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
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It is really being a very quiet new period – overwhelmed by COVID-19 I guess?
Just a few fun things to browse.
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2 March 2020
Digital therapy may be effective for ADHD
It seems like the perfect solution doesn’t it? An effective therapy for children with ADHD that doesn’t involve drugs.
Well, according to a randomised controlled trial just published The Lancet, US researchers may have made an important step towards finding just that.
The study, involving almost 350 children (eight to 12-year-olds) with formally diagnosed ADHD, found that a specific novel digital therapeutic (otherwise known as AKL-T01, a specially developed computer game) significantly increased attentional functioning.
“These findings have implications for clinical practice, as AKL-T01 is a safe and easy-to-access intervention that could address various intervention needs for paediatric patients with ADHD and without comorbid condition,” the study author said.
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Coronavirus: Health ministers back push to fund GP telehealth option
There is an obvious benefit to keeping people out of clinics, says Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles
2nd March 2020
Patients with suspected coronavirus could soon be able to access Medicare rebates for video consultations with a GP, after the proposal won the backing of health ministers.
The RACGP has been calling for an emergency infectious disease items to be added to the MBS, arguing the government’s coronavirus response is relying on GPs offering telehealth for free with no subsidies.
Most state health departments are advising patients with suspected COVID-19 to call their GP clinic for screening, rather than walking in off the street into a hospital ED.
The idea has been to minimise the risk of contagion but some GPs have complained the result has been a huge build-up in unpaid work dealing with the calls.
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Consultation open on digital mental health standards
Monday, 02 March, 2020
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) is developing National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health (NSQDMH) Standards on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health, collaborating with consumers, carers, clinicians, service providers and technical experts to address key safety and quality risks for those using digital mental health services.
Digital mental health services include mental health, suicide prevention or alcohol and other drugs services that use technology to facilitate engagement and the delivery of care. This includes information, digital counselling, treatment and peer-to-peer support services delivered via telephone, videoconference, websites, SMS, web chat and mobile applications.
The NSQDMH Standards will be a step towards providing safety and quality assurance for digital mental health service users and best practice guidance for service providers and developers.
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Govpass: The DTA's answer to Australia's digital ID problem
Benchmark Awards 2020 finalist.
When former Communication Minister and later Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull established the Digital Transformation Agency’s upstart predecessor five years ago, solving Australia's digital identity problem was front and centre.
“One of the Digital Transformation Office’s first tasks will be to ensure people no longer have to complete separate log on processes for each government service,” he said in January 2015.
“Instead, people should have a ‘digital identity’, which they can use to log in to each of their services across the government.”
A year earlier, the government’s landmark financial system inquiry led by David Murray had declared Australia’s identity environment fragmented and uncoordinated.
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Thursday, 05 March 2020 14:16
Health Transformation Lab opens in Melbourne
Cisco and RMIT University have launched the Health Transformation Lab, a place for health leaders to bring their most complex and difficult challenges and consider how technology can support health initiatives.
Projects already underway include a brooch that can detect loneliness, a ‘tunechair’ that can activate memory and reduce agitation in dementia patients and health drones that have the potential to improve patient rehabilitation outcomes.
“RMIT’s Health Transformation Lab is a great example of academia and industry coming together to find solutions to real social and economic challenges,” said RMIT vice chancellor and president Martin Bean.
“As a global university of technology, design and enterprise, we are excited to be working with industry leaders like Cisco and passionate health professionals to deliver life-changing innovation.”
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Govt clears the way for US CLOUD Act data swap deal
By Justin Hendry on Mar 5, 2020 2:24PM
Introduces bill to formalise future bilateral agreement.
The federal government has introduced legislation to underpin a future bilateral agreement with the United States under its Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (the CLOUD Act).
The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill was introduced by Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge on Thursday.
The bill will establish a new framework under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act to allow for “reciprocal cross-border access to communications data” for law enforcement purposes.
It will allow law enforcement and national security agencies to access data directly from communications providers, granted international agreements are in place.
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How coronavirus has sparked another viral health threat
4th March 2020
At the time of writing, COVID-19 hasn’t yet been declared a pandemic by the WHO.
But the agency has been quicker to cast judgement on a different virus: the mass spread of news — some fake, some not — about coronavirus.
It has been called the 'infodemic'.
It defines this as “an overabundance of information ... that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it”.
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ACIITC joins Digital Health CRC, the Aged Care Guild, and Aged & Community Services Australia in collaborative partnership
Today at the National ITAC Conference in Brisbane, Dr George Margelis (Independent Chair of the Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council, ACIITC – pictured right) and Dr Victor Pantano (CEO of the Digital Health Co-operative Research Centre – pictured left) announced that ACIITC would join a leading collaborative partnership that is working to resolve many of the Aged and Community Care sector’s most critical issues through the greater leveraging of digital technologies and innovation.
ACIITC will join the Digital Health CRC, the Aged Care Guild, and Aged & Community Services Australia in the partnership.
Read ACIITC's media statement by clicking here.
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Sunday, 01 March 2020 06:05
Data breaches on the rise, phishing still a major factor
Five hundred and thirty-seven data breaches were reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner during the six months from July to December 2019, an increase of 19% over the previous six-month period, with malicious or criminal attacks - including cyber incidents - accounting for nearly two-thirds (64%) of the total.
This included phishing incidents which made up roughly 15% of the total. The OAIC defines phishing as, "An attack in which the target is contacted by email or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing personal information, sensitive information or passwords".
The OAIC said in a report issued on Friday that health service providers were again the leading industry sector reporting data breaches, accounting for 22% of the 537 reports. This does not include breaches reported under the My Health Records Act.
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Defence plays down report of likely recruitment database breach
The Australian Department of Defence has played down a report by the ABC claiming that private details of defence force members could have been compromised in a breach of what it described as "a highly sensitive military database".
A Defence spokesperson told iTWire, in response to a query, that due to a potential security concern, "some elements of the Defence Force Recruiting Network were proactively taken offline on 2 February. Normal operation resumed on 12 February".
The ABC report said the database contained the details of "tens of thousands of ADF members" and it was "taken offline and quarantined from other military networks in February, while IT specialists worked to contain an apparent security breach".
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Friday, 28 February 2020 11:22
ACMA steps up fight on mobile number fraud
New standard to make new rules mandating stronger identity verification processes before mobile numbers can be ported are being introduced in Australia as the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) steps up its fight against mobile number fraud.
The new Mobile Number Pre-porting Additional Identify Verification) Industry Standard 2020 requires telcos to add an additional identity verification when transferring customers’ phone numbers from one telco to another.
Mobile number fraud is a form of identity theft where scammers steal a person’s personal details to gain control of their mobile phone number.
ACMA Authority member Fiona Cameron said mobile number fraud is a serious issue that can cause significant harm to victims.
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Telstra's use of cell on wheels trailers threatened
By proposed rule changes.
Telstra is concerned it could be unintentionally barred from deploying its cell on wheels (CoW) portable mobile base stations under new legislative instruments currently being proposed.
Law changes passed last year made it is easier for telcos to deploy certain types of temporary telecommunications infrastructure in “emergencies, peak holiday periods, and [at] major sporting, cultural and other events”.
But there's a glitch, the carrier reckons, and it stems from what is interpreted as “low impact” and therefore not subject to local planning laws or otherwise required to seek extra permissions (think councils) in order to operate.
With telco laws being essentially a federal affair, the former Department of Communications published exposure drafts of a new low-impact facilities determination (LIFD) at the end of last year.
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Vitalcare releases IP nurse call platform
Monday, 02 March, 2020
Vitalcare has released Felix — an IP nurse call platform that enables fast communication, improved workflows and staff efficiencies, enhanced patient care and safety, and simplified implementation in hospitals and aged-care facilities.
Supporting wired and wireless technologies, as well as hybrid platforms and devices, the platform features voice assistant, RTLS, open API, and high levels of remote configuration and enterprise reporting via secure cloud connectivity.
Vitalcare CEO Logan Ross said, “Vitalcare’s nurse call platform uses technology to deliver the right care, to the right person, at the right time, allowing healthcare providers to deliver patient-centric, coordinated care 24 hours, seven days a week.”
The platform provides flexibility and can scale from a single device into an unlimited number of call points and pendants, supporting both wired and wireless connection in a single location or cloud connection across multiple sites nationally and internationally. As a result, it is a fully customisable and purpose-built nurse call solution to meet the needs of healthcare providers and facilities.
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4 March 2020
PenCS partners with Healthily to deliver new patient engagement tool
Sponsored
Healthily and Pen CS have partnered to create GoShare Plus – a new patient engagement tool to support quality improvement activities and preventative health campaigns.
SMS reminder technology brings together Pen CS’ Clinical Audit Tool’s (CAT4) health analytics capability and GoShare Healthcare’s extensive content library and unique ‘content bundle’ delivery method to enable GP Practices to send credible and engaging health information to patients based on selected criteria.
Through GoShare Plus, Practice staff create a list of patients using CAT4 (based on local or national health promotion priorities). A content bundle relevant to the health topic is matched to the list of patients and sent via SMS.
Commenting on the launch of GoShare Plus, Healthily’s Managing Director Dr Tina Campbell said,
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Medibank pilots Salesforce's customer data platform
Health insurer presses on with personalisation efforts.
Medibank is piloting Salesforce’s customer data platform technology as part of a broader transformation of the way it interacts with members.
The private health insurer has used Salesforce technology for the past decade, though usage had “accelerated” in recent years as the company adopted Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud to make member experiences more personalised.
“I think the biggest challenge we have today is how we maintain relevance to our members in a really highly competitive environment, while focusing on their health needs,” automation and audience manager Jonathan Goh told Salesforce’s Australian World Tour conference.
“From this, a few key themes emerge. How do we maintain strong product differentiation across our brands, Medibank and ahm?
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Thursday, 05 March 2020 10:40
ACCC drops court appeal against TPG-Vodafone merger on legal grounds
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has decided not to appeal a Federal Court decision that the proposed merger between TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia would not substantially lessen competition.
The competition watchdog said on Thursday it had concluded that it does not have grounds for appeal, which would require the ACCC to establish an error of law by the judge, but expressed it’s disappointment on having to abandon its appeal.
“The ACCC remains disappointed by this outcome, which has closed the door on what we consider was a once in a generation chance for increased competition in the highly concentrated mobile telecommunications market,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“The future state of competition without a merger is uncertain. But we know that competition is lost when incumbents acquire innovative new competitors.”
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NBN Co wants to set own prices for new home developments
As rivals keep eating its lunch.
NBN Co has launched a bid to set its own prices to deploy telecommunications infrastructure to new housing developments, a reaction to it being increasingly undercut by rival operators.
The government is currently reviewing its Telecommunications in New Developments or TIND policy for the first time in five years.
Under the TIND policy, property developers can choose a company to provide telecommunications infrastructure to their development, or simply go with the provider of last resort (POLR), which is NBN Co for developments 100 lots or more, and Telstra for less than that.
NBN Co, however, is facing increased competition in the space, to the point it is now finding it difficult to win over developers.
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NBN Co starts connecting up Australian airports
Reveals more about complex premises that won’t be ready by June.
NBN Co is now deploying infrastructure to three airports - Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney - and negotiating site access to a fourth in Brisbane as part of its work connecting up more complex premises to the network.
Executives told a senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night that domestic and international airports were among 100,000 premises where the build was so complex that works would continue after the completion of the “volume rollout” in mid-2020.
“We’re working on very complex premises at the moment,” chief network deployment officer Kathrine Dyer said.
“For example we’re constructing [the network] to Canberra Airport, Melbourne Airport and Sydney Airport.
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NBN Co outlines its fear of cheap broadband
Worries too many users will 'drift down' to cut-price offer.
NBN Co is continuing to resist pressure to introduce a cheaper entry-level broadband product over fears of the number of users that would wind up using it, eating into long-term revenue and cash flow.
It’s the first time that NBN Co executives have publicly spelled out why they continue to oppose the introduction of more specific affordable, entry-level internet services than those already in-market.
The company has been under pressure to find a way to serve “price-sensitive” households and to improve the affordability of services on its network.
The government defines affordable internet as a basic 12/1Mbps service with unlimited data for $60 a month retail. Others have proposed specific products for low-income households for half that price.
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NBN rival OptiComm says network a long way from realisation
OptiComm is looking to go toe to toe with the National Broadband Network, with the fibre-optic network operator’s CEO, Paul Cross, saying the full potential of the $51bn network is nowhere close to realisation.
While the rollout of the NBN is slated to be completed by June, Mr Cross told The Australian the milestone did not paint the full picture, given that the large portion of homes ready to connect to the network were on copper-based access technologies such as fibre to the node (FTTN) and fibre to the curb (FTTC).
“The NBN rollout is just getting started and, out of the 12 million or so ready to connect premises, only 3.5 million are on full fibre and more than 4 million on FTTN.”
NBN Co’s use of FTTN access technology has come under the microscope this month, with Telstra announcing it will stop selling high-speed 100 megabits per second NBN plans over FTTN and FTTC.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-to-bring-enterprise-services-into-selected-data-centres-538817
NBN Co to bring enterprise services into "selected" data centres
Plots trial.
NBN Co has revealed plans to roll fibre into the comms rooms of “selected” third party-owned data centres, making it a new connectivity option for enterprise tenants with IT infrastructure hosted in the facility.
The company said a trial of Enterprise Ethernet services delivered in data centres could start as early as May and run through to the second quarter of next year.
NBN Co has offered little information publicly on the nature of the trial, saying only that it wants to deliver “high bandwidth Enterprise Ethernet services in relation to selected third party data centre locations”.
The trial locations are yet to be announced.
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NBN Co to raise fixed wireless resilience after fiery summer
Explores wider exclusion zones, solar backup power, underground transit.
NBN Co is examining whether to widen environmental exclusion zones and add solar backup options for fixed wireless towers after a particularly devastating bushfire season.
The network builder told a parliamentary committee that it had reviewed its response to the recent bushfire crisis, which will see extra resilience measures for some of its network assets.
Chief network deployment officer Kathrine Dyer said environmental exclusion zones for fixed wireless towers could be widened to provide a greater barrier against damage.
“Around fixed wireless towers, if there’s a lot of foliage around that hadn’t been cleared, [we’re] looking at a further network area where we could make those towers more safe,” she said.
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Enjoy!
David.
12 comments:
Something to keep a watching brief on - https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/about-the-agency/publications/anao-performance-audit-implementation-plan-publication
ANAO Performance Audit Implementation Plan Publication
Background
On 25 November 2019, the ANAO tabled its performance audit report into the Implementation of the My Health Record system. It included five recommendations and the Agency’s responses.
Sadly it is the usual high quality plan.
March 09, 2020 10:30 PM. That ‘plan’ has been all but shelved by the executives. There is a I believer a token PM running about but that is about it. Nothing surprising when the failures lay at the feet of recently promoted acting fools.
Looks like a plan to create a plan, done by project managers who don't actually have any understanding of what the real plan needs to do. A gigantic tick in the box. Takes the heat off so they can hide behind lots of activity while not delivering anything useful.
SNAFU.
I find it quite extraordinary that there does not seem to be one single politician, department head or any other senior bureaucrat prepared to take a stand on and speak out about the appalling state of affairs that is the My Health Record and the ADHA.
It's not simply because they all wish it would go away and / or it is best to remain silent until it does. It is probably more that to varying degrees they all believe it is doing some good and will only get better as time goes by.
Anyone with a modicum of nous and intelligence can see that on reading these documents they are just another exercise in kicking the can further down the road to perpetuate the status quo to no avail.
The government has huge demands for money descending upon it from every direction. People and businesses impacted by the bushfires continue waiting for promised financial help to flow; the backlog of applications waiting to be processed is a major problem. Why is there such paralysis on this front?
And now the impact of the Corona Virus on the nation's finances has to be added to the mix.
Somewhere, someone, somehow has to take a stand on the flagrant wastage of money on the My Health Record. $450 million a year equates to $50 each week for 2 months being distributed to 900,000 people in need; be it NewStart, Pensioners, Casual Workers, or whoever. And that money would go straight back into the economy.
Surely, Josh Frydenberg, Mathias Corman, Scott Morrison and their Opposition counter-parts, can see the merits of this compelling argument. Direct the money where it will have an impact of national benefit and on the health of the nation.
Can someone please list of 10 bullet points enumerating the 10 most important proven benefits of the My Health Record.
The most important benefit of the My Health Record is that it allows the government to make extravagant claims about world class transformation of healthcare. (Thank you Timmie)
The fact that it isn't true doesn't matter in these days of fake news.
The ADHA is hiding these. Right to know lists a request for the MyHR benefits plan and the ADHA refuses to release it. Seems very odd.
@8:19 PM. Well, then let's release it for them. How about starting with the 10 most important 'claimed' benefits of the My Health Record, none of which are 'proven benefits'.
They are:
1. sharing of clinical information between multiple health care providers
2. sharing of clinical information between all health agencies involved in the patient's care
3. convenient access to all past details of a person's illnesses and operations
4. complete record of all immunisations and allergies
5. complete record of a person's past and current medications
6. reduction in ordering of 'duplicate' tests
7. complete linkage to a person's past hospital records
8. quick and easy access to any aspect of a person's health data
9. ability to sort a person's health data using multiple keys, download and print as required
10. ??
There may be others, but this seems like a good starting point bearing in mind that there is no evidence to support a claim of 'proven benefits'!
https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/for-healthcare-professionals/what-is-my-health-record/benefits-my-health-record-for-healthcare
You can make up your own but might be more useful to use offical made up benefits. Out of interest what will you do with these benefit statements?
@8:26 AM. Good question. I don't think they are an appropriate starting point to adopt for justifying the building of a My Health Record.
Perhaps they are a form of bureaucratic comfort food to justify the spending of $2 billion!
What do you think?
If you are going to loo at benefits, you should also look at total costs and risks.
And don't forget that not everyone values a benefit if it doesn't apply to them. This applies most frequently to those who don't have health problems.
bureaucratic comfort food - perfectly summed up.
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