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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 were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since!
It is worth pointing out that it was only in last little while ( beginning end July 2020 ) the ADHA took down the notification regarding the most recent minutes notification. Embarrassed I guess – as they should be! I wonder will the new CEO make a difference.
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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'Information contagion': Tackling the spread of 5G conspiracy theories
September 13, 2020 — 12.01am
If comedian Mark Humphries has crashed your social media timeline with ludicrous claims that 5G has caused the outbreak of COVID-19 or helped fake the moon landing, then Telstra's latest campaign to combat disinformation is having its intended effect.
Baseless 5G conspiracy theories have been bubbling away for years, pushing the falsehood that the electromagnetic energy levels used in 5G technology were harmful to humans.
But with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, established online anti-5G communities began retrofitting the virus into their existing theories, feeding into a melting pot of false information around COVID-19.
Telstra's move to enlist Humphries in its latest campaign is a new approach for the telco that has, until now, relied on more serious methods to dispel the myths. Among them, it has created an online information hub with factual information from health authorities and government bodies testifying to the safety of 5G.
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https://www.gphn.org.au/events/digital-health-basics-proda-hpos-healthcare-identifier-service/
Digital Health Basics – PRODA, HPOS, and the Healthcare Identifier Service
September 29 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Australia’s digital health is underpinned by all health organisations connecting to the Healthcare Identifiers service.
This webinar will provide managers of medical practices, community pharmacies and other healthcare organisations with knowledge of how to put in place the pre-requisites to connect to digital health services such as Electronic Prescriptions, My Health Record, Secure Messaging and future interoperability opportunities:
- Getting started in PRODA and HPOS
- Who should register an organisation – their roles and responsibilities.
- Digital health identifiers – HPI-O, HPI-I, IHI
- NASH Certificates and Medicare PKI Site Certificates
- Questions will be answered.
All healthcare providers and their staff are welcome to attend this session.
Wed, Sep 29, 2020
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM AEST
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https://www.gphn.org.au/events/electronic-prescriptions-qa-session-expert-panel/
Electronic prescriptions: Q&A session with expert panel
September 23 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Please join the Australian Digital Health Agency for an electronic prescriptions Q&A session, which will address common questions raised by healthcare providers, (e.g. workflow changes, consumer resources) and what you need to do to enable your practice/pharmacy for electronic prescriptions.
The Australian Digital Health Agency is pleased to have an expert panel (GP, Pharmacist, Agency representative) to respond to your questions and provide practical advice around implementation aspects.
All healthcare providers and their staff are welcome to attend this session.
Wed, Sep 23, 2020
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM AEST
Details
Date: September 23
Time: 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
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https://www.health.gov.au/news/recent-updates-to-the-australian-immunisation-register
Recent updates to the Australian Immunisation Register
We have made some improvements to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). These changes improve functionality for vaccination providers and make it easier for people to stay up to date with their immunisations.
Date published: 11 September 2020
Type: News
Intended audience: General public
Identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander on the AIR
Improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a national priority. The National Immunisation Program (NIP) for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people provides additional vaccines to help improve the health of Indigenous people, and close the gap between Indigenous and non- Indigenous people in health and life expectancy.
Until recently, the AIR used information from Medicare to record whether a person identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Now, vaccination providers can record this information directly on the AIR. It does not need to be the same as Medicare. If your vaccination provider updates your ‘Indigenous status’ on AIR, this information won’t be recorded on any other government database.
Recording an Indigenous status on the AIR helps vaccination providers to identify and give the clinically correct vaccination schedule.
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https://www.alia.org.au/events/21534/digital-health-literacy-online-my-health-record-qa-session
Digital Health Literacy - Online My Health Record Q&A Session
The Digital Health Literacy – Empowering your community to manage their own health future online training program includes information that will enable public library staff to support and guide the community to navigate and understand the Federal Government digital health initiatives, such as My Health Record and how to access online health and well-being resources through the library.
This Digital Health Literacy - Online My Health Record Q&A session, provides an opportunity for participants who have completed the online training program to ask questions they have about My Health Record and other course content.
This session will be delivered by Zoom - a Zoom meeting link will be sent to participants once they register.
For more information contact ic@slq.qld.gov.au
Region Online
Category ALIA Training PD Event ADHA Propaganda
Date(s) Tuesday 15 September 2020 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Contact details ic@slq.qld.gov.au
More information / Register https://plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/professional-development/calendar/digital-healt…
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'The vital task women can't disregard during COVID-19'
By Shelly Horton| 10 September, 2020
It's so common for women, particularly mums, to put themselves and their health last. Now, thanks to COVID-19, women's health checks are dropping off a cliff.
Coronavirus can make some people afraid to visit medical centres, while some women are afraid of being a burden on the health system during the pandemic. But think of it in this blunt way: you'll be more of a burden if you get cancer.
GP Dr Michela Sorensen agrees: "Our health doesn't know we're in lockdown, our medical conditions don't go on hold in lockdown. We still need to pay attention to our health."
So, I'm taking a different point of view. Before COVID, I was so busy with work I didn't make time to get my health checks done (some are years overdue) and now I have less work, I have more time.
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Australian Digital Health Agency: so long, thanks for all the (brightly coloured) fish
September 10, 2020
One suspects the new Australian Digital Health Agency CEO appointment puts a fairly substantive full stop on the exciting but eventual car crash experiment that was the ADHA and the opt-in My Health Record. What now?
Who ya gonna call when digital health is having the most important moment in its history?
When a pandemic has thrown the utility of digital in healthcare into the spotlight, and it’s proven its credentials; when the public is all ears and yearning for more as a result of the introduction of telehealth; when government agencies have thrown the rule book out, taken calculated risks and come up trumps using new digital strategies; when transformation in health has been bowled up, ready for a talented and experienced new digital health agency leader to hit it over the boundary?
An unusually senior career bureaucrat opting to take a few steps down the public service career ladder, whom no one has heard of … apparently.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/time-for-a-covidsafe-review-edward-santow/
Time for a COVIDSafe review: Edward Santow
Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter
10 September 2020
It is time for a “rigorous and independent” analysis of the effectiveness of the federal government’s COVIDSafe contact tracing app to ensure it is working and worth the seven million Australians who have downloaded the app trading away some of their privacy, Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow says.
Speaking on a panel discussion with Cyber Security CRC chief executive Rachael Falk, hosted by the Australian Society for Computers & Law, Mr Santow said the contact tracing app – which collects the users name, phone number and postcode, along with the unique identifier of other users they come into close contact with – does infringe on privacy in some way, and this should only be done if it is actually performing the job it is supposed to.
“Of course, the COVIDSafe app uses personal information, and it does limit the privacy of anyone who is caught up in it,” Mr Santow said.
“The justification for limiting people’s privacy is essentially that it will enable people to stay safe in the pandemic, it will give people critical information that will enable people who might have tested positive to stop themselves from infecting others.”
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How digital health can combat mental health
By Amy Hill, General Manager, Jayex Australia
Monday, 07 September, 2020
During the pandemic, digital health care has enabled resources to be better allocated to places of high strain — such as moving appointments from hospitals to at-home telecalls, or enabling interstate healthcare workers to provide virtual consultations to patients in higher-demand locations. Additionally, hospitals are now able to conduct virtual rounds, visitations and interpretation services, all in an effort to eliminate unnecessary exposure between clinicians and patients.
For patients who require face-to-face medical support, it is important they still receive the care they require. Many healthcare software providers now offer a ‘contactless experience’, giving patients confidence that they can receive medical support in a safer environment, in the COVID-19 world.
How digital health can help deliver mental health services
At Jayex, we believe there remains an opportunity to use digital healthcare services to discreetly and effectively identify mental health patients. Mental health and wellbeing is an increasingly important topic of conversation as the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic continue to cause significant disruption to the lives of everyone globally. Social isolation and financial hardship can take their toll on anybody, and a near-constant stream of negative news reports can exacerbate feelings of anxiety or distress.
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The rules of cybersecurity have changed
Michael Connory
If life hasn’t already shifted dramatically under the weight of COVID with a new norm beckoning – cybersecurity issues continue to prosper like a cancer, and among them, the insidious increase of online predatory behaviour.
Working from home forms a new strategy for containing COVID, and as it forges a different realm for work, it also brings with it a perilous downside – the mental and emotional disintegration of Australian workers.
It’s the increasing feeling of isolation and remoteness which is not only having a disturbing impact, but it’s knocking the edge off us as a country – known for our easy going attitude toward life – the “she’ll be right mate” outlook, a catchcry for Aussies, has turned into a burgeoning fog of malaise, despair and helplessness.
Many Australians are struggling to deal with the anxiety, frustration and loneliness working from home brings. It’s a new realm, a foreign experience many continue to struggle transitioning to, and as the struggles continues – the hidden darkness that lurks beneath humanity is rearing its ugly head.
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MEDIA RELEASE
9 September 2020
Understanding Australia’s Virtual Care Needs
Health
systems around the world have been looking closely at ways that virtual care
could enhance the sustainability of health services, a shift accelerating as
COVID-19 drives a rapid and widespread uptake of telehealth technology by
consumers and health care providers.
A new project starting this month will explore how Australia can best cater for
health consumers’ needs as we move from telehealth toward virtual care.
This collaboration between the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia (CHF),
Curtin University, Deloitte and Digital Health CRC will canvas health
consumers, practitioners, providers and government to develop direction for
future digital healthcare delivery in Australia, anchored in the patient
experience.
Australian Secretary of Health, Professor Brendan Murphy, joins an expert panel
kicking off the first project initiative this Thursday in a webinar titled
Reimagining healthcare in Australia: The role of digital in future health
delivery which will highlight key considerations around how we can best
navigate the path from telehealth to virtual care.
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Tuesday, 08 September 2020 10:07
IT security needs to take the human into account first, says Forcepoint veteran
Security practitioners need to shift from looking at external threats and concentrate on user behaviour as they access data, the chief product officer of security firm Forcepoint, Nico Popp, believes.
In an interview, Popp, whose employer is an offshoot of the giant American defence contractor Raytheon, told iTWire that CISOs were now realising that it was "no longer enough to secure a perimeter within four walls – it’s about people".
"People are the new, true perimeter in this new normal. And it is critical to have visibility into the behaviour of people and data, wherever they are," he added.
Popp oversees the global execution and evolution of Forcepoint’s human-centric cloud security platform, including leadership of all product development, management and innovation across Forcepoint products as well as Forcepoint X-Labs.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/pandemic-could-triple-the-value-of-ai-20200903-p55ryg
Pandemic could triple the value of AI
Krishan Sharma Technology journalist
Sep 8, 2020 – 12.01am
As the global economy implodes because of the COVID-19 shutdown, digital technologies are booming as businesses pushed into digital transformation and virtual workspaces turn to artificial intelligence to engage with customers, collaborate with employees and shore up supply chains.
Whether it’s using chatbots to support front-end customer service, computer vision to help maintain social distancing, machine learning for modelling the effects of reopening economies or employing advanced automation for addressing frailties in the supply chain across industries, the pandemic has created the perfect storm for the AI industry to thrive.
A government-sponsored road map from CSIRO published at the end of 2019 found that the AI sector would be worth $315 billion to the Australian economy by 2028 and $22 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
However, experts such as KPMG's Partner-in-charge, James Mabbott, tells the Financial Review that both these figures could be as much as “1.5 to 3 times greater” after taking into account the increased levels of investment driven by the disruption caused by the pandemic.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/why-a-facebook-news-ban-could-boost-false-information-20200902-p55rn4
Why a Facebook news ban could boost false information
Sep 8, 2020 – 12.00am
Facebook has vowed to keep fighting fake news on its platforms – even as it threatens to remove all credible local and international news sources from its users' feeds – while an Australian organisation has run an experiment showing just how easy it already is to spread fake news on the platform.
Responding to the Morrison government's proposal that Big Tech companies such as Facebook and Google be forced to pay Australian media companies for news content that is republished on their platforms, Facebook last week threatened to remove all commercial news sources from its platforms, even going so far as to prevent users from sharing such news with each other.
"Assuming this draft code becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram," Will Easton, the managing director of Facebook in Australia and New Zealand, said.
Responding to criticism that the move would only worsen its reputation as a purveyor of fake news, a Facebook representative said that removing credible news would not "change our commitment to combat misinformation on Facebook and Instagram and directing people to authoritative sources of information about important issues".
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It’s time to imagine Google and Facebook without news
It looks very much like Australia will call Facebook’s and Google’s bluff and legislate the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s news media bargaining code, in which case the modern world itself will reach a momentous inflection point.
Of course, the Morrison government might find it’s got better things to do, such as saving Australia from total collapse, but last week the government declared that it’s proceeding with it and over the weekend Google started running ads denouncing the ACCC’s code, so they must think it’s happening at least.
To recap: after a long inquiry the ACCC has proposed in draft legislation that digital platforms – that is, Facebook and Google – be required to negotiate a payment to news publishers for their content.
Last Monday Facebook said if the draft becomes law “we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram.”
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Geofence privacy storm: Police ask Google to identify all phone users near crime locations
· The Times
Police have angered civil rights group by asking Google for details of smartphone users who were near crime scenes when offences were committed.
The warrants, known as “geofence requests” or “reverse location searches”, are unconstitutional, they claim.
Police officers and prosecutors seeking court warrants for electronic information were expected to identify a suspect and establish a probable cause for a search. However, forces have recently tried to gather information about all devices that came near the scene of a crime as they sift for potential suspects.
Three recent geofence requests were rejected by Chicago judges who said that prosecutors seeking suspects in a theft wished to cast a broad net to allow them to rummage into the private data of dozens of innocent bystanders.
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After two years without Facebook, I won't be back
Threatening publishers in a pandemic is not good enough.
Economics correspondent
September 7, 2020 — 12.00am
When Mark Zuckerberg stood up on the Gaston Hall stage at Washington DC's Georgetown University last year he talked about common ideals of freedom of speech, a free press and an open internet.
"I know many people disagree, but, in general, I don't think it's right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy," he told hundreds of students in October 2019.
Less than 12 months later, the Australian arm of Facebook is threatening to do exactly what its billionaire boss criticised on his home turf.
The local competition regulator wants a code of conduct forcing the website to share revenue with publishers. Facebook has reponded by arguing that getting rid of news would be insignificant to the site's metrics and revenues because the "content is highly substitutable" and users typically don't go to the website intending to view news. In other words, force Facebook to pay and it will cut the presence of actual news in Newsfeeds.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/aussies-turn-to-facebook-for-news-in-lockdown-20200830-p55qpw
Aussies turn to Facebook for news in lockdown
Paul Smith Technology editor
Sep 7, 2020 – 12.00am
A new study has found a large percentage of Australians have relied on Facebook to keep up to date with news during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The numbers related to news consumption on Facebook are noteworthy given the social network's controversial threat last week to block Australians from sharing news content, to avoid paying news organisations for the use of journalism content.
The survey showed Facebook has been a popular source of news during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a wide-ranging annual media consumer survey covering more than 2000 Australians from all age groups above 14, professional services firm Deloitte has compiled a snapshot of media and entertainment consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown from March to May.
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https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2020/35/ai-in-health-care-australia-in-danger-of-lagging-behind/
AI in health care: Australia in danger of lagging behind
Authored by Nicole MacKee
AUSTRALIA risks being “left behind” as an innovator in artificial intelligence (AI) in health care, says a leading expert who is calling for greater investment and regulatory rigour in the field.
Professor Enrico Coiera, Director of the Centre for Health Informatics at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University, said investment in AI in Australia was lagging.
“We are not seeing commensurate investment here in Australia, and many in the field feel we are rapidly being left behind, to become adopters rather than innovators in AI,” Professor Coiera said.
“If that happens, it would be a pity given the excellence of our Australian clinicians, scientists and engineers, the huge commercial opportunities this new industry offers us, and the clear need, post-COVID-19, for Australia to have greater independent capability to build and deploy advanced technologies, given the worsening global uncertainties.”
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https://www.alphamedicalcentre.com.au/your-electronic-health-record
YOUR ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD
ADHA Propaganda
Your My Health Record is a personally
controlled eHealth Record (PCEHR) is a secure, confidential online summary of
your health information.
You control what goes into it, and who is allowed to access it. Your eHealth
record allows you and your doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers to
view and share your health information to provide you with the best possible
care.
After you create your Electronic Health Record ask our doctors to upload your
medical file.
At Alpha Medical Centre, we believe that everyone should have access to their
personal medical history.
This can be accessed anywhere, on any device.
All health professionals involved in your care, whether it be in the hospital,
specialist settings, pharmacists etc. can access your file with your consent.
To login or to create your Electronic Health Record for you or your family
members - Click Here
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Comments more than welcome!
David.
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