasan said My Health Record was a “useful tool” for GPs to keep track of their patients’ medical history and he encouraged locals not to be too hasty with their decision.
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October 11 2018 - 2:30PM
The My Health Record is a digital summary of a patient’s key health information.
· Matthew Welch ADHA Propaganda
An online summary of key health information of all Australians, which can be viewed securely from anywhere at anytime, will be available by the end of this year.
Moss Vale's, Dr. Vince Roche believes the My Health Record will improve patient safety.
The My Health Record is a digital summary of a patient’s key health information that will allow GPs and emergency workers to act efficiently in an accident where the victim is unable to speak.
Dr. Vince Roche from Moss Vale said as we lived longer, chronic and complex health issues arose more.
“Lots of us end up on a significant number of medications with a significant past health history. We can’t always remember exactly what we’ve been prescribed,” he said.
“My Health Record can inform emergency departments and instead of being treated like a total stranger, they know your past medical history, know what your medications and allergies are and that’s a huge help.”
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Labor vows to redraft My Health Record legislation
By Dana McCauley
12 October 2018 — 12:05am
Federal Labor has called for a rewrite of the controversial My Health Record legislation to prevent insurers and employers from exploiting patient data and to protect domestic violence survivors.
The opposition is drafting a suite of amendments to address weaknesses with the digital health records system raised in last month's Senate hearings, where medical experts and unions raised serious concerns that the current legislation could allow patient data to be used for commercial purposes.
"The Australian people need guarantees that the My Health Record won’t be privatised or commercialised," opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King told Fairfax Media.
"And they need guarantees that private health insurers will never get access to their data."
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Understanding My Health Record
Friday 19 October 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm ADHA Propaganda
Location: Hornsby Library, 28-44 George Street, Hornsby
Event cost: Free
Event cost: Free
Contact: Hornsby Library
Phone: 9847 6614
Phone: 9847 6614
Sydney North Primary Health Network invites you to learn more about your My Health Record, an online summary of your key health information.
This year the Australian Government is creating an online health record for all Australians, unless they choose to opt out between July 16 – November 15.
Having a My Health Record allows you to control and view your health information including GP visit summaries, specialist letters, hospital discharge summaries, medicines, and pathology and test results.
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My Health Record – the latest in the ongoing debate
The My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018 was before both the House of Representatives and the Senate on 19 September 2018. The House of Representatives agreed to a third reading and the Senate moved the second reading of the Bill.
The Senate had previously referred the Bill on 23 August 2018 for inquiry and report. That report was due from the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee on 8 October however, on 19 September an extension was granted to 12 October.
The Bill ostensibly:
“Amends the My Health Records Act 2012 to: remove the ability of the My Health Record System Operator to disclose health information in My Health Records to law enforcement and government agencies without an order by a judicial officer or the healthcare recipient’s consent; and require the system operator to permanently delete from the National Repositories Service any health information about a healthcare recipient who has cancelled their My Health Record.”
Pursuant to the legislation deletion of the health care recipient’s record is to occur “as soon as practicable”, although the Bill does not define this term the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill references a period of 24 to 48 hours depending on the timing of the request and operational issues.
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Medicare role queried in chronic illness funds debate
- 11:00PM October 10, 2018
Managing chronic illness is a challenge for patients and the system itself, with the role played by Medicare still up for debate, according to Primary Health Care’s Malcolm Parmenter.
Speaking at the Healing the System panel session, hosted by The Australian in partnership with Medibank, Dr Parmenter said Medicare’s fee-for-service model suited patients with one-off needs, but capitation payments may better serve complex cases.
His comments came after federal Health Minister Greg Hunt flagged changes to the Health Care Homes trial, which the Coalition originally declared one of the biggest reforms since Medicare but was criticised by GP groups for its lack of funding.
“I think probably the reality is that enough people will shift to where the money is to make a difference,” Dr Parmenter said, cautioning against reforms that distorted the market.
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October 11 2018 - 2:03PM
Opt-out period for My Health Record system to finish on October 15 (opps)
· Matt Maloney
Tasmanians have until Monday to opt-out of the updated My Health Record service as doctors continue to express concerns over protections of sensitive medical information.
The service has shifted from an opt-in to an opt-out service and everyone who chooses to remain on the system will have their medical and pharmaceutical history for the past two years stored on a database.
The system’s aim is to allow for information to be shared quickly between health professionals.
Summerdale Medical Practice doctor Donald Rose has told a parliamentary inquiry investigating the merits of the change that he had advised patients under 65 years old without a chronic condition to opt out.
He said access to records was not limited to medical practitioners and the patients themselves and could be accessed by medical practice administration staff, pharmacists, nurses, and medical and nursing students.
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Down With My Health Record
Australia offers a cautionary tale of government tech gone really, really wrong.
Aug 30, 20181:13 PM
Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Wes Mountain, an editor and cartoonist for the Australia-based website the Conversation, decided to opt out of his country’s new “My Health Record” program on the very first day he could.
The project, which Australia has been working on for years at substantial cost, is supposed to make health care more efficient and allow medical providers to better communicate with one another. In its early years, it was an opt-in program that let Australians decide whether to participate. But after spending billions of dollars and many years to build what political leaders assumed would be an appealing program to create a centralized health care database, the government discovered that many citizens weren’t sold on the need for, or benefits of, the program. When less than 25 percent of Australia’s citizens signed up for My Health Record in its first few years, the government didn’t question whether it was a good idea in the first place. Instead, it decided to just sign them up by default. July 16 was first opportunity for people to make the proactive decision not to take part. Then the tweets began.
Mountain quickly discovered opting out was difficult and maybe impossible—because the Australian government database already had a “My Health Record” for him, and there was no easy way to delete it. By default, according to the government, once you had a My Health Record, you could choose to limit access to your records but not to erase them entirely.
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My Health Record justifications 'kind of lame': Godwin
Australia has spent billions of dollars for 'nothing really useful', according to leading internet policy commentator Mike Godwin, and the proposed anti-encryption laws are 'inhumane, wrong, anti-democratic'.
Lawyer and writer Mike Godwin is one of America's most prominent commentators on digital policy. Recently, he spent more than a month researching Australia's controversial My Health Record and its background. He didn't like what he found.
"The benefits are not clear. On the one hand, it seems to be billions of Australian dollars spent for nothing really useful, and on the other hand it seems very privacy invasive," Godwin told ZDNet last week.
"If you don't want anyone associated with any healthcare organisation you ever connect to, or with government generally, looking at your health records over some long period of time, you ought to opt out now."
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The potential of My Health Record for Australia’s future health needs
9 October 2018 ADHA Propaganda
As the digital health manager at Sydney’s North Primary Health Network, Eric Dunn has good reason to be excited about My Health Record. His role is focused on improving connections between different parts of the health system.
Eric has been working with digital systems since the late 90s and in digital health for the past five years. He oversees a number of programs enabling digital information to flow between health providers – including My Health Record. He knows the issues caused by gaps in the system and why it’s so important for health professionals to be able to connect the dots.
“A lot of people don’t seem to understand that they’re in control,” he says. “The system is mature – it’s been around for six years and there are already six million people in there.
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My-health-record-important-let's-fix-problems
09 Oct 2018 ADHA Propaganda
BY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ANDREW C MILLER, CHAIR, MEDICAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE
The policy problems the My Health Record seeks to address are genuine. The Australian health system operates as a collection of disconnected siloes. Patient records exist as isolated fractions scattered among their treating doctors. Without the MHR there is no other institutional mechanism that facilitates the flow of patient information between healthcare settings, and between healthcare practitioners.
Many of the greatest failures in patient care and safety result when patients are required to move across the health system but their clinical information does not follow them.
At the recent Senate Community Affairs Inquiry into the My Health Record System, the Chair of the AMA’s Ethics and Medico-Legal Committee, Dr Chris Moy, used the following case study to illustrate the practical benefits generated by a My Health Record. The story was provided to Dr Moy by a colleague and an AMA member, Dr Danny Byrne. He wrote:
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My Health Record – Opt In or Opt Out? The Pros and Cons
By: Anne Rinaudo
The opt out period for the My Health Record system will end on November 15. My Health Record is a Federal government initiative that aggregates all of your health data in one place. It has actually been operating for six years on an opt in basis and has about six million users.
Should you opt out?
Open House looked at some of the pros and cons of My Health Record. Open House presenter, Stephen O’Doherty, talked with two experts who went through the arguments for and against the My Health Record from both a medical and legal perspective. Dr Jo-Anne Manski Nankervis is Senior Lecturer at Melbourne University, a General Practitioner and researcher in clinical data analytics. She talked about the medical implications and Dr Megan Prictor a Melbourne Law School Research Fellow considered the legal issues that arise.
The arguments for My Health Record are that it simplifies record keeping and by allowing doctors to see all your health information in one place it could help with diagnosis and correct medications. That sort of information, collected in one place will be very useful for older people with complex chronic health conditions and multiple medications.
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AskDocQ: Does My Health Record Protect My Privacy? Is It Secure?
Every Australian will soon have a My Health Record — an online summary of their health information — unless they opt out before November 15. Brisbane LGBTIQ health specialist and QNews Magazine contributor Dr Fiona Bisshop has put a series of questions about privacy, consent and security to My Health Record and you can read their responses below.
Can doctors access My Health Record without specific consent from the patient?
The My Health Record System was designed with the highest level of security and privacy to protect your health information. Only registered healthcare organisations involved in your care, registered with the My Health Record System Operator, are allowed by law to access My Health Records.
Data cannot be accessed by insurance companies. Nor can patient’s data cannot be sold.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/gemalto-reports-4-6-billion-record-breaches-in-the-first-half-of-2018/
Gemalto reports 4.6 billion record breaches in the first half of 2018
Across 945 breach incidents that occurred mainly in the United States and Australia.
In the first six months of 2018, a total of 4,553,172,708 records were compromised, an increase of 133 percent over the first-half of 2017, a report from Gemalto has found.
In its latest Breach Level Index, Gemalto said accidental loss was the leading factor behind several breaches where data records were disclosed, noting this was due to organisations not taking proper action to secure their cloud-based assets.
The report shows there were 945 security incidents reported in the first half of 2018, which is 18.7 percent fewer than the 1,162 breaches disclosed in the period a year prior.
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EU privacy chief expects first round of GDPR fines this year
By Foo Yun Chee on Oct 10, 2018 5:57AM
Multiple breach investigations already under way.
European regulators will deliver the first sanctions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR by the end of 2018, the bloc's privacy chief said.
The GDPR came into force on May 25 2018 and allowed consumers to better control their personal data. The law also gave regulators the power to impose fines of up to 4 percent of global revenue or 20 million euros (AU$32 million), whichever is higher, for violations.
Enforcers have since then been deluged by complaints about violations and queries for clarification, with France and Italy alone reporting a 53 percent jump in complaints from last year, European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli said.
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Comms Minister Fifield flags interest in GDPR-like laws
By Simon Sharwood on Oct 10, 2018 6:36AM
Says Internet no longer an ‘ungoverned space’ and era of hands-off regulation may need to end.
Australia’s Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has suggested the government is open to a raft of new internet regulations.
In a speech delivered to The Sydney Institute on Monday night but only published late on Tuesday, Fifield outlined his views on “the future of the internet and the role of government in that space.”
The title for his speech – “The internet – not an ungoverned space” - set the tone as the Minister said that “The internet should be free from unnecessary government intervention,” then added “But where platforms fail to act to reduce harm, we won't hesitate to do so.”
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Shutdown sounds ‘alarm’ on public-agency websites
- 11:00PM October 8, 2018
The federal government has warned its state counterparts of the need to be vigilant about foreign hackers intruding into agency websites, South Australia’s Planning Minister says.
Break-ins to business and social-media sites are often in the news. But Planning Minister Stephan Knoll said “briefings we’ve had from the federal government suggest state governments are always a target” of foreign hackers. He said the government “needs to remain vigilant”.
A South Australian crossbencher will ask state parliament’s budget and finance committee to call Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Department officials and Registrar-General Graeme Jackson to answer questions over how foreign hackers forced part of the state’s lands-title web portal to be shut down.
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Fighting back on digital data rights
- By Serdar Nurmammedov
- 11:00PM October 8, 2018
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Events like the GFC seem inevitable when looking back at the evidence that contributed. And I suspect in a few years we’ll look back on 2018 as the year that shifted our view on consumer data.
Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica revelations are largely to thank. The fallout opened up many questions about how our data is stored but also harvested online. Encryption is like any relationship. If it’s only one-sided, it’s bound to fall apart.
Australians spent more time online in the past 12 months than they did at work. The increase in the number of devices we use and our digital habits means we have generated more data in the past few years than the rest of history combined. But it’s fragmented and siloed by tech giants that have created an oligopoly over our data.
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'Stealth doorway': China's stunning server hack shows its true hand
By Peter Hartcher
9 October 2018 — 12:00am
Russia and China are united in one big aim. They want to undermine the West. They want to cut the West down to size so they can increase their own power. It's a very old story in the history of nations.
But they have many differences, too. One difference is becoming clearer by the day.
While Vladimir Putin's Russia is expert at manipulating the US and its systems, Xi Jinping's China is much more ambitious. The Chinese Communist Party wants to own and control those systems. Russia wants to mess with America's world. China wants America's world. And it's making good progress.
The latest example was a startling story published last Thursday by a US news service, Bloomberg Businessweek, under the headline "The Big Hack". Bloomberg, which has a solid reputation for professionalism and accuracy, says its staff spent a year working on the report.
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Google+ to close after user data exposed
Google will shut down the consumer version of its social network
Reuters (Computerworld)09 October, 2018 08:49
Google will shut down the consumer version of its social network Google+ after announcing data from up to 500,000 users may have been exposed to external developers by a bug that was present for more than two years in its systems.
The company said in a blog it had discovered and patched the leak in March of this year and had no evidence of misuse of user data or that any developer was aware or had exploited the vulnerability.
Shares of its parent company Alphabet, however, were down 1.5 percent at US$1150.75 in response to what was the latest in a run of privacy issues to hit the United States' big tech companies.
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Denham Sadler
October 4, 2018
Data sharing laws under spotlight
Data Policy
Big Questions: Data sharing policy is central to the emerging data economy
The government should heed the lessons from the controversial My Health Record launch in designing its new data sharing and release legislation, the Australian Privacy Foundation has warned.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet released an issues paper on the data sharing and release bill in July, and has now made public a number of the 108 submissions it received.
The broad-ranging and significant laws propose to make much more government-held data available for sharing and release across other departments and agencies for the purposes of policy-making, service delivery, and helping the policy implementation.
“Improving Australia’s use of data represents a key opportunity to substantially enhance national productivity. Making data more available is an achievable reform and would liberate economy-wide productivity improvements over many years,” the government said.
The new legislation provides a means for sharing and releasing government-held data when the current avenues for this are restrictive or ineffective. It is based on the ‘five safe framework’: safe data, safe people, safe setting, safe outputs and safe project.
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October 7 2018 - 5:30AM
Wingham CWA News: My Health Record
· Jac Hyde ADHA Propaganda
(A classic – see picture on web.)
Wingham CWA members at a CWA Awareness Week meeting. Photo submitted.
Awareness Week, September 1-9 was CWA’s annual, show what we achieve, advertising period.
This year, rural health was our focus and Wingham Branch decided to address the questions being asked about My Health Record.
Alicia Southwell, digital health project officer, New England and Central Coast, addressed a very well attended meeting on September 6.
Tea and scones were enjoyed by all present.
We have until November to make our decision.
If we do not make contact with the Department our Health Record will automatically be included in the system.
If we have any objection to our record being made available to all Health sections we must record a dissent.
MyHealthRecord.gov.au or Help Line 1800 723 471.
Drought has been to the fore for all CWA members, $100,0000 was distributed from our disaster fund.
As donations were received further relief was given.
Drought aid grants have passed $1 million, to more than 6000 recipients.
More will be distributed as funds are received from Coles, National Farmers, Rotary and Channel Nine.
Wingham Branch sent $500 to the disaster fund, thankful that we are not yet in a disaster area.
Please do be aware of how much CWA does for the community.
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Comments welcome!
David.
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