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
Again we are still in the ‘silly season’ but there is a little news around.
Note we are getting close to the end of the Opt-Out Period so warn all those who may want to be free of this soon!
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SafeScript issues alerts for 3300 patients in two months
Victoria prepares to roll out the real-time script-tracking software statewide in April
7th January 2019
Warnings about almost 3300 patients were sent to doctors and pharmacists during the first two-month trial of Victoria’s real-time script-tracking software, the state government says.
The software, called SafeScript, was rolled out in more than 400 GP clinics and pharmacies in October to combat prescription drug misuse.
When users prescribe or dispense a monitored medicine, including all schedule 8 drugs and some schedule 4 drugs, the system alerts them if the patient has previously been prescribed a monitored drug from a different doctor.
They can then check a full list of monitored medicines prescribed to the patient.
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Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services
The Honourable Steven Miles
Friday, January 11, 2019
A new device for Queenslanders in a medical emergency
A new device will give paramedics greater access to a patient’s vital medical information in an emergency.
Minister for Ambulance Services Steven Miles said the SafeMate program, launched today by Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS), SafeMate and Medibank, is a new digital system housing a patient’s medical and personal information that they themselves have entered online.
“This is crucial information that a patient wants the paramedic to know in a medical emergency,” Minister Miles said.
“Paramedics will use their operational iPads to tap the patient’s SafeMate card or device, and the medical information will appear on the screen.
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The simple fax: This 'dinosaur' of tech isn't dead yet
By Emma Koehn
7 January 2019 — 12:01am
If you're in the market for a tech bargain, chances are you'll find some great deals on fax machines.
It might seem strange that the bulky units are still available or that makers of fancier "multi-function" photocopiers would bother spruiking their fax credentials.
But for a cohort of small businesses across Australia, firing up the fascimile is still part of the daily routine.
"You used to always hear the [fax] calls coming through, and all the funny noises with it," says head of Melbourne business TIS Financial, Rocky Tempone.
"But there are still clients with fax machines these days and they still rely on them to reach our office."
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Lifeline for people with rare diseases in health system maze
By Kate Aubusson
12 January 2019 — 12:00am
A new trial aims to help people with rare and debilitating diseases access support, treatments and clinical trials amid a malaise of confusion, red-tape and dead ends.
A three-year pilot trial funded by the federal government will station 10 telehealth nurses at 10 charities that support people with rare and complex conditions to connect them with the best-suited services and information for them.
After the initial shock of a diagnosis, these patients and their families can feel overwhelming disorientation as they attempt to navigate a nebulous health system better equipped for more common ailments.
The trial aims to ensure people who are in need of support get fast, expert advice tailored to their particular circumstances in a coordinated way, Health Minister Greg Hunt said. Be it specialist care, home services, mental health support, emerging technology or opportunities to participate in clinical trials for potential new treatments.
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NDIS IT systems need to be ‘significantly improved’: Inquiry
Parliamentary inquiry into NDIS ICT systems calls for swift action
A parliamentary inquiry says during its deliberations it received evidence that key ICT systems of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) still need to be “significantly improved”.
The Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme in December completed its report into the ICT systems supporting the NDIS.
The committee found that the NDIA is “under enormous pressure to meet its participant intake targets”. As of the end of September, more than 208,000 participants were receiving support through the NDIS — by 2020, some 460,000 participants are expected to be covered by the scheme.
During a trial period from 2013 to mid-2016, the NDIS was delivered using a Siebel system managed by the Department of Social Services. The government in 2015-16 earmarked $143 million over a four-year period for a permanent ICT system to underpin the scheme, with the Department of Human Services tasked with overseeing its implementation.
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11 Jan 2019 12:24 PM AEST
Renewed backing for digital health commercialisation initiative
A novel program to drive commercialisation skills in the burgeoning digital health sector has received new funding from the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Growth Centre, MTPConnect.
ANDHealth, Australia’s digital health business accelerator, has been awarded $250,000 to deliver intensive Digital Health Market Success Bootcamps for up to 40 Australian digital health companies.
MTPConnect CEO Dr Dan Grant says ANDHealth’s focus is on equipping digital health innovators with the skills needed to turn ideas into commercially successful products.
“Through ANDHealth’s intensive, five-day focused curriculum, representatives from digital health companies will take a deep dive into clinical evidence, regulation, business models, intellectual property, partnering, attracting investment and exploring new international markets,” he says.
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Tech development, regulation, investment and implementation key to digital health
Hafizah Osman | 07 Jan 2019
Australia’s healthcare industry and government stakeholders need to focus on four key areas – technology development, regulation, investment and implementation – to stimulate a thriving digital health industry.
A report released by digital business health accelerator ANDHealth, Digital Health: Creating a New Growth Industry for Australia, outlined these as next steps needed to create a cohesive and collaborative digital health industry.
ANDHealth CEO Bronwyn Le Grice said that with the global digital health market expected to reach US$206 billion by 2020, driven by the mobile and wireless health market, Australia needs to pursue innovation in technology, such as AI, immersive simulation, big data and IoT.
And in order to fully realise the industry’s full potential, there needs to be in place an integrated ecosystem that supports the growth and establishment of the industry.
Here is the full paper to download:
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Position vacant: human
- 12:00AM January 8, 2019
The literature on the future of work can be gloomy, if not dystopian. The genre works on fear plus just enough hope that if we are somehow smart enough we will be among the minority able to hold on to jobs in the decades ahead.
Richard Baldwin’s new book, The Globotics Upheaval: Globalisation, Robotics and the Future of Work (Hachette), published today, doesn’t avoid the tough calls about the impact on our economies of offshore workers and automation.
But the American-born Swiss academic is more optimistic than many commentators. Indeed he suggests life could actually be better in the future — as long as we understand that the edge we have over the machines is our humanity. On the phone from Geneva where he is professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute, Baldwin suggests we need to spend less time worrying about what artificial intelligence and remote workers overseas workers can do more cheaply than us and focus on where we have the upper hand.
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Hacking for data sharing
ACS to hold Directed Hack series next month.
By Staff Writers on Jan 08 2019 09:00 AM
Late last year, the Federal government announced its plans to take all government services online by 2025.
The digital transformation will see end-to-end services underpinned by a myGovID that will merge all existing government logins, giving you the ability to do everything online.
But with the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) recently revealing the My Health Record system fell victim to 42 data breaches in the 2017/18 financial year, it is clear that data sharing is still a work in progress.
Data sharing today for government and industry is now simultaneously both an exciting opportunity and a gigantic risk.
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Cancer Trials Australia joins data-sharing platform
By Liz Main
09 Jan 2019 — 12:01 AM
You may have considered donating blood, but what about your private information?
Australians will be able to donate their health and social-media data to medical research via a platform created by Silicon Valley data-management company ShareRoot.
People suffering cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and mental health issues will be invited to join the online platform, called MediaConsent, and donate data from their social media accounts, digital health wearables such as Fitbits, and medical records, with the aim of helping research.
"I would love the idea of people being able to donate their data to medical research. I think that would just be brilliant," said Michelle Gallaher, who spearheads the MediaConsent project at ShareRoot.
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Indigenous health TV series gets $1m boost
A cultural camping program that aims to improve the health of indigenous men in remote Australia has received a $1 million federal government funding boost.
Rebecca Gredley
Australian Associated Press January 8, 20193:07pm
A television series aimed at improving the health of indigenous men in remote Australia has received a $1 million boost from the federal government.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and traditional knowledge is central to the Camping on Country program, which focuses on alcohol and drug dependency, smoking, diet, exercise and mental health.
The current life expectancy for an Australian indigenous man is 70, which is 10 years less than non-indigenous males.
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Revised govt-wide digital records play gets green light
Finance to begin co-design next month.
A revised federal government plan to source multiple digital records management solutions instead of a single government-wide platform has been endorsed by industry and government representatives.
After receiving feedback on its sourcing strategy discussion paper for digital records transformation, the Department of Finance will begin a co-design process to figure out the most appropriate way to buy modernised digital records technologies.
The department had originally hoped to shift the Australian Public Service (APS) to a single cloud-based government-wide digital records platform.
But it was forced rethink this approach after being unable to find a single off-the-shelf solution that addressed all its needs.
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Government-funded body's survey of cyber sector reveals encryption bill dread
AustCyber #aabill survey, completed in November but not released until after bill passed, finds majority fear negative impact
A government-funded body's survey of Australian cyber security companies, which was conducted before the controversial encryption bill was passed but not released until late last month, reveals most firms fear the legislation will have a profoundly negative impact on their businesses.
The concern is most keenly felt by those companies that export overseas, which believe the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 – passed into law amid farcical scenes during the final day of parliament for 2018 – will result in the perception that their products are less secure.
According to the AustCyber (Australian Cyber Security Growth Network) survey, carried out by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), close to three-quarters of surveyed companies think the bill will damage the reputation of their products, while a similar number are worried about potential conflicts between the bill and laws in other countries in which they operate.
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Voice-activated gadgets will dominate CES. Will they sell?
By Matt Day
Updated 06 Jan 2019 — 3:34 PM, first published at 3:21 PM
As he browsed digital store shelves last month in search of an aromatherapy diffuser, entrepreneur David Berger had a single requirement for his wife's Christmas gift: It had to work with Amazon's Alexa software.
"She's really into making the house smell beautiful, and I'm really into Alexa," says Berger who lives in Weston, Connecticut. "So this is a great gift for both of us."
Voice-activated digital assistants are racing from novelty to mainstream computing device. More than a quarter of US adults will use one regularly next year, according to EMarketer, and they're increasingly ordering them to dim the lights, control the television and thermostat and, yes, turn on diffusers to waft scents around the house.
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Buying medicines online can risk your health and your hip pocket
08 Jan 2019 9:00 AM
08 Jan 2019 9:00 AM
When buying medicines online remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
With the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) continuing to issue alerts about medicines available on the internet, NPS MedicineWise recommends checking up on the online provider to prevent risking your health, wallet and even prosecution.
NPS MedicineWise CEO Mr Steve Morris says it may be tempting to self-diagnose and order medicines online, but this can be a dangerous practice.
“The risk with buying medicines online is your self-diagnosis may be wrong, the medicine you purchase may not be suitable for you, and it might interact with other medicines you may already be taking,” said Mr Morris.
With the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) continuing to issue alerts about medicines available on the internet, NPS MedicineWise recommends checking up on the online provider to prevent risking your health, wallet and even prosecution.
NPS MedicineWise CEO Mr Steve Morris says it may be tempting to self-diagnose and order medicines online, but this can be a dangerous practice.
“The risk with buying medicines online is your self-diagnosis may be wrong, the medicine you purchase may not be suitable for you, and it might interact with other medicines you may already be taking,” said Mr Morris.
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Telstra set to start offering 5G smartphones in the first half of 2019
By Adam Turner
10 January 2019 — 4:01pm
Telstra mobile customers will soon have access to 5G data speeds as the telco announced plans to offer several compatible smartphones by mid-year.
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn confirmed the company has struck exclusive Australian deals with some of the world’s largest smartphone makers to offer their 5G handsets in the first half of 2019.
"After a number of discussions, including here at CES, we have entered into a number of partnerships with some of the world's leading brands to bring their first 5G devices exclusively to Telstra customers on the Telstra network," Mr Penn says.
Mr Penn declined to confirm which vendors are on board, although the list almost certainly does not include Apple considering that — even if the next iPhone does support 5G — it is unlikely to be available until the second half of the year.
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Hubble shows Triangulum galaxy where stars are forming
- By Press Association
- AAP
- 3:17PM January 8, 2019
The most detailed image yet of a 40-billion-star neighbouring galaxy has been captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Triangulum Galaxy, located three million light years away from the Milky Way, is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye.
Under dark-sky conditions, it appears as a faint, blurry object in the constellation of Triangulum (the Triangle) and is a target for amateur astronomers.
But in a new 665-million-pixel image taken by the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope, the spiral galaxy’s billions of stars are brightly showcased.
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Enjoy!
David.
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