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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?
The new CEO has been in place 8+ weeks – no new minutes obvious yet, or any other major improvements!
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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Why it's easy to hate Facebook but hard to leave
By Heather Kelly
November 20, 2020 — 9.46am
Before the pandemic, Andrea Norrington barely checked Facebook. A lecturer in Letchworth, England, she was concerned about how the company had let misinformation on Brexit spread unchecked, and was seriously thinking about quitting altogether.
Then, at the end of March, Norrington came down with COVID-19. When she was still ill after two weeks, she started scouring the internet for information about other people who weren't getting better. That's when she found an early Facebook group for COVID long-haulers; people who still have symptoms of the disease after a month.
"When I first started there weren't too many members, just a couple thousand, but it was really helpful to know I wasn't alone," Norrington said.
The group and others like it became an important part of her daily life and recovery. Members talked to doctors, swapped details on symptoms and tracked treatments together to find out what was making things better or worse. Like many Facebook users, Norrington realised that quitting the world's largest social network isn't as easy as hitting a delete button, especially when you're part of its online communities. It's hard to persuade people to leave, to learn a new tool, and to re-create the ease of gathering such a large variety of people.
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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imj.15062
Role of digital technology in delivering ‘healthy futures’ and ‘healthy cities’
First published: 20 November 2020 ADHA Propaganda
https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.15062
Conflict of interest: At the time of the RACP Conference 2020, Professor Meredith. Makeham was the Chief Medical Adviser at the Australian Digital Health Agency.
Abstract
Digital health technologies and services play a critical role in the delivery of safe and efficient healthcare and better health outcomes. Interoperability of these technologies and services, as well as digital inclusion for communities are important enablers of a modern, connected health system. The ongoing development of these factors is an aspiration of Australia's National Digital Health Strategy (NDHS). The Australian Digital Health Agency co‐designed the NDHS with input from healthcare consumers and providers, digital health industry, academic and policy experts and organisations. Approved by all Australian governments in 2017, it provides a forward vision to 2022, with seven pillars that include: Access to health information through My Health record; Secure Messaging; Medicines Safety; Interoperability; Enhanced models of care; Workforce and Education and Driving Innovation. All of these pillars have interdependent features, and many play a role in enabling communities to live healthier and happier lives supported by better connected healthcare services as well as access to information in a timely and efficient manner at the point of care. A ‘Communities of Excellence’ programme has supported regional communities to connect health services to My Health Record, increase digital health tools use and provide digital health literacy support to consumers. The aims of this programme are to allow the benefits of improved interoperability and better connected care to flow to people and their clinicians, test innovation that could go on to be scaled nationally, and close the health inequity gap experienced by people in rural and remote communities.
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How emergency telemedicine has helped with work life balance — a female perspective
My Emergency Doctor
Friday, 20 November, 2020
The ability to receive trusted, reliable health care in a convenient and safe way has made telehealth a go-to option for many sick and vulnerable patients in recent years, and even more so as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While now common as a channel for primary and allied health clinicians to attend to patients, emergency telemedicine has also been available in Australia for some years.
Two FACEMs working at My Emergency Doctor share their stories on how telemedicine has allowed them to practise emergency medicine whilst pursing other life endeavours such as raising young children, moving overseas, and transitioning out of full-time shift work. The flexibility within emergency telemedicine allows these female emergency physicians to balance purpose with passion and invest deeply in areas of their life outside the emergency department.
The flexibility to practise whilst raising a family
Dr Shera Leonny has worked as an emergency physician for over five years but only started working in emergency telemedicine when she moved from Australia to Canada in 2017. Though her focus was to be a stay-at-home mother whilst overseas, she quickly realised how much she missed her role as a physician.
“I found it harder than expected to be away from the hospital and helping patients,” she said.
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From 'no case' to $1.2b settlement: How robo-debt scheme went so wrong
November 21, 2020 — 12.01am
When the Morrison government was hauled into court to face a class action over its "robo-debt" scheme, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert branded it a political stunt.
"There's no case, there's no papers and there's no plaintiffs," Robert said in September last year.
By Monday morning he had all three. A settlement agreed that day, just ahead of a scheduled two-week trial, will cost the government a total of $1.2 billion.
The money will go to about 430,000 members of the class action.
There's $112 million in compensation, $398 million in alleged debts the government is dropping and $721 million in refunds the government announced on the eve of mediation in the case and has largely already processed.
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JobKeeper proves pandemic-winning policy, super, HomeBuilder get thumbs down
Scott Morrison’s $100 billion JobKeeper scheme has been judged the best prepared “emergency” measure by any Australian government dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic but the Coalition’s new early access to superannuation and HomeBuilder grants have been deemed the worst.
An independent assessment of 20 major government decisions in 2020 has also found that the Andrews’ Victorian Labor Government’s preparation for adopting emergency powers during the pandemic was better than the process in both Queensland and NSW.
But the researchers heavily emphasised that the aim of the assessment is to look at policy development not implementation and that the study did not assess the Victorian Government decision to hire private security guards instead of police or defence personnel to guard quarantine hotels.
The Federal COVIDSafe App for mobile phone tracing of coronavirus contacts was also rated at the top of the urgent decisions taken to deal with the pandemic.
The best non-urgent Government policies named in 2020 were the Queensland State Government’s introduction of a Queensland Transport Ombudsman the Federal Government’s My Health Record scheme.
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'Good process leads to good policy': Medevac repeal ranked worst piece of law
By Shane Wright
November 19, 2020 — 11.01pm
The Morrison government used the best and worst practices to put in place key pieces of legislation, two ideologically opposed think tanks have found in a wide-ranging analysis that shows shortcomings in the way states invoked emergency powers to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The annual review of the way laws were developed, debated and put in place, commissioned by the non-partisan newDemocracy Foundation, found the federal government's legislative handling of its My Health Record was almost perfect.
But it faltered with its contentious repeal of the so-called medevac laws, which restored the full discretion of federal ministers to accept or reject medical transfers to Australia from overseas detention centres.
The analysis was done by the right-leaning Institute of Public Affairs and the progressive Per Capita Australia think tanks. In almost all cases, they were agreed on their findings.
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https://gcphn.org.au/digital-health-updates-for-general-practice-november-2020-2/
Content last updated 19/11/2020
Digital health updates for general practice – November 2020
Below are some recent updates in the area of digital health for general practice.
Webinar Opportunity: How to use My Health Record (MHR) in clinical software + Live Q&A
General Practitioners and Nurses: Choose from multiple dates and times to attend a one-hour free webinar. Learn more about how to use MHR in your practice software (see options below) via a simulation platform and participate in Q&A time with the Australian Digital Health Agency.
Choose a time suitable for you! Click the link and use the drop and menu to choose from numerous dates/ times
- Best Practice – 36 Sessions from 20 October to 10 December
- Medical Director – 38 sessions from 21 October 11 December
- Genie – 20 sessions from 19 October to 11 December
- Zedmed – 19 Sessions from 19 October to 8 December
Other Digital Health Webinars
- Recorded Webinar: GCPHN and ADHA on Electronic Prescribing for Queensland (02/09/2020)
- Recorded Webinar: Digital Health Basics – PRODA, HPOS and the Healthcare Identifier Service (29/09/2020)
Electronic Prescribing- SMS subsidy continues
The department and ADHA have agreed to continue to subsidise the cost of SMS messages for electronic prescriptions until March 31st, 2021, read more here. Prepare your practice for electronic prescribing token model by following these steps here or contact digitalhealth@gcphn.com.au
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https://bpsoftware.net/my-health-record-for-specialists/
My Health Record for Specialists: A Co-designed Approach with ADHA
Best Practice Software is in the final phases of getting ready to release My Health Record functionality for specialists through Bp VIP.net – a software solution that serves the needs of medical specialists with a focus on ophthalmologists.
During 2019, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) invited leading software vendors for specialists to co-produce design improvements to their experience with My Health Record (MHR). Bp VIP.net was acceTpted as a software vendor to participate in joint workshops organised by the ADHA to improve MHR functionality and overall usability for all specialists in Australia.
The end-result of the collaboration is a dedicated Bp VIP.net software release for My Health Record functionality, due for public release in early 2021.
The media release published by the ADHA is available here.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8573d20e-31f2-4a66-adbd-7346193fc8b3
Australia’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) future: A call to Action
Artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily becoming a familiar tool for many Australians. We have come to know it through our pocket voice assistants, like Siri and Alexa, and as the brains behind Google’s predictive searches. Australian businesses, particularly in the mining sector, view it as a means to gain a competitive advantage, and we have even seen its potential to fight COVID-19.
As AI begins to permeate every aspect of our lives, the Australian government has recognised the economic and social opportunities it affords us in its newly proposed AI Action Plan. The discussion paper, released on 29 October 2020, is the latest in a suite of Australian initiatives targeting AI regulation and development, following on from the AI Ethics Framework. The Government is accepting submissions in response to its Action Plan until 27 November 2020.
While Australia has previously been criticised for its lack of direction in adopting AI, the Commonwealth Government has flagged an intention to reinvent its approach by coordinating Government policy and national capability to make Australia a leading digital economy by 2030. To achieve this vision, the Government is currently seeking input on how best to integrate AI in four key domains.
AI in Business
The Government has recognised business adoption of AI as a key driver of the Australian economy. Although digital innovation in Australia is estimated to contribute around A$315 billion to the economy over the next decade, the Government’s Action Plan notes that Australian businesses may still fall below world standards in terms of the innovation and collaboration required to take full benefit of AI.
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Amazon expands push into healthcare with online pharmacy
Angelica LaVito and Matt Day
Nov 18, 2020 – 9.42am
New York/Seattle | Amazon unveiled its biggest push into selling prescription drugs with the launch of a digital pharmacy and discounts for paying US Prime members that sent shock waves through shares of pharmacy chains and distributors.
The e-commerce giant on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) unveiled Amazon Pharmacy, a section of its retail website and mobile application that lets people order medication.
Shoppers can pay using their health insurance. Prime members who do not use their insurance are eligible for discounts on generic and brand-name drugs on Amazon's site or at about 50,000 participating pharmacies.
Amazon's new offering comes more than two years after its $US753 million ($1.03 billion) acquisition of PillPack, an online pharmacy known for organising prescriptions into packets. This expansion puts the Seattle-based e-commerce company into more direct competition with pharmacy giants CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance, the two largest chains in the US.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=175495d3-d11b-453c-9c71-abf78e1d08db
Spy’s guide to securing your electronic devices overseas
Want to feel a little more like James Bond next time you go overseas (once international travel restrictions are lifted)?
The Australian Government Information Security Manual (the manual), prepared by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), outlines cyber security guidelines and best practices intended for key personnel.
The manual includes important considerations for travelling overseas with mobile devices due to the increased security risks. Following these steps before, during and after your trip is a sure-fire way to secure your personal and business information. And you may just feel like 007 in the process.
Of course, you will likely be taking other electronic devices overseas in addition to your mobile. The manual defines mobile devices as including “mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops, portable electronic devices and other portable internet-connected devices.”
Before travelling overseas
The manual advises that when leaving Australian borders you should “leave behind any expectations of privacy.”
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Ransomware becomes a million-dollar menace for Aussie firms
Andrew Tillett and Ronald Mizen
Nov 18, 2020 – 12.00am
The average cyber-ransom paid by Australian companies is $1.25 million, according to a global survey conducted by cyber security firm Crowdstrike.
The amount is slightly lower than the world-wide average of $1.55 million, and is based on responses from 200 Australian IT security professionals.
According to the survey, more than two-thirds of Australian companies were targeted by ransomware attacks over the past 12 months, with about one-third of those paying the ransom.
The survey found the greatest concern for IT workers was ransomware attacks (56 per cent), followed by malware (50 per cent) and phishing (42 per cent.); while China remained the biggest perceived threat.
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Tectonic shift in mobile market happening under ACCC's nose
The biggest shake-up in the mobile virtual network operator market in 20 years is putting the spotlight on the competition regulator's telco industry policymaking.
Nov 18, 2020 – 12.00am
The launch this week of the Felix mobile brand by TPG Telecom is proof that the competition regulator was completely wrong in its analysis of the outcome of the merger of TPG and Vodafone.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission spent about $25 million fighting the merger through the courts, a case that was doomed to fail from the start.
One wag described the ACCC's efforts in the failed court case as trying to make competition policy by using a can opener with case law.
The ACCC argued that unless there were four telecommunications carriers, consumers would be worse off.
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Electronic Prescriptions
Western Victorian prescribers and dispensers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with electronic prescriptions which are now being implemented across Australia.
What is electronic prescribing
Electronic prescribing – or e-prescribing – provides clinicians and their patients with the option of using digital technology for electronic Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescriptions.
Electronic prescriptions are not mandatory and paper prescriptions are still available. In addition, patients can still choose which pharmacy they attend to fill out their prescription.
How it works
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) describes electronic prescribing as:
“the process by which a prescription is electronically generated by a prescriber, securely transmitted to a prescription delivery service for dispensing and supply, downloaded by a supplier, integrated into the dispensing software and (where applicable) available to be electronically sent to Department of Human Services for PBS claiming purposes. An electronic prescription is an electronic clinical document that contains all information relating to an order to supply medicine to an individual and is a legally dispensable instruction.”
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Public Service Commissioner predicts the end of bespoke agency digital systems
Under plans to lift Australia's digital capabilities, the commission will take an 'enterprise approach' to IT, taking greater advantage of the economies of scale.
By Aimee Chanthadavong | November 17, 2020 -- 02:14 GMT (13:14 AEDT) | Topic: Digital Transformation
The Australian Public Service Commission (ASPC) has outlined the "enterprise approach" it will take for developing and investing in future IT and digital systems as part of its APS Digital Professional Stream Strategy.
"The board envisages, easy to use, reliable services tailored to the needs of citizens and businesses, supported by effective digital tools that enable the APS to work flexibly and productively together," APS commissioner Peter Woolcott said, speaking during the Digital Transformation Agency's (DTA) virtual 2020 Digital Summit on Tuesday.
Woolcott said taking a single approach to digital would address the "frustration caused by incompatible and inconsistent systems, platforms, and security requirements". He pointed out that, for instance, the agency discovered a few weeks ago something as simple as sharing large video files "can be fraught with difficulty".
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Coronavirus contact tracing inquiry told Victoria's DHHS had problems with open disclosure
By Nicole Asher
16 November, 20202
The Australian Medical Association's Victorian president has raised concerns about the culture within the state's health department in testimony to a parliamentary inquiry into contact tracing.
Key points:
- AMA Victoria president Julian Rait said the department was defensive and had a "cultural flaw"
- He said GPs could have helped liaise with multicultural communities during outbreaks
- Salesforce, which was contracted in August to overhaul Victoria's contact tracing system, said it first approached the State Government in March
Julian Rait told the first day of hearings into the state's COVID-19 testing and infection tracking system he thought there were serious problems within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
"I think culturally there is a flaw in the department," Dr Rait said.
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https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/covid-19-is-accelerating-the-surveillance-state/
Covid-19 is accelerating the surveillance state
17 Nov 2020|
Kelsey Munro and Danielle Cave
The first global pandemic of the digital age has accelerated the international adoption of surveillance and public security technologies, normalising new forms of widespread, overt state surveillance.
These technologies have been layered on top of already pervasive forms of privatised data surveillance through smartphones and the ‘internet of things’ (IoT). The pandemic has also fuelled the normalisation of surveillance in previously private contexts.
The risk of this new era of surveillance is that it has the potential to permanently shift power from citizens to the state and, in doing so, entrench global trends towards a more illiberal world.
The far-reaching consequences of the pandemic have seen public health reframed as a safety and national security issue globally. That in itself isn’t necessarily bad, but in many countries the securitisation of public health has generated sudden momentum to cross privacy lines until recently thought unacceptable in democracies.
These include the use of tools that integrate public health and private telecommunications databases and governments’ use of personal location data from smartphones to peremptorily trace whole-of-population interactions or to enforce voluntary quarantine compliance.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/digital-identity-legislation-up-for-consultation-557911
Digital identity legislation up for consultation
By Justin Hendry on Nov 17, 2020 1:24PM
Ahead of private sector expansion.
The Digital Transformation Agency has kicked off public consultation on proposed laws for the government’s Govpass digital identity platform ahead of a planned “whole-of-economy” expansion.
The agency today released a consultation paper [pdf] seeking views on the development of the legislation, which will enshrine the platform’s privacy safeguards and governance structures in law.
It follows record funding in 2020-21 for the DTA – and its partner agencies, Services Australia and the Tax Office – to continue developing the opt-out system, including its own myGovID credential.
The legislation, which was first recommended in a privacy impact assessment (PIA) back in 2018, is necessary to allow state and territory governments, as well as the private sector, to use the system.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=9c822823-d241-4449-a020-addb3ccd2b89
Australian privacy law reforms - what you need to know
The objective of the review is broad: to consider whether the scope of the Privacy Act and its enforcement mechanisms remain fit for purpose.
On 30 October 2020, the Federal Government released the terms of reference and issues paper for a review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The objective of the review is broad: to consider whether the scope of the Privacy Act and its enforcement mechanisms remain fit for purpose.
The announcement follows the final report of the ACCC into the Digital Platforms Inquiry and the Government's response to the final report, in which the Government accepted the "overriding conclusion that there was a need for reform".
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Hospitals ‘must bolster defence against hackers’
Hospitals will need to implement critical infrastructure risk management programs to protect against cyber-intrusions, as state-based actors and transnational crime groups ramp-up attacks on Australian healthcare operators.
The Australian understands security agencies have concerns over the vulnerabilities of Australia’s healthcare network, including hospitals, aged-care homes and medical research facilities, amid a surge in cyber-attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The has also released advice for aged-care providers, with cyber-attackers attempting to scrape sensitive data and compromise systems.
Across the globe, cyber threat levels have increased following a series of successful and attempted attacks on hospital systems. In September, German police launched a homicide investigation after a woman died following a cyber-attack on the Dusseldorf University Hospital where hackers disabled computer systems.
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ASIO warns foreign spies trying to recruit people via social media
November 17, 2020 — 12.01am
Foreign spies are taking to social media and professional networking websites such as LinkedIn to pose as global talent headhunters to get sensitive information from Australians.
Counter-espionage agency ASIO will on Tuesday launch a public campaign to warn Australians that the websites are "fertile hunting grounds" for spies trying to identify, groom and recruit Australians with security clearances.
ASIO launches its first public information campaign 'Think Before You Link'.
ASIO has identified a number of countries using social media to approach Australians who could become an asset for their intelligence services.
Australians in government jobs with high-level security clearances, as well as individuals working for defence contractors, are a major target, but ASIO warns all Australian businesses and employees should be on alert.
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Josh Frydenberg confirms ACCC’s digital code to be law this year
The long-awaited media bargaining code that would force tech giants to pay news publishers for their content will become law within the next four weeks.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed to The Australian on Sunday that the code — drafted by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission following consultations with media companies and digital platforms — will definitely come into effect by the end of the parliamentary year on December 10.
Legislation for the code has been delayed since the government first announced in April that it intended to “level the playing field” by requiring digital platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay news media businesses for the content they produce.
Initially, Mr Frydenberg expressed plans to have the code legislated soon after the release of the draft mandatory code in July. The government’s focus on the coronavirus crisis appeared to skew that timeline, and more recently there have been claims that the tech giants were fiercely lobbying for favourable amendments to the code at the last minute, which could have blocked any chance of legislation being passed this year.
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https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2020/45/digital-mental-health-care-time-to-prioritise-and-adopt/
Digital mental health care: time to prioritise and adopt
Tracey Davenport Jo-An Atkinson Haley LaMonica Frank Iorfino Ian Hickie
RECENT predictive modelling (here, here and here) has suggested the need to urgently increase mental health service capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical distancing, social isolation and fear of contagion are being compounded by distress caused by loss of education, employment and the economic disruption (here and here).
Pre-COVID-19, the World Economic Forum had already called for the rapid deployment of digitally enhanced mental health care as a means to deal with demand issues. Such system transformation requires the Australian Government to immediately prioritise and adopt key policies that promote online access to mental health care, equity, innovation and ongoing and world-leading research and development.
Given the predicted and already emerging adverse impacts (such as community surveys of increased anxiety and depression, and increased calls to emergency help lines and, more recently, increased presentations of young people with self-harm to emergency departments in Victoria) of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australia’s mental health (here, here and here), there is now an urgent need to connect many people for the first time with effective mental health care. This is particularly evident for younger Australians, women in casual or part-time employment, middle-aged or older individuals facing permanent job loss, those confronting family breakdown, those living in rural and regional communities, and those who can least afford to pay the significant out-of-pocket costs associated with high quality mental health care (here, here and here).
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Comments more than welcome!
David.
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