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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Security again seems to be a matter attracting news for all the wrong reasons. A number of real mess-ups you would have to say.
News flow on the ADHA CEO appointment is easing of. The Murdoch press does not seem to have noticed.
Otherwise an interesting medication report from a former ADHA executive!
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US tech firm to give state's contact tracing system a digital reset
By Chip Le Grand and Sumeyya Ilanbey
September 7, 2020 — 11.30pm
The Andrews government has engaged a US tech giant to lift its COVID-19 contact tracing system into the digital age, as the nation’s most senior health official urged Victoria to have greater confidence that it could move safely out of lockdown.
Under a data management system being installed within Victoria’s Health Department by the Silicon Valley group Salesforce, automated text messages will alert health officials, infected people and potentially their close contacts about positive tests, dramatically improving the speed of the process.
The technology already supports contact tracing in Western Australia, South Australia and New Zealand.
Victoria rejected an approach by Salesforce earlier in the pandemic, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company also made an unsuccessful pitch to the federal government to roll out a national contact tracing management system.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/gp-records-dont-match-aged-care-medication-charts-95-residents
GP records 'don't match' aged care medication charts for 95% of residents
Researcher Professor Meredith Makeham blames poor information sharing between aged care and GP practices
11th September 2020
The details of medications listed in GP practice records don't match those in patients' nursing home medication lists in 95% of cases, an Australian study suggests.
Researchers say while not all discrepancies could be considered harmful, some were significant enough to potentially cause serious polypharmacy adverse events.
Led by Sydney GP Professor Meredith Makeham, they analysed medication lists for 203 residents at 53 nursing homes in northern Sydney.
The medication lists held in nursing homes indicated the residents had been collectively prescribed some 2447 medicines.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/gp-telehealth-scheme-should-stay-say-mps
GP telehealth scheme should stay, say MPs
A cross-party committee has recommended extending the service beyond the pandemic
4th September 2020
By AAP
Medicare telehealth items should be made permanent beyond the coronavirus pandemic period, but any changes shouldn't result in a diminishing of face-to-face GP services, a parliamentary committee says.
A cross-party committee looking at the future use of technology said in an interim report tabled last week that telehealth had been very successful as a means of increasing patient choice and control over their health services.
The service was especially important for rural and regional areas.
"It is important that any permanent changes in this area do not result in a diminishing of the availability of face-to-face GP services," the report said in recommending the extension.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/are-doctors-cold-calling-patients-mbs-telehealth-cash
Are doctors 'cold calling' patients for the MBS telehealth cash?
Officials say they are concerned about billing Medicare for previously unremunerated care
8th September 2020
A small number of doctors have come to the attention of health officials for billing MBS telehealth items after allegedly 'cold calling' patients to discuss their health issues.
The chief lawyer at the Professional Services Review (PSR) says for regulators, the phone and videoconference items introduced in March are raising questions at the "edges of medical practice”.
“We have heard all sorts of stories about things being billed to the new items that give us some concern,” Bruce Topperwien told a NSW Law Society conference on Monday.
He defined ‘cold calling’ as doctors phoning patients in situations where the practice would not normally have made contact.
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http://medicalrepublic.com.au/women-turned-away-since-tightening-of-telehealth/34097
8 September 2020
Women ‘turned away’ since tightening of telehealth
Posted by Sonia Kohlbacher
The federal government’s tightening of telehealth rules is impeding women’s access to reproductive and sexual health services, women’s health providers say, after their calls for exemptions were unsuccessful.
Restricting eligibility criteria for bulk-billed phone consults to GPs with an existing clinical relationship with a patient in the past year was welcomed by the AMA and RACGP, amid concerns pop-up providers were exploiting the Medicare rebate.
However, it has adversely affected women’s health providers that specialise in impromptu treatments for complex issues.
Telehealth consults meant patients seeking contraception, management for STIs and gynaecological issues, and medical abortions or referrals, via providers like Family Planning NSW and community-based women’s health centres.
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https://www.themandarin.com.au/139320-health-departments-aged-care-website-wins-good-design-award/
Health department’s aged care website wins Good Design Award
Wednesday September 9, 2020
The federal government’s My Aged Care website has been named Australia’s best-designed website.
The website — which connects older Australians, families and carers to government-funded aged care services — took home the prize at the Good Design Awards on Wednesday.
My Aged Care is the result of a collaborative effort between the Department of Health, digital experience agency Liquid Interactive, and hundreds of older Australians and their families.
The website offers an online experience that’s simple, supportive, intuitive and empowering, according to Liquid Interactive customer experience director Fiona Armstrong.
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Withings’ ScanWatch will detect sleep apnoea
Withings has launched a revolutionary smartwatch that it says will detect sleep apnoea and collect a host of other health metrics.
“Developed by cardiologists and sleep experts, it is the world‘s first clinically validated hybrid smartwatch to detect both atrial fibrillation (AFib) and overnight breathing disturbances,” says the French consumer electronics company.
Withings says ScanWatch is its most medically advanced wearable to date with up to 30 days battery life with two hours needed to charge fully. It is designed to help users and their physicians monitor overall health.
It says the wearable identifies highly prevalent, yet largely underdiagnosed cardiovascular, respiratory and sleep breathing issues early.
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https://www.seek.com.au/job/50544647
Job Description
Digital Health Officer
SA Rural Health Network
The Federal Government have appointed SA Rural Health Network (SARHN) trading as Country SA PHN (CSAPHN) to work with rural communities in SA to enhance the delivery of focused and appropriate health services to the rural communities of South Australia. SARPHN will deliver improved access to primary health care services for patients as well as better coordination with local hospitals. The goal of the organisation is to improve overall operational efficiency of the delivery of health service to rural South Australia.
An exciting opportunity has become available for an individual who possesses experience in the digital health space. The Digital Health Officer will be responsible for delivery of appropriate and effective support to primary health care providers to increase the uptake and utilisation of the My Health Record and Digital Health enabling technologies.
Digital Health enabling technologies include secure messaging, telehealth, social media, clinical information systems, clinical decision support tools, share care portals, and the My Health Record.
It is expected that the chosen candidates will remain flexible to meet the changing needs of the organisation and community.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/app-review-explaining-asthma-ways-child-can-understand
App review: Explaining asthma in ways a child can understand
Available in seven Indigenous languages, it is hoped the app can improve asthma management in Indigenous communities
11th September 2020
The NT app Lung Health for Kids, developed by the Menzies School of Health Research at the Royal Darwin Hospital, promises to tell the story of lung conditions in a way children can understand.
The aim of telling the story is made good in seven local Indigenous languages, with the choice of written or audio information.
At the time of writing, the app only covers asthma.
It does this at good length, starting with the very basics of respiratory physiology and progressing to concerning symptoms, treatments, triggers and the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nsw-govt-unveils-first-ai-strategy-552873
NSW govt unveils first AI strategy
By Matt Johnston on Sep 4, 2020 5:17PM
Will establish new AI oversight body.
The NSW government on Friday released its inaugural artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, outlining how it plans to use the technology to create jobs and improve service delivery.
The strategy prioritises the development of AI skills in government and strengthening of industry relationships through a more consistent approach to the procurement of AI products and services.
The strategy was initially expected to be delivered at the beginning of the year, before the state government delayed the launch to give itself more time to grapple with “complex issues” in consultation with industry and academia.
A new body called the NSW Government AI Review Committee will be established to oversee the implementation of the strategy and use of AI across the government.
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https://www.katherinetimes.com.au/story/6921852/study-to-investigate-katherines-health-needs/
September 12 2020 - 7:11AM
Study to investigate Katherine's health needs
"There is a strong commitment from the key partners to come up with a solution that may well involve sharing our resources to ensure a service is in place for Katherine residents," the PHN says in a statement.
Northern Territory Primary Health Network says it is continuing to investigate options to provide GP services to Katherine.
The PHN has the job of finding a replacement for the private medical services provided by Gorge Health which is closing its doors at the end of October.
A consultant has been engaged by NT PHN to undertake a feasibility study which will help inform future decision making on services for the region.
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Services Australia COO to lead Australian Digital Health Agency
Monday September 7, 2020
Services Australia chief operating officer Amanda Cattermole has been named head of the Australian Digital Health Agency.
The ADHA board on Friday said Cattermole has “deep expertise in digital transformation across government and within the health sector” and was appointed following a comprehensive search.
Prior to her position as COO of Services Australia, Cattermole was the agency’s interim CEO, and held deputy secretary roles in health service delivery in the federal and Victorian governments.
She would bring knowledge and capability to the ADHA at a time when digital health has never been more important, according to board chair Dr Elizabeth Deveny.
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https://which-50.com/digital-health-agency-gets-new-ceo/
Digital Health Agency gets new CEO
Joseph Brookes September 7, 2020
The Australian Digital Health Agency has announced Amanda Cattermole PSM will be appointed as its new CEO, a move welcomed by the federal government. She joins from Services Australia where she was also CEO.
Cattermole will commence her new role on Tuesday 29 September.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety.
Cattermole replaces Bettina McMahon who had been interim ADHA CEO since February, following the departure of longline chief Tim Kelsey. Kelsey departed ADHA in December 2019 for an analytics role at global advisory HIMSS, after the launch of the controversial My Health Record system.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/adha-appoints-former-services-australia-interim-head-as-its-new-ceo/
ADHA appoints former Services Australia interim head as its new CEO
The new appointment will start at the end of the month.
By Campbell Kwan | September 7, 2020 -- 00:30 GMT (10:30 AEST) | Topic: CXO
Following a 9-month search, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has appointed Amanda Cattermole as its new CEO.
She will take over from Bettina McMahon, who stepped in as interim CEO at the start of February, following the resignation of Tim Kelsey.
Kelsey worked in the CEO role for three years before leaving the post.
Cattermole was most recently the COO of Services Australia. She was also previously the interim CEO of Services Australia and held deputy secretary roles at the agency when it was called the Department of Human Services.
"Amanda Cattermole is held in the highest regard across the public service and health sector and will bring a depth of knowledge and capability to the role of CEO at a time when digital health has never been more important," ADHA board chair Dr Elizabeth Deveny said.
During her time at Services Australia, the department kicked off a data-matching program of work that saw the automatic issuing of debt notices to those in receipt of welfare payments through the Centrelink scheme.
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https://www.australianageingagenda.com.au/executive/appointments/digital-health-agency-appoints-ceo/
Digital health agency appoints CEO
The Australian Digital Health Agency has announced decorated public servant Amanda Cattermole as its incoming chief executive officer.
by Australian Ageing Agenda September 11, 2020
Ms Cattermole will join the ADHA with a history of senior leadership roles in service delivery in the public sector, leading high performing organisations, while growing customer satisfaction and staff engagement, and digital transformation across government and health sectors.
She was most recently chief operating officer at Services Australia, where she was interim CEO prior to that, and previously held deputy security roles in health service delivery in the Commonwealth and the Victorian governments.
Ms Cattermole, who was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2013, has master’s degrees in law and business administration and a Bachelor in Law and Commerce.
She replaces interim CEO and former chief operating officer Bettina McMahon, who stepped into the leadership role in February following the departure of Tim Kelsey.
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Deloitte's son-of-myGov platform build price jumps another $5 million
By Justin Hendry on Sep 4, 2020 5:00PM
Six-month contract now worth $28 million.
The Digital Transformation Agency’s contract with Deloitte for the beta build of the government’s new Facebook-inspired digital service platform has climbed for the third time in six months.
The value of the six-month deal for ‘horizon one’ of the government’s new digital experience platform (GOVDXP) jumped for the first time since June on Thursday, increasing from $23 million to $28.1 million.
Deloitte began developing the platform - which is expected to eventually replace the existing myGov portal - since it was handed an initial $1 million deal to build the initial prototype in February.
In March, the big four consultancy was awarded a follow-on contract worth $9.5 million that doubled in cost just two months later for work beginning the same day myGov crashed due to the coronavirus induced economic lockdown.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/will-patients-tune-telehealth-their-tv
Will patients tune in to telehealth via their TV?
9th September 2020
With the widespread uptake of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the concerns is whether older patients are being excluded.
However, Australian telehealth data from May shows that patients aged 60-80 are the biggest group of GP face-to-face patients and voice-only telephone patients.
But they are behind younger age groups when it comes to telehealth using video — the medium recommended for clinical care by people such as Professor Michael Kidd, the deputy Chief Medical Officer.
Maybe this simply comes down to access to or interest in smartphone technology among older Australians.
But US company MedSign is now pitching a novel solution. They propose making telehealth available through technology with which they are more comfortable — their TV set.
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Digital Health UK webinar: Watch Alcidion introduce the capabilities of Miya Precision
Alcidion's Miya Precision has launched into the NHS and is already attracting
the attention of healthcare organisations looking to accelerate their digital
health strategies.
We are pleased to share the recording of a webinar hosted on 4th September by
Alcidion Managing Director Kate Quirke, CMO Malcolm Pradhan, UK General Manager
Lynette Ousby, and Neil Perry, Director of Digital Transformation at Dartford
and Gravesham NHS Trust.
Hosted in partnership with Digital Health News to a UK healthcare audience, the
webinar introduced Miya Precision as a new kind of technology for the NHS,
positioned to support digital health strategies, unlock value from existing
health IT investments and deliver better patient outcomes.
Watch the full webinar by clicking the image above, or see here.
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https://gp2u.com.au/secure_messaging
Secure Messaging
We are happy to announce the successful implementation of Secure Messaging in GP2U. This new feature will be made available for all users in December, 2020.
Secure Messaging offers the secure transmission of documents to providers (practitioners and healthcare services) as well as the reception of such documents. Referrals and specialist letters can be sent and received using this facility. All secure messages are standardised REF^I12 messages and are consumable by other secure messaging enabled software products. Just as the name implies, secure messages are exchanged securely based on current and future Australian encryption standard.
Secure Messaging providers can be searched using the federated provider directory search in GP2U. Once a provider is selected, a referral or a specialist letter could be sent to them.
Sent and received messages will be listed in your Secure Messaging messages view according to their type: sent, received, acknowledgement sent and acknowledgement received.
To
know more about Secure Messaging, please check this page on the Australian
Digital Health Agency's website:
https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/get-started-with-digital-health/what-is-digital-health/secure-messaging
Links to the fact sheets from the Australian Digital Health Agency's website are listed below:
- Secure Message Delivery - For Allied Health Providers
- Secure Message Delivery - For General Practitioners
- Secure Message Delivery - For Specialists
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ADHA - Software Developer Community
Announcement
My Health Record B2B Gateway Services v1.9
The
Australian Digital Health Agency has released an updated specification for the
My Health Record B2B2 Gateway Services.
Scope
This release modifies the Logical Service Specification and Technical Service Specification of the My Health Record Document Exchange Service to:
- reflect changes due to the new Goals of Care document type
- modify the Technical Service Specification of the My Health Record View Service to add a new indicator titled “Advance Care Information” that flags the presence of any of the following documents within the targeted consumer My Health Record:
Who does this affect?
Developers of clinical information systems
More information
For a more detailed description of the end product and its components, please refer to the My Health Record B2B2 Gateway Service - Release Notes v1.9.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/525213/Waitemata-delivers-10000-telehealth-appointments-in-a-week.htm
Waitematā delivers 10,000 telehealth appointments in a week
Tuesday, 8 September 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Clinicians at Waitematā DHB conducted 10,000 telehealth appointments in one week in August.
Every clinic room is equipped with video conferencing technology and a new telehealth pod is also being trialed at North Shore Hospital.
The soundproof pod includes a computer, phone and online toolkit so doctors can video call or phone patients at their home or workplace, freeing up a clinical room for essential face-to-face appointments.
In April, during the national lockdown due to Covid-19, the DHB quickly ramped up its delivery of telehealth with around 7,800 appointments conducted by phone or video per week. This compares with 1,200 for the whole of 2018.
One week in August, during the Auckland level 3
lockdown, 10,000 telehealth consultations were delivered.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/524966/Framework-will-guide-use-of-myriad-eMental-health-tools.htm
Framework will guide use of myriad eMental health tools
Tuesday, 8 September 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
The Ministry of Health has created an eMental health framework to
help people choose between the myriad of eMental health tools available in New
Zealand.
Deputy director general, mental health and addiction Robyn Shearer described
the framework as a “check-list of safety features that you would expect to see
in applications”, during a recent eHealthNews
Live Webinar on eMental Health and the pandemic.
“We’re just testing the framework on a couple of applications and want to make
that available,” Shearer told viewers.
Shearer first announced that the Ministry was developing a framework in November
last year.
“Internationally, there's a lot of innovation going on around digital support
and health and disability care and mental health as well,” she said at the
webinar.
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Service NSW reveals hackers stole 738GB of data in email compromise
By Justin Hendry on Sep 7, 2020 1:04PM
About 186,000 customers impacted.
Service NSW has revealed that hackers behind an email compromise attack against 47 staff members earlier this year stole 738GB of data, encompassing 3.8 million documents.
In an update on Monday, the one-stop-shop for NSW government services confirmed the data loss, which included the personal information of 186,000 customers.
The breach, which took place during April, impacted customers served by one of the 47 team members that had their email accounts compromised.
As of last week, however, Service NSW was still waiting to notify affected customers more than four months after the breach took place, suggesting a large number of affected individuals.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/heads-should-roll-nsw-labor-slams-extent-of-service-nsw-hack-552946
'Heads should roll': NSW Labor slams extent of Service NSW hack
By Ry Crozier on Sep 7, 2020 10:05PM
After the agency reveals 186,000 citizens' data exposed.
NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay says “heads should roll” after Service NSW finally revealed the damage from an email account compromise that occurred more than four months ago.
iTnews was first to report details of Service NSW’s attack post-mortem on Monday, which revealed 3.8 million documents, amounting to 736GB of data, were stolen by unknown attackers.
The documents were found to contain the personal information of 186,000 people, who are now being notified via registered post.
The attack occurred back on April 22 and saw the email accounts of 42 Service NSW staff members compromised.
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Data of 186,000 customers leaked in Service NSW cyber attack
By Matt Bungard
Updated September 7, 2020 — 10.20pmfirst published at 4.53pm
Service NSW has confirmed that the personal data of 186,000 customers and staff were leaked after a cyber attack earlier this year, in which 47 employees had their email accounts compromised.
A four-month investigation, which began in April, concluded that roughly 3.8 million documents had to be analysed to assess the severity of any possible breaches.
Service NSW has revealed details about a cyber-attack that compromised 186,000 customers’ personal information.
"This rigorous first step surfaced about 500,000 documents which referenced personal information," Service NSW chief executive Damon Rees said.
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Dominello says Service NSW data breach victims getting 'hypercare'
By Justin Hendry on Sep 9, 2020 6:41AM
Minister breaks silence.
NSW Customer Services minister Victor Dominello says the victims of Service NSW’s email compromise are receiving “hypercare”, despite the 186,000 affected customers still waiting to learn of the breach.
Breaking his silence since the extent of the data breach was revealed, Dominello took to LinkedIn late on Tuesday to talk up the measures taken by the one-stop-shop for government services.
It comes as NSW Labor ramp up their attack on the government by advancing the idea that the breach could expose taxpayers to billions of dollars in compensation claims under the state’s Privacy and Personal Information Protection (PPIA) Act.
Service NSW on Monday revealed a staggering 3.8 million documents, amounting to 736GB of data, were stolen by unknown attackers - thought to be one of the largest data breaches ever to hit a NSW government agency.
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Service NSW reveals 738GB of customer data was stolen during email breach
Attack accessed 47 staff email accounts and affected 186,000 customers.
Service NSW has revealed that the personal information of 186,000 customers was stolen because of a cyber attack earlier this year on 47 staff email accounts.
Following a four-month investigation that began in April, Service NSW said it identified that 738GB of data, which compromised of 3.8 million documents, was stolen from the email accounts.
The one-stop-shop agency assured, however, there was no evidence that individual MyServiceNSW account data or Service NSW databases were compromised during the cyber attack.
"This rigorous first step surfaced about 500,000 documents which referenced personal information," Service NSW CEO Damon Rees said.
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Hacked: 'Best Australian financial data' for sale on the dark web
Ronald Mizen Reporter
Sep 12, 2020 – 12.00am
Stolen data from Australian businesses is being auctioned on the dark web for up to $US60,000 ($82,000) by hackers, with some selling access to loan information, drivers' licences, Medicare cards and passports.
In one case, access to the active loan dashboard of a finance company was auctioned for $US1000. According to the auction details, the buyer received information on 3700 active loans and 3800 closed and pending loans.
"Client documents have IDs (DL or passport, sometimes Medicare even payment card pictures and scans)," the threat actor known as Ronny posted on an underground Russian-language forum.
Ronny later bragged about having access to the "best Aussie stuff" in a post selling access to another finance firm with "39,6k+ aussie bank accounts". The starting bid was $US5,000 and it had a "Buy Now" price of $US10,000.
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Sunday, 06 September 2020 23:20
ACCAN praises NBN Co’s extension of Education Assistance offer
The decision by National Broadband Network operator, NBN Co to extend its Education Assistance offer until 15 January 2021, has earned the praise of communications consumers peak body ACCAN, which says the targeted offer from the company waives the wholesale costs for many services on the 25/5 Mbps speed tier - and encourages telcos to offer free or heavily discounted NBN plans to low-income households with school-aged children.
“Without the financial assistance from this offer, many struggling households couldn’t afford a fixed home broadband connection,” said Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) Director of Policy, Una Lawrence.
“This would leave countless children offline and unable to learn from home during the rolling shutdowns of schools across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“NBN Co has taken serious steps to ease the cost of living on struggling Australians; it’s now up to the telcos to take up these offers and pass them onto consumers.
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Enjoy!
David.
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