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 all sorts of security issues and problems and a fair few red faces. These phishing attacks are really a problem that needs fixing somehow. Must be costing a fortune - and hurting patients!
Otherwise all sorts of interesting odds and ends.
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Digital identity for newborns will remove ‘pain points’
4 October, 2019
A pilot baby registration program being coordinated by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) will remove some of the ‘pain points’ for new parents in terms of dealing with government, a conference has heard.
Under the government’s digital transformation strategy, the DTA has committed to streamlining a range of complicated and cross-jurisdictional life-event services – like births, starting school, marriage, retirement and death – into a single process.
It is currently coordinating a birth-of-a-child pilot program involving the Department of Human Services and the ACT, NSW and Queensland governments, DTA CEO Randall Brugeaud told the Digital Summit 2019 in Canberra on Thursday.
Mr Brugeaud said the pilot will deliver an integrated service experience for parents of newborns, and is designed to streamline the process of registering the birth of a child and enrolling it in Medicare and Centrelink services.
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Regional Victorian hospitals hit by cyber attack
By Melissa Cunningham, Noel Towell and Zach Hope
Updated October 1, 2019 — 11.47amfirst published at 10.39am
Some of the state's major regional hospitals have been hacked in a suspected ransonware attack that has shut down booking systems and reignited fears over patient information security.
Health services in the Gippsland Health Alliance and South West Alliance of Rural Health were targeted in the cyber attack including hospitals in Warrnambool, Colac, Geelong, Warragul, Sale, and Bairnsdale and services in smaller towns.
Barwon Hospital in Geelong was among those affected with the health service's entire network down since about 4pm on Monday.
The Victorian government and police are investigating the scale of the attack. Ransomware is malicious software that makes IT systems unusable unless a ransom is paid.
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Victorian hospitals go offline after ransomware attack
"No suggestion" personal data has been accessed.
A number of regional Victorian hospitals and health services have been forced to shutdown their IT systems, including some electronic health records, after experiencing a ransomware attack on Monday.
In a statement, the state’s Department of Premier and Cabinet said the “cyber security incident” had blocked access to several major systems, including financial management, after being infiltrated.
Hospitals in the Gippsland Health Alliance and the South West Alliance of Rural Health are said to have been affected, though investigations are continuing to understand the full extent of the attack.
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Some Victorian hospitals are offline after ransomware hit
The incident uncovered on Monday has hit Gippsland Health Alliance and South West Alliance of Rural Health.
A number of Victorian hospitals have disconnected themselves from the internet in an attempt to quarantine a ransomware infection.
"The priority is to fix all affected systems and prevent any further compromise," the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet said on Tuesday morning.
"This isolation has led to the shutdown of some patient records [and] booking and management systems, which may impact on patient contact and scheduling. Where practical, hospitals are reverting to manual systems to maintain their services."
The department said the impacted hospitals were in the Gippsland Health Alliance and the South West Alliance of Rural Health.
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Tuesday, 01 October 2019 09:19
Victoria's regional health network hit by Windows ransomware
Victorian regional health service Barwon Health is one among numerous entities in the state's health network to be hit by a ransomware attack. Details are expected to be announced later today by the state's Premier, Daniel Andrews.
The organisation has more than 7000 staff and has ties to Deakin University, Melbourne University, Monash University and a number of other educational institutions.
University Hospital Geelong, Colac Area Health, South West Healthcare Warrnambool, Latrobe Regional Hospital, West Gippsland Healthcare Group and Bairnsdale Regional Health are among those affected.
The hospitals affected are part of the Gippsland Health Alliance and of the South West Alliance of Rural Health.
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Regional Victorian hospital network has been hacked in a ransomware attack
A regional Victorian hospital network has been hacked in a ransomware attack, just months after an Auditor-General’s report warned of serious cybersecurity weaknesses in the state’s health system.
The Andrews government says patient information is safe, and emergency care will not be affected.
However, elective surgery and some outpatient services may be delayed at hospitals in Gippsland and southwest Victoria, which have been forced to revert to manual contact and booking systems.
The Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet on Tuesday confirmed hospitals which are part of the Gippsland Health Alliance and the South West Alliance of Rural Health had been attacked.
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Surgeries delayed as hospitals hacked
Staff might not get paid after a cyber attack sent Victorian hospital networks into lockdown
1st October 2019
By AAP
One of Australia's top spy agencies is investigating a cyber attack that has sent regional Victorian hospital networks into lockdown, delaying surgeries.
Hospitals that are a part of the Gippsland Health Alliance and South West Alliance of Rural Health have been targeted by ransomware.
The facilities have isolated and disconnected a number of systems to quarantine the infection, as federal and Victorian authorities investigate.
The team includes the Australian Cyber Security Centre, part of the secretive Signals Directorate, alongside Victoria and Federal Police.
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Spies investigate Vic hospitals ransomware attack
Kaitlyn Offer
Oct 2, 2019 — 5.03pm
A top spy agency is investigating a cyber attack that has sent regional Victorian hospital networks into lockdown, delaying surgeries.
Hospitals that are a part of the Gippsland Health Alliance and South West Alliance of Rural Health have been targeted by ransomware.
The facilities have isolated and disconnected a number of systems to quarantine the infection, as federal and Victorian authorities investigate.
The team includes the Australian Cyber Security Centre, part of the secretive Signals Directorate, alongside Victoria and Federal Police.
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Call for city psychs to get telehealth rebates: MBS taskforce
The psychiatry committee has made 10 key recommendations
3rd October 2019
Psychiatrists would be able to claim Medicare for telehealth in the major cities but lose loadings for doing so in rural areas, under a proposed MBS shake-up.
The reform is part of 10 key changes recommended by the MBS Review Taskforce’s psychiatry clinical committee, in a report released last month.
The committee reviewed 53 MBS items, accounting for about 2.4 million services and $347 million in benefits annually.
It recommended no changes to GP-requested management plans or phone consultations in regional and remote areas, despite initial concerns about the use and value of these services leading to review of the items.
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Hospitals to refuse 'substandard' GP referrals
Referrals missing 'essential information' to be resubmitted, according to Victorian referral criteria
2nd October 2019
Public hospitals in Victoria say they will begin rejecting GP referrals unless they meet strict new criteria.
Under statewide rules coming in from next month, public hospitals will judge all new adult referrals to their ENT, vascular and urology departments against core criteria, with health officials promising any that miss “essential information” will be knocked back.
It means that from 1 November, hospitals will only accept adult patients referred for recurrent tonsillitis if they have experienced at least four episodes in the past year.
The GP referral will also need to include a history of tonsillitis episodes and response to treatment, information on the patient’s family history of coagulation disorder and whether they are taking anticoagulant medication.
Referrals to a vascular department for aortic aneurysm will only be accepted if accompanied by imaging results showing the aneurysm measures at least 4cm in diameter or is growing at greater than 1cm per year.
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More Australians can access diagnostic test results online
30 September, 2019 - 9:30
· There has been significant progress in connecting pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to the My Health Record. Nearly all public providers are already uploading and the number of private providers registering, and uploading is accelerating. There are over 850,000 diagnostic reports a week being uploaded to My Health Record.
· From today, healthcare professionals will be able to see patient’s pathology and diagnostic imaging reports and test results grouped together to better support clinical decisions and patients will benefit from improved usability online.
The upgrade to My Health Record, released today by the Australian Digital Health Agency, is a step-change for both healthcare providers and their patients in the way they can conveniently and securely view medical reports.
The upgrade’s enhanced clinical workflow capabilities will better enable healthcare providers to more easily identify and group together relevant tests and results and provide the best possible healthcare, including keeping track of tests, knowing when they were carried out and monitoring patients’ results over time.
“This upgrade to My Health Record is great news for people like me,” said Geoff Bartle, a healthcare consumer from Western Australia.
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Monday, 30 September 2019 12:17
Diagnostic test results now online with My Health Record upgrade
More Australians can now access diagnostic test results online with the upgrading of My Health Record announced by the Australian Digital Health Agency.
More than 31 million clinical documents and more than 1.3 billion Medicare documents have already been uploaded to the My Health Record digital health program - and with the upgrade announced on Monday healthcare professionals will be able to see patient’s pathology and diagnostic imaging reports and test results grouped together to better support clinical decisions, and with patients benefiting from improved usability online.
The Digital Health Agency says there has been significant progress in connecting pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to the My Health Record, with nearly all public providers already uploading, and the number of private providers registering, and uploading is accelerating – with over 850,000 diagnostic reports a week being uploaded to My Health Record.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/over-850000-diagnostic-reports-uploaded-to-my-health-record-each-week/
Over 850,000 diagnostic reports uploaded to My Health Record each week
Australian Digital Health Agency says nearly all public providers of pathology and diagnostic imaging use the electronic health record.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) said it has gotten over 850,000 diagnostic reports each week that have been uploaded to My Health Record.
My Health Record now holds 31 million clinical documents and in excess of 1.3 billion Medicare documents, ADHA said.
"There has been significant progress in connecting pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to the My Health Record," ADHA said.
"Nearly all public providers are already uploading and the number of private providers registering, and uploading is accelerating."
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Easier access to test results after My Health Record usability tweak
GPs are now able to see their patient’s pathology, diagnostic imaging reports and test results grouped together by date on My Health Record.
30 Sep 2019
The usability upgrade is intended to make it easier for GPs to identify, track and group together relevant tests and results by date, in a bid to reduce concerns around navigating the emerging sea of medical data.
The overview function will let GPs see multiple reports within a specific date range on a single page.
The upgrade comes after prominent RACGP digital health advocate Dr Nathan Pinskier questioned the need to generate new documents with much duplicated information, while GPs have previously complained of not being able to find the relevant detail amidst all records.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which is responsible for the nationwide My Health Record electronic health repository, claims the upgrade is a ‘step-change’ in the way doctors view medical reports.
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The overview function will let GPs see multiple reports within a specific date range on a single page.
The upgrade comes after prominent RACGP digital health advocate Dr Nathan Pinskier questioned the need to generate new documents with much duplicated information, while GPs have previously complained of not being able to find the relevant detail amidst all records.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which is responsible for the nationwide My Health Record electronic health repository, claims the upgrade is a ‘step-change’ in the way doctors view medical reports.
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More Australians can access diagnostic test results online
Health care providers can now see patients’ pathology and diagnostic imaging reports and test results grouped together on My Health Record
This means better support for clinical decisions and patient benefit from improved usability online, says the Australian Digital Health Agency.
The Agency reports that there has been “significant” progress in connecting pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to the system.
Nearly all public providers are already uploading, and the number of private providers registering and uploading is accelerating, it says.
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Data61 gamifies psychiatry to reduce misdiagnosis
Detecting bipolar and complex disorders faster.
A team of researchers at CSIRO’s Data61 used a simple computer game together with AI techniques to help mental health practitioners diagnose and characterise complex disorders, and offer tailored treatments.
The researchers were able to use the game and AI techniques to identify behavioural patterns in 101 participants.
The game, which was presented at the D61+ LIVE event in Sydney, presents individuals with two choices and tracks their behaviour as they respond.
Data collected through the game is analysed by neural networks, which can then untangle the nuanced behavioural differences between people with depression or bipolar disorder and healthy individuals.
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This simple computer game uses AI to diagnose mental health disorders
By Charlotte Grieve
October 2, 2019 — 3.38pm
Asking patients to play a simple computer game could reduce the misdiagnosis of mental health disorders like bipolar and depression by as much as 49 per cent.
The game is similar to two-up. It asks patients to select one of two coloured boxes and the player is rewarded randomly each time based on their choice.
Where a healthy patient would likely choose the same colour until they are rewarded, those with bipolar switch between the two, explains lead researcher and neuroscientist Dr Amir Dezfouli.
"The idea is that different psychotic disorders affect the brain's decision making system in different ways," he said.
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Actionable Intime Insights software to boost South Australia’s healthcare
This will add value to usual care as it promotes more timely communication and support for people in their treatment needs.
The first use of the national My Health Record to promote more robust safeguards for self-management of serious mental illness is being rolled out in South Australia.
According to a recent press release, patients in the Barossa Hills and Fleurieu Local Health Network will be the first to trial the AI2 software program developed by digital health experts at Flinders University.
Providing healthcare support
This initiative will add value to usual care as it will promote more timely communication as well as support for people in their treatment needs such as remembering appointments with their GPs, their medication, and the occasional extra help with their condition.
The University’s Digital Psychiatry and Personal Informatics Team described the Actionable Intime Insights, or ‘AI-Squared’ (AI2) program as a powerful e-health solution that compares Medicare data from My Health Record against standard care plans.
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WA Health Digital Strategy 2020–2030
2 October 2019
The WA Health Digital Strategy 2020–2030 (the Digital Strategy) aims to take advantage of the innovations transforming healthcare to drive better health outcomes for all Western Australians.
The Digital Strategy presents an exciting opportunity for the WA health system.
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WA Health plots decade-long IT systems overhaul in new digital strategy
State-wide e-health record to form foundation.
WA Health has laid out plans for a widespread overhaul of its clinical and corporate IT systems over the next decade as part of a new digital health strategy aimed squarely at improving patient care.
The ten-year blueprint [pdf], released on Wednesday, reveals an extensive program of work to transform the state’s health system through interoperable systems, big data, AI and data analytics.
Central to the strategy’s vision is the planned state-wide electronic medical record (EMR), which is considered the foundation for many of the patient-centric improvements WA Health hopes to introduce.
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IT contractor arrested, Sydney DC raided over sabotage, data breaches
Multiple swoops by Riot Squad, State Crime Command detectives.
New South Wales police have sent the Public Order and Riot Squad in to execute search and crime scene warrants in multiple raids across Sydney on Wednesday morning after detectives arrested a man in the city’s CBD in relation to the LandMark White data breach incidents.
The man, who police said is a “software contractor” has been detained at the Surry Hills Police complex where it is anticipated he will be charged after swoops by Strike Force Vide.
The arrest follows repeated public claims by LandMark White’s management that the data breaches that exposed more than 170,000 data records, including personal information and valuation records was an inside job aimed at sabotaging the ASX-listed company.
Banks, who were key customers for LandMark White’s online property valuation service terminated their business with the firm after the breaches despite initial support to try and help the firm back on its feet.
IT worker refused bail over 'taking personal information and uploading it to dark web'
By Georgina Mitchell
October 3, 2019 — 5.43pm
An IT contractor accused of uploading the personal details of hundreds of thousands of people to the internet has been refused bail after a court was told forensic evidence links him to the "elaborate and sophisticated crime".
Stephen Bruce Grant, 49, from Rozelle, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with five counts of unauthorised modification of data, seven counts of dealing with identity information with intent to commit fraud, and two counts of impairing electronic communications to/from a computer.
He was also charged with possessing cannabis.
Police allege Mr Grant accessed the database of property valuation firm LandMark White – for whom he had worked as a contractor for more than a decade – between September 2017 and May 2019.
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Qld govt cyber defences fail ethical hack test
Sensitive information accessed with relative ease.
Ethical hackers from Queensland’s Audit Office were able to exploit vulnerabilities in the IT systems of three state government entities to access sensitive information during recent cyber security testing.
In a damning audit report [pdf] released on Tuesday, the state’s auditor said testing had revealed all of the three unnamed entities were failing to manage their security risks “as effectively as they could”.
The report found “key information assets” at each of the entities were successfully compromised by its security consultants using what was determined to be the “easiest path to attack”.
While one entity did have a “higher level” of cyber risk management maturity, the report said it still “not enough to prevent our security consultants from compromising its ICT environment”.
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Medibank to expand its use of SAP Ariba
Tackles spend analytics, one-off sourcing.
Medibank has flagged an expansion of its use of SAP Ariba to improve its analysis of spending and ability to source one-off items.
Ariba was brought into Medibank via Project Springboard, essentially an enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformation that used SAP’s S4/HANA for finance, Ariba for procurement and SuccessFactors for HR/payroll.
It is one of two major IT transformations pursued in recent years that consolidated operations on an SAP stack.
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GPU-guided ultrasound targets Alzheimer's
UQ tries out revamped HPC cluster.
The graphics processing units of the University of Queensland’s high performance computing centre have opened up a promising avenue for treating Alzheimers and other debilitating neural disorders.
The Queensland Brain Institute at UQ is using the university’s Dell EMC-built ‘Wiener’ HPC facility to analyse human skull models in the hope of using ultrasound to deliver drug treatments across the blood-brain barrier.
Speaking at the Dell Technologies Forum in Sydney on Tuesday, UQ’s Research Computing Centre chief technology officer Jake Carroll said the non-invasive treatment is based on Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis performed on the Wiener system.
FEM modelling calculates what happens to each element of the brain as ultrasound waves pass through the skull, allowing minute adjustments to be made to the ultrasound waves that allows certain drugs to travel across the blood-brain barrier.
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Wednesday, 02 October 2019 11:30
Dell supercomputer facilitates University of Queensland Alzheimer’s Disease research
The University of Queensland is using a supercomputer from Dell Technologies in research on Alzheimer’s disease.
In one of its first computational projects for the University, Dell’s Wiener high-performance computing (HPC) system may enable a non-invasive disease-modifying strategy for the disease.
The HPC system built by Dell for the university’s Research Computing Centre (RCC), is a GPU-accelerated supercomputer.
Dell says GPUs, with significantly more cores than CPUs, are well-suited to processing massive amounts of computational tasks in parallel, including intensive tasks such as data visualisation and machine learning.
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Inside a massive cyber ANU hack that risks compromising future leaders around the globe
By political reporter Stephanie Borys
Without anyone clicking on a link, a massive cyber attack of unprecedented sophistication gained access to private information of potentially high-ranking officials across the globe.
Key points:
- A massive cyber attack allowed hackers to access 19 years' worth of personal information of staff and students
- The attack on Australian National University was so sophisticated it didn't even need an email to be clicked on
- The extent of the hack remains unclear but names, dates of births, addresses and phone numbers were stolen
Thanks to the release of a 5,000-word report into the incident, the public can see for the fist time how sophisticated and extensive the attack on the ANU was.
For weeks, hackers quietly trawled through the computer system of the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
It was months before ANU even realised the hackers had broken in, and almost a year later it remains a mystery just how damaging the attack was.
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ANU cyber attack began with email to senior staff member
Oct 2, 2019 — 4.15pm
The Australian National University's investigation into the hacking of students' personal data has failed to identify a culprit or exonerate suspects but the nature of the data stolen suggests fraud may have been a motive.
While some in the security community believed China was behind the cyber attack, given past form and ANU's rich trove of sensitive data and research, the university will only describe the perpetrator as a "sophisticated actor".
"It's very difficult to come up with any definitive conclusion, and speculation I think is potentially harmful," vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said.
The hackers got away with only 700 megabytes of staff and student data – a compact disc's worth – out of the two terrabytes that was stored in the compromised databases they had access to for six weeks.
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ANU hackers built 'shadow ecosystem' to stay hidden for six weeks
Identity and amount of data exfiltrated still unknown.
The attacker that infiltrated the Australian National University’s enterprise systems built up a “shadow ecosystem” of compromised machines - physical and virtual - that allowed them to stay undetected for six weeks.
The university released a 20-page post-incident report [pdf] on Wednesday that shone new light on the attack, which was publicly announced in June.
The intrusion was only detected in April “during a baseline threat hunting exercise”. ANU said it engaged defence contractor Northrop Grumman to lead the cleanup effort and forensics.
ANU said the attack was initiated in November 2018 via a spearphishing email that was previewed by a senior staffer.
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ANU details findings of data breach
Sophisticated attack "has shocked even the most experienced Australian security experts"
A cyber attack that saw an unauthorised actor gain access to Australia National University (ANU)'s network for six weeks has shocked the country's most experienced security experts, new findings reveal.
According to a new report, the hacker infiltrated the university's Enterprise Systems Domain (ESD) network, which led to an unknown amount of human resources, financial management, student administration and enterprise e-forms systems being copied and stolen.
Having successfully breached the defence's in November last year, the same actor then attempted to regain access in February 2019, but failed to get through.
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Boot camp to develop CHIA for NZ
Wednesday, 2 October 2019
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
A boot camp to develop New Zealand content and questions for the Certified Health Informatician Australasia certification is being held this month.
Health Informatics New Zealand is working on a proposal to deliver CHIA in New Zealand in partnership with the Health Informatics Society of Australia.
CHIA was designed to address the lack of formal recognition for health informatics skills in the health workforce and has been operating in Australia for more than five years.
Candidates apply to sit the CHIA exam and once registered they have 90 days to prepare for an online exam with 104 multi-choice questions.
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Sunday, 29 September 2019 05:57
World-first surgery uses Australian tech to mend heart of US man
In what is claimed to be a world first, a patient in America has been successfully implanted with a polymer heart valve jointly developed by Australia's national science agency CSIRO and medical device firm Foldax.
A statement from the CSIRO said the Tria heart valve used a proprietary polymer, known as LifePolymer, developed by the Australian organisation and would last for decades without the risk of calcification, clotting or damage to red blood cells.
The patient in question, Bob Murley, 68, was operated on in July and is now recovering well, the CSIRO said. The operation was carred out at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, by the hospital's chief of cardiovascular surgery, Dr Marc Sakwa.
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NBN Co faces stiffer financial hits for underperformance
ACCC proposes higher rebates, paid on a daily basis, for late connections and repairs
The NBN Co will be subjected to bigger financial hits if new proposals tabled by Australia’s consumer watchdog are enforced.
Retail service providers (RSPs) whose customers are affected by poor NBN service, delayed connections and fault repairs will gain bigger and more rebates under a new structure from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Under the draft proposal, missed NBN Co technician appointment rebates will increase from $25 to $75 each time, with delays to connections and fault repairs incurring a payment to RSPs on a daily basis, rather than as a one-off payment.
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NBN told to lift service, or pay
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is pushing NBN Co to give retail telcos bigger rebates when its technicians fail to turn up on time, as part of new, regulated wholesale terms of service standards.
The measures proposed by the ACCC would see NBN Co increase the size of rebates for missed appointments by NBN technicians from $25 to $75.
It also wants NBN Co to offer $20 rebates for fixed-wireless services in congested cells or connected to congested backhaul links, as well as $20 rebates for fixed-line services that fail to deliver the promised speeds.
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Aussie Broadband suggests NBN Co pay $150 for missed appointments
Instead of current $25 rebate.
NBN Co should be forced to pay “closer to $150” every time its technicians miss a scheduled appointment, according to Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt.
Britt raised the prospect in an early response to new draft service standards for NBN Co laid out by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Tuesday.
“We believe it should reflect the true cost to the customer rather than just act as an NBN incentive, given customers often take time off - including annual leave - to attend appointments,” Britt said in a statement.
The ACCC set a $25 fee per missed appointment in September last year, and today said it wanted to raise that to $75 sometime in 2020.
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Tuesday, 01 October 2019 11:47
ACCC proposes bigger rebates, new measures to boost NBN standards
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has proposed new terms aimed at improving NBN Co’s wholesale service levels, including a reworked rebate structure increasing the size of rebates for missed appointments, late connections and unresolved faults.
And the proposed changes to the rebate structure would see rebates applied on a daily basis, rather than as a one-off payment.
The ACCC’s announcement follows release of a draft decision on Tuesday putting forward new regulated wholesale terms for the service standards NBN Co - the operator of the National Broadband Network – provides to retail service providers (RSPs).
Under the Competition and Consumer Act (CCA), the ACCC has powers to ensure RSPs have access to quality and reliable products and timely responses to problems from NBN Co.
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NBN Co faces $30-a-day fines for unfixed faults
Will also have to pay users $20/month for congested or slow services.
NBN Co is set to be fined $13.50 per business day - capped at $270 - for late or delayed connections to its network, and up to $30 a day - capped at $1150 - for slow fault fixes, under sweeping new service standards proposed today.
The network builder is also facing a tripling of the size of rebate available when its technicians miss appointments, from $25 to $75 - all of which must be passed on to the consumer.
And NBN Co will also be forced to pay $20 rebates each month for congested fixed wireless services, as well as for fixed line services “that fail to meet certain minimum speed objectives.”
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Enjoy!
David.
"Digital identity for newborns will remove ‘pain points’"
ReplyDeletePain points? sounds like the government is inventing problems it can try to solve - with unintended consequences for Australian citizens. A bit like the health record.
Sounds like a plan. Is the plan to create a new identity to coexist with all others allowing multiple identity to be used to deliver the citizen SSO regardless of the credentials? If so how are these agreements made and by who?
ReplyDeleteOr is this a single digital identity that supersedes all pre-existing so even you HI become obsolete??
David, the most important thing to know about the recent My Health Record upgrade is does it now render the MHR user friendly? Is it easy to access the test results quickly and easily in the format and order that a doctor wants? Or is this upgrade simply a change in lipstick colour on our dear friend the much maligned pig?
ReplyDeleteI have looked but it seems none of my Path results were available.
ReplyDeleteHave others looked and can they say how well it works?
Thanks.
David.
Have a look at this (from before the upgrade):
ReplyDeletehttp://files-au.clickdimensions.com/digitalhealthgovau-a5xdx/files/myhealthrecordsupportingpatientswithdementiaapproved.pdf
It's supposedly about how My Health Record can help people with dementia but only one slide (#36) has any relevance. The rest is the usual waffle about how it works.
I noticed the view of a myhr on slide 16. It's the Provider Portal view and looks nothing like the patient view. The provider portal is much flashier than the one for patients.
In checking I had a look at mine.
It would seem that they have upgraded the provider portal, not the patient view, which does not appear any different from months ago.
An interesting observation is that the "Medicines Preview" | "Prescription and Dispense Records" view shows "No information is available."
However the "Medicines Preview" | "Allergies & Adverse Reactions and Medicines Information" view shows the medications I have been prescribed.
Not exactly user friendly or consistent.
The ADHA is obviously desperate to try and make it GP friendly, not realising that GPs have no use for it at all, apart from a source of revenue from the government.
ReplyDeleteSo it looks as though Darian Eckersley who joined ADHA in April 2017, as Senior Director of Experience Design, to fix the user interface hasn't been able to make the promised improvements.
ReplyDelete@3:41 PM if he did, it would be like lipstick on a pig.
ReplyDeleteDavid - re pathology results. My pathology results are also sadly not in my health record, even though I ticked the box on the paper form to have them uploaded.
ReplyDeleteBernard. I have the same problem as you with the Medicines View. The Medicines View shows my dispensed medicines, but the prescriptions and dispense records says 'No Information available'. Confusing, but I think the Medicines View is derived from the PBS benefit data from Medicare, while the prescriptions and dispense records view doesn't show anything because it is supposedly sourced from the clinical systems that generate electronic prescriptions and dispenses (GP and Pharmacy systems), and these must not yet be connected to the My Health Record system. It would be better if each view had some help information to indicate why the two views don't match. I am surprised that there hasn't been more press on this issue. Does no one look at their record? It is a bad look, and makes you feel that there is an error with the record, perhaps some problem with the internal data integrity.
We may have a bit of clarity ass to the reality of ADHA's claims.
ReplyDeleteThis HealthcareIT report.
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia-pacific/australia-s-my-health-record-gets-upgrade-enhanced-clinical-workflow-capabilities
"Australia’s My Health Record gets upgrade with enhanced clinical workflow capabilities
The upgrade means that Pathology and Diagnostic Imaging Overviews are automatically available from Clinical Information System applications that implemented the My Health Record Document List.
Prior to this upgrade, CIS vendors had to do development work to implement the Pathology and DI Views. Now CIS applications that have implemented the MHR Document List will be able to provide the Pathology and DI Overviews without additional development work from the CIS vendors."
In other words, the upgrade applies to CIS systems (i.e. as used by health professionals) and it may or may not apply to the provider portal. I haven't seen it via the patient portal, and I've looked.
What's interesting is the spin that the ADHA puts on the upgrade in their press release:
"More Australians can access diagnostic test results online"
https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/news-and-media/media-releases/diagnostic-test-results-online
"The upgrade to My Health Record, released today by the Australian Digital Health Agency, is a step-change for both healthcare providers and their patients in the way they can conveniently and securely view medical reports."
The implication (and the stark claim in the headline) is that it changes the way patients can view the data.
There is a major inconsistency in these reports.
The question is: Is this deliberate or just sloppy reporting?
Although past performance is no indication of future performance my money is on it being deliberate however sloppy is becoming the new standard and ADHA is embracing that standard with open appendages
ReplyDelete