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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board are still dated 6 December, 2018! How pathetic is that for transparency? Secrecy unconstrained!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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https://www.ddwmphn.com.au/upcoming-events/using-digital-health-technology-in-allied-health-care
Using digital health technology in allied health care
ADHA Propaganda
This webinar has been tailored specifically for allied healthcare professionals and will include a panel discussion of experiences with using digital health technology. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions. Topics covered in this session will include:
• Using technology to enhance business and improve levels of care
• Integrate telehealth, My Health Record and secure messaging into normal practice
• Improve patient access and outcomes with health technology
• Understand how digital health tools can increase referrer engagement and service demand
When
8:00pm - 9:00pm,
Thursday 30th July 2020
Where
Webinar
Organiser
Australian Digital Health Agency
CPD
Points Available?
No
Media release - Medical profession and the community embracing technology and digital health
ADHA Propaganda
13 July, 2020: New research commissioned by the Australian Digital Health Agency confirms anecdotal evidence that Australians are now more open to using digital technology in healthcare and can see the importance of technology to improve health outcomes.
The Agency focus over 2019 was connecting primary healthcare providers such as GPs and pharmacists to the My Health Record system and to date over 90% of both professions are now registered to upload and view documents.
A new survey of healthcare practitioners conducted in late April shows that in particular, 90% of specialists are now open to using more technology when caring for their patients, including using apps and online self-service.
In another survey which evaluates consumer engagement with digital health services there has been a marked increase in awareness of telehealth and remote healthcare since the end of March, with the majority of people surveyed saying that they can get access to healthcare services when they need them. This survey also shows that there are still some gaps in people’s knowledge about the availability of personal health information digitally, and some concerns that their healthcare providers may not use technology in the best possible way.
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Cyber security ‘needs a new approach’
A government advisory group helping prepare Australia’s 2020 Cyber Security Strategy will publish its recommendations on Tuesday, The Weekend Australian can reveal.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion with the Business Council of Australia, Telstra boss Andy Penn said the panel’s report would include about 60 recommendations to the government, urging it to increase spending in Australia’s cyber security industry.
The industry group chaired by Mr Penn includes Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, former US secretary of homeland security Kirstjen Nielsen, Vocus chair Robert Mansfield, NBN Co chief security officer Darren Kane and others.
It comes weeks after Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned of a sophisticated ongoing cyber attack by a nation state, presumed to be China, affecting “all levels of government”, and just days after it was revealed Russian hackers were behind a campaign to steal data relating to a COVID-19 vaccine.
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TikTok, WeChat to face Australian social media security investigation
By Anthony Galloway and Eryk Bagshaw
July 17, 2020 — 6.30pm
The Morrison government is set to launch an investigation into social media platforms such as TikTok, as concern grows about whether the Chinese company will be required to share users' information with the Chinese government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said the Australian government was monitoring TikTok "very closely" and "won't be shy" about taking action against the video sharing app if it is needed.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal the Morrison government is likely to establish an inquiry into social media companies, which would be informed by advice from security agencies.
Government sources said the probe, which will not be a formal public inquiry, will potentially look at the security threats posed by social media companies such as TikTok, as well as platforms used primarily by the Chinese diaspora such as WeChat and Weibo.
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Tiktok looks to revamp to sidestep proposed Australian ban
Embattled social video platform TikTok might consider a different corporate structure to avoid Chinese government influence and a ban in Australia and the US.
Speaking with The Australian, TikTok Australia general manager Lee Hunter said there were conversations going on at TikTok about how to build trust and changing the corporate structure was one option.
Mr Hunter said the short-format video platform would never under any circumstance share its data with any foreign government, including China’s government.
“There is no TikTok user data held in China, for Australians it‘s held in Singapore and the US,” Mr Hunter said. “The Chinese government doesn’t have any access to that data. And even if they requested it of us, we would never give it to them.”
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Telehealth four months in: is it working?
Alison Hardacre
In so many ways, technology has been instrumental in keeping fundamental aspects of society going over the last four months. While in many parts of the world (and, closer to home, in many parts of Victoria) face-to-face contact remains limited, we have been able to breach certain divides (if not quite replace) well enough to consider the long-term benefits of incorporating certain aspects of technology into a life post the pandemic.
The expansion of telehealth over this uncertain period has been impressive, with practitioners making the decision to adjust to a whole new way of delivering care in a very short amount of time, in some cases two weeks.
At Halaxy, we have been working with almost 50,000 practitioners worldwide to help them expand their mode of healthcare delivery from face-to-face only to incorporate telehealth into their practice, with features that support telehealth and social distancing and telehealth, such as online payments, Medicare benefits and seamless transition between face-to-face and online consultations to name just a few.
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Twitter struggles to unpack a hack within its walls
By Mike Isaac, Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger
July 17, 2020 — 9.51am
As forensic investigators at Twitter hurried on Thursday to discover the origin of one of the worst hacks in the company's history, the team came to a startling conclusion: the hack was coming from an account inside the house.
But even by Friday morning AEST, 24 hours after hackers pushed a Bitcoin scam from the accounts of US political leaders like former Joe Biden and industry titans like Elon Musk, the company's researchers were still struggling to nail down many other basic aspects of the breach, including whether an employee had been complicit. The company was also still sorting out how many accounts were affected and whether the attackers had gained access to details within the accounts, such as private messages.
The extraordinary hacking spree that hit Twitter, leading it to briefly muzzle some of its most widely followed accounts, is drawing questions about the platform's security and resilience in the run-up to the US presidential election.
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Friday, 17 July 2020 06:09
Privacy firm finds oceans of personal data for sale on the dark Web at knockdown prices
Genuine information about a vast number of people is available on the dark Web for very low prices, the firm PrivacyAffairs says, adding that given this availability it was easy to fake the identity of many individuals.
The firm, which styles itself as a source of data privacy and cyber security research, information, and advice, provided iTWire with a range of prices for various forms of identity and personal information that its researchers had found on the dark Web.
PrivacyAffairs researcher Miguel Gomez said in a detailed blog post that the reputation enjoyed by the dark Web — as a place where any kind of nefarious activity could take place — was more than justified.
"The privacy offered by software such as Tor (a browser that can be used to surf the dark Web) creates an environment where criminals can sell their wares without being worried about law enforcement," Gomez said.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=865b1e8e-b6a9-4277-b73b-03107217a0e3
Typo in email address leads to compensation awards for privacy breach
Is your patients’ privacy adequately protected?
In a decision published on 1 July 2020,1 the Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner ordered a medical practice to pay compensation totalling $16,400 to two complainants arising out of a breach of privacy resulting from the use of an incorrect email address.
This update considers how the Australian Privacy Principles apply to personal information held by medical practices and considers the protective measures which can and should be in place to safeguard that information.
Background
The complaint involved two complainants. The first complainant was a patient of the practice who had been diagnosed as HIV positive. The second complainant was his husband who was also HIV positive.
Both complainants had previously provided their email addresses to the medical practice in connection with a global study into particular aspects of HIV transmission facilitated by the medical practice.
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Big biotechs rebuffed over health app carve-out push
By Emma Koehn
July 14, 2020 — 12.00am
The boss of Australia's largest commercialisation program for digital health startups has said big biotechs should welcome new regulations on software, arguing recent calls for exemptions don't fully appreciate the risk that even simple products like apps pose to patients.
"I do think that we need to think carefully about whether we are influencing patient behaviour [with software], it is not enough to say the 'individual can decide'," ANDHealth chief executive Bronwyn Le Grice said.
She said instead of being resistant to oversight, the medtech sector should recognise that clear regulation could lead to commercial gains for Australian companies.
ANDHealth is a national organisation that helps companies raise capital and launch into new markets. Over the past couple of years it has seen these companies raise close to $30 million and serve around 70,000 Australian patients.
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Twitter hack hits titans of politics, business
10:55AM July 16, 2020
Twitter has disabled all ‘verified’ accounts, after the official Twitter accounts of Apple, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others were hijacked by scammers trying to dupe people into sending cryptocurrency bitcoin, in a massive hack of the social media platform.
The list of accounts commandeered simultaneously grew rapidly to include Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Uber, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, bitcoin specialty firms and many others.
Posts, which were largely deleted, were fired off from the array of high-profile accounts telling people they had 30 minutes to send $US1000 in bitcoin in order to be sent back twice as much.
“This is a SCAM, DO NOT participate!” Gemini cryptocurrency exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss warned in a tweet from his official account at Twitter.
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Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos targeted in Twitter bitcoin hack
Rachel Lerman
Jul 16, 2020 – 8.24am
Most blue-check verified Twitter accounts have resumed publishing tweets as normal, the company said after Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other high-profile accounts appeared to be the target of organised hacks across the social media platform to offer fake bitcoin deals.
Former president Barack Obama, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and corporate accounts for both Uber and Apple also appeared to be targeted, and at least one Silicon Valley entrepreneur warned of a wider-spread attack.
The tweets all instructed people to send cryptocurrency to the same bitcoin address. The tweets were removed shortly after being posted, and Twitter spokeswoman Aly Pavela said the company was investigating.
New tweets that appeared to be hackers were still being posted more than an hour after Musk's account tweeted the scam message. The resumption comes a few hours after Twitter shut off verified users' tweeting.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/morrison-defends-widelypanned-virus-tracing-app
Morrison defends widely-panned virus tracing app
It's 'working fine', but has not identified any unknown close contacts, the Prime Minister admits
15th July 2020
By AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists his government's widely criticised coronavirus tracing app is working as designed.
He said COVIDSafe had been involved in tracing more than 300 cases in Victoria.
"It's supposed to work in combination with the physical tracing that is done by contact officer. The two go together," he told Triple M Melbourne on Wednesday.
"Technically, it's working fine."
But, while the app had been involved in tracing infections, it had not identified any unknown close contacts, he revealed.
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Slip, slop, app — tracing the ‘$2m failure’ of COVIDSafe
Scott Morrison said the COVIDSafe app was Australia’s ticket to freedom, April 29:
I would liken it to the fact that if you want to go outside when the sun is shining, you have got to put sunscreen on.
Health Minister Greg Hunt went with blatant bribery. Twitter, May 2:
Want to go to the footy? Download the app.
ABC News, April 27:
Downloading the app is voluntary but the government has previously said 40 per cent of Australians, or 10 million people, need to take up the … app for it to be a success.
Close but no cigar. Government Services Minister Stuart Robert, Sky News, July 7:
6.5 million Australians, over 40 per cent, with a mobile phone have downloaded it. It’s one of the greatest debuts in the world.
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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/new-reforms-could-help-secure-the-future-of-telehe
New reforms could help secure the future of telehealth
Quality and continuity are at the centre of the decision to restrict MBS access to a patient’s regular GP or practice, according to the RACGP.
15 Jul 2020
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt hailed the reforms as ‘a major boost for primary healthcare’ after months of lobbying by the RACGP, following growing concerns fragmented care.
The
recently announced changes to the temporary Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
COVID-19 telehealth items, in effect as of Monday 20 July, will only
allow access to a patient’s regular GP or practice.
To be eligible for telehealth, patients must have seen the same GP for a
face-to-face service, or another GP at the same practice, in the previous 12
months.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt hailed the stage seven reforms as ‘a major
boost for primary healthcare’, following growing concerns over pop-up
telehealth services offering patients low-value, fragmented care.
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http://medicalrepublic.com.au/practise-servers-costing-more-than-you-realise/31412
14 July 2020
Practice servers: costing more than you realise…
Posted by Matthew Galetto
Most practices rely on server-based IT technology, the unnecessary hidden costs of which are likely to surprise you.
When talking to clinicians and practice managers about either ‘the cloud’ or server hardware, I often get the same (lack of) reaction. The reality is that they just don’t have the time to worry about their practice’s IT set up most days. Unless, of course, it stops working.
This quickly changes when we start to examine some of the hidden costs.
What you get from your server
Servers have been incredibly useful pieces of technology. They have allowed GP, specialist and allied health practices to move away from physical patient records, host practice management software such as Best Practice or Medical Director, store documents and faxes digitally and run email services.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/fear-and-loathing-in-the-emerging-tele-verse/
Fear and loathing in the emerging tele-verse
July 13, 2020
Telehealth, though nominally a temporary fix of the pandemic, is revealing deep rifts in the general practice community over where the profession goes from here and how.
Telehealth, though nominally a temporary fix of the pandemic, is revealing deep rifts in the general practice community over where the profession goes from here and how
When senior lobbyists in the GP community managed to convince the federal government to unleash telehealth in the name of saving both patients and general practice from impending COVID-19 mayhem, there seemed to be a universal sigh of relief from the GP community. Sure, telehealth was introduced without any preparation for patients or GPs, and that was always going to lead to some short term issues, some of which were even telegraphed. But in general, the GP community seemed almost wholly onside.
But just a few months in, and with time for certain well capitalised (and organised) groups to re-adjust their businesses around the new regime to harvest low hanging consults, often redirecting them away from where they would have normally gone, the stress seems to be starting to seriously divide the GP community on the future of telehealth.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/the-rising-phoenix-of-digital-health/
ADHA’s Bettina McMahon on COVID’s digital health revolution
July 6, 2020
Bettina McMahon accepted the role of interim CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) in February, with no idea that that she would be leading the organisation through the biggest disruption to digital health in Australian history.
In this interview with Wild Health editor Jeremy Knibbs, Ms McMahon discusses how even the best laid plans can fall victim to the unexpected – with surprising results.
She reflects on how the pandemic has triggered a leap forward for digital health, describing this upheaval as “the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for”. One major outcome is that it has demonstrated the benefits of digital health to groups who were previously hostile.
But while COVID-19 has left in its wake unprecedented digital health reform, Ms McMahon stresses that the next steps are crucial: “How can we make sure that the sector doesn’t just snap back to the pre-digital age?”
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It’s time for a national online pandemic course
It’s time for Australia to get its citizens to do a national pandemic online course on dealing with coronavirus. Going online as a nation could help inform and reunify us in the fight against this highly infectious virus.
Despite the messages of caution broadcast every day by the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders, and numerous news reports and ads, the notion that coronavirus remains a deadly enemy and probably will for a couple of years doesn’t resonate with some sections of the public.
The message isn’t getting through. It’s not just protest groups. Take the large crowds dancing and drinking in bars around Bondi in Sydney this past weekend, who will likely do the same next weekend.
The Ruby Princess and Victorian hotel quarantine scandals are bad enough, but complacency is a huge problem going forward. WA is delaying easing restrictions to phase 5 due to complacency. It is likely to be the cause of other breaches in future.
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Medtech leading the way in pandemic collaboration
By Ian Burgess, Medical
Technology Association of Australia CEO
Tuesday, 14 July, 2020
The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020 has impacted on the Australian healthcare landscape in a number of significant and lasting ways.
When the first Australian case of COVID-19 was diagnosed on 25 January 2020, it set in motion a course of events that would ultimately lead to an extraordinary collaboration between government and the medical technology industry as our healthcare institutions set about preparing for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 cases.
The Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) led the development and implementation of the framework and working group structure that underpinned a unique partnership between the Commonwealth departments of health and industry and the medical technology industry to ensure the supply of critically important medical equipment. Four key workstreams sit under this structure: ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits and other intensive-care unit (ICU) equipment.
Through this collaboration, the medtech industry successfully secured this essential medical equipment, not only through the global supply chain but through a number of innovative local partnerships that were able to ramp up Australian manufacturing in a remarkably short period of time.
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Digital assistant improves secure transfer of patient information
Monday, 13 July, 2020 ADHA Propaganda
In a world where consumers can no longer be a conduit for delivering a referral letter or test result to another provider, and where postal services are over capacity, an up-to-date electronic registry is essential.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how important technology is to allow healthcare providers to communicate with each other securely and immediately, but out-of-date contact details pose as a spanner in the works. If information regarding healthcare services or practitioners is incorrect, medical documents and information cannot be sent from one healthcare provider to another.
To solve this problem, the Australian Digital Health Agency has built a Service Registration Assistant (SRA) that keeps healthcare service and practitioner information up to date, with changes to contact details available immediately to authorised users.
Healthcare organisations can update their details in the SRA, prompting automatic send out to all organisations they have authorised to receive their information. This might include hospitals, pathology and radiology services, public service directories, secure messaging providers and more.
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National Digital Health Strategy Research
The Agency commissions its own research and supports researchers to evaluate the delivery of the National Digital Health Strategy.
Recently released research commissioned by the Agency:
13
July 2020 – HCP:
digital health understanding and use (PDF, 1,072 KB)
13 July 2020 – Consumers
– digital health understanding and use (PDF, 998 KB)
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Medtech sector ready to provide jobs and attract investment
Australia's world-class health sector has proven its capability during the pandemic and is ready to seize major opportunities for future growth, investment and jobs.
Tom Burton Government editor
Jul 13, 2020 – 12.01am
The once-in-a-century global COVID-19 pandemic is set to reshape ambitious plans to grow the Australian medical, technologies and pharmaceutical industry.
Already governments have invested billions of dollars in reinforcing the health system, transforming primary care through a rapid rollout of tele-health, building pop-up facilities in preparation to cater for a surge of patients, new manufacturing capacity for protective equipment and the rollout of major mental health, aged care and special needs programs.
The spending is set to continue with the Victorian outbreak a sharp reminder the pandemic is still far from under control.
But it is clear COVID-19 is going to have a profound impact on ambitious state and federal plans to establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for medical technology and pharmaceutical companies.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/has-covidsafe-been-waste-time
Has COVIDSafe been a waste of time?
14th July 2020
The COVIDSafe app was sold to Australians as the first step towards an important measure of COVID-19 containment success — getting the pubs reopened.
“If that isn’t an incentive for Australians to download COVIDSafe, I don’t know what is,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison in May.
Two months on, the pubs are open, but in Victoria the virus is resurgent.
Has something gone wrong?
Firstly it’s important to know how the app works.
COVIDSafe uses Bluetooth to identify when two people who have both downloaded the app spend more than 15 minutes within 1.5 metres of each other.
If somebody with the app is diagnosed with COVID-19, they are asked for permission to release their data to public health authorities, who can then call these close contacts to tell them to self-isolate.
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Tech bubble a worrying complication of the pandemic
A rather baffling, and worrying, complication of the pandemic of 2020 is that it seems to be coinciding with a tech bubble on the stock market. A messy crash in the middle of a global recession and health crisis would, to say the least, be unwelcome.
There was a pretty serious crash to begin with of course, but since then it’s been up, up and away, especially for tech stocks. It’s not quite the same as the dot.com bubble of 1999-2000, but it definitely rhymes.
In the final year of the 20th century the US Federal Reserve gave the Nasdaq a 78 per cent kick between October 1999 and March 2000 with a big injection of liquidity to offset Y2K, subsequently withdrawn; the Nasdaq’s 55 per cent rally from the March 2020 low is also largely due to Fed liquidity.
Actually, the Australian tech boom/bubble of 2020 is more spectacular than the Nasdaq’s, both this year and in 1999-2000. The new ASX All Technology Index is up 92 per cent from the March low, thanks mainly to panicky, hail-Mary, FOMO buying of the new breed of buy now pay later (BNPL) firms, led by Afterpay.
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Cyber defences not up to scratch, says Labor
Labor has called on Scott Morrison to immediately boost the capacity of commonwealth agencies to withstand cyber attacks, saying the vast majority of organisations had failed to introduce basic measures to protect sensitive information.
Opposition homes affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally wrote to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton last week urging him to lobby for a dedicated cyber security minister after bureaucrats told a parliamentary committee that government agencies still needed to achieve significant progress to meet cyber security standards set by intelligence services.
Citing an Australian National Audit Office report, Senator Keneally said 70 per cent of federal agencies had not met the “top four” cyber security standards laid out by the Australian Signals Directorate.
She told Mr Dutton the failure of commonwealth bodies to adequately prepare for cyber attacks would hinder Scott Morrison’s campaign to ensure more businesses had strong digital defences. “Labor remains concerned there is waning trust in the commonwealth’s ability to address ongoing cyber security threats — especially across state and local levels of government and small to medium business. Money is not enough — leadership and trust is vital,” her letter says.
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Cyber bullying content targeting children pulled from TikTok
By Cara Waters
July 13, 2020 — 5.48pm
TikTok has been forced to removed harmful content from its platform in Australia, with the eSafety Commissioner turning up the heat on the Chinese social media giant to take down cyber bullying material targeting children.
The social media platform, which has 1.6 million users in Australia, received six notices from the Office of the eSafety Commissioner last year to remove material that was focused on children between the ages of 13 to 15 and mainly related to impersonation accounts and mean videos posted about targeted individuals.
One complaint was from parents of an eleven-year old child who wanted assistance because they thought their child would be cyber bullied for material their child had posted.
The eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in the last financial year complaints relating to TikTok made up approximately 7 per cent of all cyber bullying complaints received by the agency.
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Choke point for US coronavirus response: the fax machine
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.
By Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz
July 14, 2020 — 3.00am
Public health officials in Houston are struggling to keep up with one of the nation's largest coronavirus outbreaks. They are desperate to trace cases and quarantine patients before they spread the virus to others. But first, they must negotiate with the office fax machine.
The machine at the Harris County Public Health department recently became overwhelmed when one laboratory sent a large batch of test results, spraying hundreds of pages all over the floor.
"Picture the image of hundreds of faxes coming through, and the machine just shooting out paper," said Dr Umair Shah, executive director of the department. The county has so far recorded more than 40,000 coronavirus cases.
Some doctors fax coronavirus tests to Shah's personal number, too. Those papers are put in an envelope marked "confidential" and walked to the epidemiology department.
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Transforming healthcare in
Australia with remote patient monitoring
Monday 20th July
6 PM AEST
REGISTER NOW
Topic
Transforming healthcare in Australia
with remote patient monitoring
Description
To ease burdens on the health system,
reduce inefficiencies and improve quality of patient care, innovative methods
of delivering effective healthcare must be developed.
Remote patient monitoring, which refers to the measurement and analysis of a
patient's health status without them needing to be physically present in a
traditional healthcare setting or in the presence of a health professional, is
emerging as a promising way to address Australia’s growing healthcare
pressures.
Topics being discussed include:
- The trends driving remote patient monitoring and how these systems use wearable technology
- Lessons learned from initial remote patient monitoring rollouts, the key challenges faced and how these were addressed
- The costs and benefits of remote patient monitoring, and the pros and cons for patients and clinicians
- How to identify and engage patients for remote monitoring and the factors that make some individuals poor candidates for this model of care
- Clinical results from remote patient monitoring programs
- Key workflow and set-up considerations, and ongoing systems, processes and governance
- Issues related to patient privacy, information security, interoperability, data sharing and supplying equipment versus patients using their own devices
- Gains made during COVID-19, untapped opportunities and the future outlook
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Cyber experts urge Australia to develop local capability to defend against hackers
July 12, 2020 — 11.40pm
Cyber experts have urged the federal government to become less reliant on overseas businesses, technologies and expertise for its defences against hackers as it puts the finishing touches on the nation's new cyber security strategy.
Foreign providers are responsible for most of the cyber security products and services in Australia, with no local companies among the 15 largest software providers in the local market.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal that the government's panel of industry experts will hand down advice as early as this week urging it to invest in the local cyber industry to boost the nation's defences.
The government has been awaiting the report of the Industry Advisory Panel, chaired by Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn, before finishing its new four-year cyber security strategy. The industry panel's report, expected to urge the government to invest in more training, will be released in the coming weeks, according to senior government sources.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/major-cyber-attack-would-be-worse-than-covid-19-20200712-p55ba9
Major cyber attack would be worse than COVID-19
Ronald Mizen Reporter
Jul 13, 2020 – 12.00am
A major cyber offensive against Australia would be far more disruptive on people’s lives than the coronavirus pandemic and lead to widespread distrust of critical systems and services, a new report reveals.
According to AustCyber’s Australia’s Digital Trust Report 2020, a four-week digital disruption, such as a widespread cyber attack, would cost the economy up to $30 billion and 163,000 jobs.
"Full-scale cyber or digital disruption for four weeks has devastating impacts, even though digital activity continues," the report states.
"Before the onset of the COVID-19, contemplating losing 163,000 jobs in one month would likely have been unthinkable.
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AI on the COVID-19 frontline and beyond
By Amy Sarcevic
Friday, 10 July, 2020
Professor Megan Coffee’s colleagues at New York Hospital became doctors to save lives. Now — besieged with a fresh onslaught of ambulance arrivals — they are learning ‘on the fly’ how to predict which COVID-19 patients will need mechanical ventilators.
There is limited data at hand to help them make this decision.
“Age, gender and comorbidities alone are not enough to predict who will develop severe symptoms,” said Professor Coffee.
“For clinicians this has been a real challenge, throughout the pandemic, in terms of deciding the right treatment options.
“Pilots need to know where they are flying; and doctors directing care do, too. Yet doctors have had to plan patient care — learning as they go along, who is most at risk of deteriorating in their clinical condition.”
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Australia's digital health industry set to drive economic growth
Thursday, 09 July, 2020
ANDHealth has released a report demonstrating that Australia’s emerging digital health industry is in a strong position to tap into growing global demand for digital health solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a catalyst for the industry, but it has also exacerbated a number of existing commercialisation challenges such as access to customers (71%), ability to raise capital (62%) and ability to secure government funding (44%).
Globally, the digital health market is predicted to reach US$505.4 billion by 2025, up from US$86.4 billion in 2018. ANDHealth’s report — Digital Health: The sleeping giant of Australia’s health technology industry — is reported to be the largest analysis of Australia’s digital health industry, spanning 317 companies and highlighting how aligned our sector is to global market opportunities.
ANDHealth CEO and founder Bronwyn Le Grice said, “Australia’s decades-long policy of supporting innovation, our significant investment into digital health capabilities and infrastructure, and now our highly successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic has given us an unprecedented opportunity to build a world-leading digital health industry.
“ANDHealth’s data shows that our local sector has a pipeline of world-class innovation and technology. However, digital health companies face some unique challenges as they move along the path towards commercialisation, not least of which is that as a sector it struggles for recognition and appropriately focused funding structures here at home.
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https://itwire.com/open-sauce/aspi-on-the-job-again,-spreading-fud-and-begging-for-money.html
Author's Opinion
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of iTWire.
Have your say and comment below.
Saturday, 11 July 2020 14:34
ASPI on the job again, spreading FUD and begging for money
The defence industry-funded lobby group, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has many shortcomings. But it has numerous strong points too, chief among which is its unceasing ability to spread misinformation, propaganda and heighten the fear index in society.
The latest effort to spread wrong information by ASPI — which styles itself as an independent, non-partisan think-tank — is an article titled A chance to get smarter in cyber space of intelligence written by Danielle Cave, deputy director of its International Cyber Policy Centre and published in The Australian. It is said to be an edited extract of her essay, Data Driven, in the new issue of Australian Foreign Affairs, Spy v Spy, which was published on Monday.
The spreading of fear, uncertainty and doubt is an old tactic; one of the best examples I have seen was by then US Defence Secretary Dick Cheney when he visited Saudi Arabia in August 1990, soon after the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait.
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https://www.miragenews.com/medical-profession-and-community-embracing-technology-and-digital-health/
Medical profession and community embracing technology and digital health
July 13, 2020 ADHA Propaganda
New research commissioned by the Australian Digital Health Agency confirms anecdotal evidence that Australians are now more open to using digital technology in healthcare and can see the importance of technology to improve health outcomes.
The Agency focus over 2019 was connecting primary healthcare providers such as GPs and pharmacists to the My Health Record system and to date over 90% of both professions are now registered to upload and view documents.
A new survey of healthcare practitioners conducted in late April shows that in particular, 90% of specialists are now open to using more technology when caring for their patients, including using apps and online self-service.
In another survey which evaluates consumer engagement with digital health services there has been a marked increase in awareness of telehealth and remote healthcare since the end of March, with the majority of people surveyed saying that they can get access to healthcare services when they need them. This survey also shows that there are still some gaps in people’s knowledge about the availability of personal health information digitally, and some concerns that their healthcare providers may not use technology in the best possible way.
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Medical profession and community embracing technology and digital health
· 13 Jul 2020 7:13 am AEST ADHA Propaganda
New research commissioned by the Australian Digital Health Agency confirms anecdotal evidence that Australians are now more open to using digital technology in healthcare and can see the importance of technology to improve health outcomes.
The Agency focus over 2019 was connecting primary healthcare providers such as GPs and pharmacists to the My Health Record system and to date over 90% of both professions are now registered to upload and view documents.
A new survey of healthcare practitioners conducted in late April shows that in particular, 90% of specialists are now open to using more technology when caring for their patients, including using apps and online self-service.
In another survey which evaluates consumer engagement with digital health services there has been a marked increase in awareness of telehealth and remote healthcare since the end of March, with the majority of people surveyed saying that they can get access to healthcare services when they need them. This survey also shows that there are still some gaps in people’s knowledge about the availability of personal health information digitally, and some concerns that their healthcare providers may not use technology in the best possible way.
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https://croakey.org/what-will-new-restrictions-on-telehealth-mean-for-healthcare-access/
What will new restrictions on telehealth mean for healthcare access?
Marie McInerneyon: July 12, 2020 In: Coronavirus outbreak 2019-2020, general practice, Healthcare and health reform, primary health care, Public health and population health, Social determinants of health, telehealth
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced significant new restrictions on telehealth arrangements to take effect from 20 July that will allow access in most cases only for providers who “have an existing and continuous relationship with a patient”.
The move was welcomed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Medical Association (AMA), but has raised concerns about patient choice and access – as well as about timing, with just ten days’ notice given before the changes will be implemented.
Under the changes, a “relationship” is defined as the patient having seen the same practitioner for a face-to-face service in the last 12 months, or having seen a doctor at the same practice for a face-to-face service during the same period.
Hunt noted some exemptions. The new requirement will not yet apply to people in Melbourne and the Shire of Mitchell who are back living under Stage 3 coronavirus restrictions, or to babies under 12 months or people who are experiencing homelessness.
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Telehealth a crucial advance requiring more patient engagement and certainty
July 12, 2020
The continuing outbreaks of coronavirus in Australia have reinforced the need for Medicare support of telehealth and we need a Government’s decision informed by clinician and patient experience to maintain it, the Consumers Health Forum says.
“Telehealth has provided a vital primary health support for patients and doctors during the pandemic and it makes good sense for this measure to continue after the pandemic hopefully passes,” the CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells, said.
“Telehealth has introduced significant change to the dynamics of health care, encouraging patients to think more carefully about their health and for doctors to be more inquiring to ensure as thorough diagnosis as possible.
“Obviously it is preferable for patients to have a face-to-face consultation when they have a serious condition. But the advent of telehealth, given the impact it has on the efficacy and cost of health care, requires thorough analysis.
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Comments more than welcome!
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