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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A quiet week with a fair bit of reaction to the ADHA API led tender leading the way. The poll shows a fair bit of concern that the program is rather over-ambitious and will never happen.
Otherwise a lot of industry stuff and some interesting slants on ongoing projects.
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Digital Health Agency to link Aussie-wide clinical systems to My Health Record via APIs
An overhaul to the national digital health 'ecosystem' to better link disparate systems used across the country.
By Asha Barbaschow | November 16, 2020 -- 01:39 GMT (12:39 AEDT) | Topic: Innovation
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has kicked off a program aimed at modernising the national digital health infrastructure, aiming to better connect Australia's healthcare system and deliver improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare.
The National Infrastructure Modernisation (NIM) program is centred on what a digital health ecosystem could be over the next decade, ADHA said. It sits alongside Australia's National Digital Health Strategy, published in August 2017, and the connections between state and territory government services.
ADHA hopes the program will deliver three outcomes for Australian healthcare providers and patients: A secure and sustainable digital infrastructure with improved ability to innovate and expand future capabilities and services nationally; ensure that digital health needs for all users are further progressed through a modern, future-proofed seamless digital platform; and ensure that the benefits of digital health technologies and services supported by the national infrastructure are realised for consumers and clinicians, leading to improved health and wellbeing for all Australians.
"2020 has demonstrated the tangible benefits of a better connected healthcare system," ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole said.
"In addition to the benefits from telehealth and electronic prescriptions, healthcare providers are in increasing numbers using My Health Record as a safe and secure way to upload and access documents to support patient care. The modernisation of the national digital health infrastructure will provide the framework for future innovation."
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/adha-moves-to-replace-my-health-records-oracle-api-gateway-555937
ADHA moves to replace My Health Record's Oracle API gateway
By Justin Hendry on Nov 16, 2020 1:01PM
As part of first phase of modernisation program.
The Australia Digital Health Agency has opened bids for the first phase of its massive national infrastructure modernisation program that will refresh a core component of the My Health Record.
Late on Friday, the agency approached the market for a health API gateway solution to replace the Oracle API gateway that has underpinned the electronic health record since its inception.
It comes more than 12 months after the ADHA first called for information about potential future options for My Health Record, which is currently operated and managed by Accenture.
Accenture has held the lucrative national infrastructure operator (NIO) deal for the system since 2011, when it was known as the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR).
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ADHA commences digital health overhaul
By Dylan Bushell-Embling
Monday, 16 November, 2020
The Australian Digital Health Agency has launched a new tender aimed at replacing the gateway services for the My Health Record system and other digital healthcare services.
The tender marks the first step in the new National Infrastructure Modernisation work program, which is aimed at modernising the nation’s digital health infrastructure.
According to agency CEO Amanda Cattermole, the turbulent events of 2020 have demonstrated the tangible benefits of a better-connected healthcare system.
“In addition to the benefits from telehealth and electronic prescriptions, healthcare providers are, in increasing numbers, using My Health Record as a safe and secure way to upload and access documents to support patient care,” she said.
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Australian Digital Health Agency to refresh national digital health infrastructure
Tuesday November 17, 2020
The Australian Digital Health Agency is embarking on a program of work to modernise the national digital health infrastructure and deliver better services for Australians.
In a request for tender posted last week, the agency said it was on the hunt for a service provider to implement a solution and supporting services that would create a “standalone, contemporary capability” for digital health products and services, including the My Health Record System.
“The solution included in the Health API Gateway Services will provide a single point of access to the National Digital Health Ecosystem,” it said.
A “modern approach” to the replacement of the services currently provided by the My Health Record System operator, Accenture Australia Holdings, would be undertaken in the national infrastructure modernisation program.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/facebook-apologises-over-its-failure-remove-posts-defaming-gp
Facebook apologises over its failure to remove posts defaming GP
However, the social media giant has defended its delayed response to posts on public figures
18th November 2020
By Siobhan Calafiore, AAP
Facebook has apologised for not doing more to remove defamatory posts accusing a GP and his Federal MP wife of running a child abuse ring.
Dr Philip Webster and his wife Dr Anne Webster (PhD) were targeted by a conspiracy theorist in more than a dozen videos posted to Facebook earlier this year.
The videos also alleged the couple’s charity for disadvantaged mothers was a money laundering front for the Freemasons.
Facebook took down seven offending posts in May; but this was only done after they had been up for two weeks and shared hundreds of times.
In a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Facebook’s Australian director of public policy Mia Garlick apologised for the social media site's handling of the case.
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App Review: CardMedic - makes it easier to communicate while wearing PPE
The digital flashcard system for healthcare workers has been designed by a UK anaesthetist
20th November 2020
You may recall CardMedic from widespread news stories in April.
A UK anaesthetist on maternity leave was reading about hospital patients who were unable to understand what doctors were saying through PPE.
So she developed a digital flashcard system for the National Health Service so doctors could quickly and easily call up written phrases on tablets to show patients, instead of trying to talk through their PPE.
It went from an idea to reality in three days — the type of positive news story people were craving at the time.
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https://ajp.com.au/news/age-is-no-barrier/
‘Age is no barrier.’
Eastern Melbourne has seen an e-prescribing trial take off between a local general practice and a local pharmacy
The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the health sector’s uptake of electronic prescribing, explains the Eastern Melbourne PHN in its 2019-20 Annual Report.
The Australian Digital Health Agency’s (ADHA) established a ‘Community of Interest’ in EMPHN’s catchment to trial e-prescribing between a local general practice and their patients, and a local pharmacy,
It is reportedly one of 30 trial sites across Australia.
EMPHN says it has supported end-to-end testing between Amcal Pharmacy Tooronga and Mediscreen Clinic in Hawthorn East as part of this particular community of interest.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/opinion/will-new-gp-riskcalculator-covid19-prove-helpful
Will a new GP risk-calculator for COVID-19 prove helpful?
Mr Kunzmann is a postdoctoral research fellow at Queen's University Belfast, UK.
16th November 2020
In recent weeks, there have been controversial proposals to ask older, more vulnerable adults to isolate from society, while younger adults build herd immunity to COVID-19.
These strategies have been criticised by leading figures as “practically impossible” and “unethical”.
Yet calls for shielding from COVID-19 stratified by risk persist.
A new high-quality algorithm to predict people’s risk of catching and dying from COVID-19, published in the BMJ, may add credence to these proposals. This algorithm could be useful for enhancing shielding support measures for high-risk individuals through furlough schemes or GP advice.
But the predictions won’t be as accurate if lower-risk adults, assuming they are safe, are less cautious and increase their risk of catching COVID-19. Given how quickly coronavirus can spread, an algorithm-based approach that asks young people to risk getting sick could make the A-level results algorithm look like a success.
To properly inform someone that they are at a 'low risk' from COVID-19, we would need better information on exactly what they are at a low risk of. While the algorithm can predict risk of hospitalisation and death from the disease, we can’t yet adequately predict the risk of long-term health effects, known as 'long COVID'.
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Robodebt saga ends with $1.2b in compensation
Ronald Mizen Reporter
Nov 16, 2020 – 2.32pm
A much anticipated courtroom battle between the Morrison government and about 400,000 robodebt recipients has been called off following a $112 million settlement between the parties.
Suspicions a deal was being discussed were aroused when the trial, which was set to begin at 10.15am on Monday, was delayed at the last minute.
Under the agreement, about 400,000 robodebt recipients will receive $112 million in compensation, which will include legal costs, in addition to the $720 million in payments the government agreed to refund earlier this year.
The government has also dropped claims of about $400 million in other debts under the scheme, bringing to about $1.2 billion total payments and debt waivers for recipients, or an average of about $3000 per person.
While still to be approved by the Federal Court, the legal settlement is a major concession from the government which will not be required to make any admission of liability.
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Media Release
Tuesday 17th November 2020
The Secret to Successful Telehealth
“eHAB by NeoRehab is the first clinically-validated telerehabilitation solution
for Allied Health Professionals and their patients – and one which will transform
the lives of people right across Australia,” –Prof Trevor Russell, founder of
eHAB
Brisbane company NeoRehab has transformed the world of telehealth with the
re-launch of its innovative eHAB platform. This platform solves many
problems faced by allied health professionals when delivering services online
and improves functionality, reliability and accessibility.
With over ten years’ experience in the telehealth space, COVID-19 highlighted
the need for NeoRehab to hone its skills even further.
“While telehealth consultations over the phone or platforms such as Zoom do
work, our system provides additional layers of functionality such as patient
measurements which are vital to delivering enhanced patient care,” Prof Russell
said.
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Wollongong Hospital finds solution to connect ICU patients with their families
Tuesday, 17 November, 2020
Wollongong Hospital has worked with Cisco and two local Australian innovation partners to develop HowRU — a bespoke healthcare solution that uses video and collaboration technology to help families and ICU patients stay connected.
The solution was designed to address common technical, logistics and privacy issues that patients, families and staff were experiencing when connecting with video chat solutions not designed for the specific needs of hospital and ICU patients.
Wollongong Hospital worked closely with nurses, social workers, technology experts, patients and their families to develop a solution that would overcome the challenges that visitor limitations are placing upon ICU patients, as well as guarantee high levels of security and privacy.
Addressing the specific needs of COVID-19 patients and staff in ICUs
The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for ICUs. To ensure patient, staff and public safety, visitors are greatly restricted and, at times, all visitation is prohibited. Limits on interstate and international travel have also reduced the ability of family members to be with their sick loved ones.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/539621/New-Border-Clinical-Management-System-rolling-out.htm
New Border Clinical Management System rolling out
Wednesday, 18 November 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
A Border Clinical
Management System is being rolled out to Managed Isolation and Quarantine
Facilities (MIQF) across New Zealand using the indici practice management
system.
Javad Ahmed, president of technical services at Valentia Technologies, which
owns indici, says the Border Clinical Management System (BCMS) will be live at
a facility within a week after going through rigorous testing, user acceptance
and integration ratification.
The national system will ultimately be rolled out to 18 facilities.
The BCMS links people directly from their arrival into the country into indici,
which integrates with regional labs and ESR to create a single national system.
“There are a number of checks and balances in place to enable a seamless flow
of information between isolation facilities, border control, labs, ESR and
individuals themselves so that mistakes can be avoided,” he tells
eHealthNews.nz.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/539622/NZ-implements-fully-digital-border-system-.htm
NZ implements digital border system
Wednesday, 18 November 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
New Zealand is
implementing a fully digital, integrated national border system, making it a
world leader in this space.
A raft of digital systems have been developed and rolled out to support a
paperless border system that records and links people’s arrival into the
country through to their managed isolation stay, Covid-19 testing requests and
results and national reporting.
Michael Hosking presented at the Australasian session of the Digital Health
Institute Virtual Summit earlier this month on the digital solutions supporting
the country’s border process.
Hosking, who is the national digital lead – Covid-19 response with Auckland
DHB, said the
overarching solution supporting the process is called BorderNet, which is the
Border System for Notifiable Exposure and Travel Related Infectious
Diseases.
This covers; the National Border Solution, which is part of the National Contact Tracing Solution
and sits on Salesforce; the new Border Clinical Management System, which sits
on indici; the Notifiable Orders and Results Repository, managed by Sysmex
Eclair; and the border work and testing component that sits on
Salesforce.
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Wintringham, Finncare & MannaCare to tap on Epicor’s digital management platform for better meet client needs
Dean Koh | 18 Nov 2020
Not-for-profit welfare company Wintringham, home and community care provider for the Finnish community Finncare and Victoria-based aged care organisation MannaCare will use software company Epicor’s end-to-end digital management platform to help them automate processes, and focus on delivering high-quality, personalised care to their residents and clients.
Wintringham is a Victoria-based not-for-profit organisation providing residential aged care, outreach, NDIS, in-home care, housing support services and social housing for people aged 50-plus, many of whom have experienced or are vulnerable to homelessness.
Queensland not-for-profit Finncare provides residential aged care, retirement living as well as home and community care for older people from the Australian Finnish and Scandinavian communities, and the wider Australian community.
MannaCare is a not-for-profit aged care and NDIS provider serving older people living in the City of Manningham and surrounds in Victoria. Their services span across permanent residential and respite care, a full range of Commonwealth Home Support Programmes (CHSP), Home Care Packages and NDIS.
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Albury Wodonga Health taps on DXC for its new patient administration system
Dean Koh | 11 Nov 2020
Albury Wodonga Health (AWH), a cross-border health service that operates under the jurisdiction of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), will be adopting DXC’s Care Suite cloud-based platform to replace its health services’ patient administration system (PAS).
The health service provides care to about 250,000 people across Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) through: two public hospitals (Albury Hospital and Wodonga Hospital); a Mental Health service across southern NSW and North East Victoria that includes an inpatient unit in Wangaratta, two residential services in Beechworth; two community health services and a dental clinic.
DXC Care Suite is a cloud-based health platform that offers contemporary patient record and care pathway management as well as automated scheduling. The use of the platform will help increase and improve the flow of patients through the hospitals, freeing up capacity and creating administrative efficiencies.
As part of the AWH transformation, DXC will continue collaborating with PowerHealth, integrating its PowerBilling & Revenue Collection (PBRC) solution within the DXC Care Suite platform. PBRC, used extensively throughout Australia and in healthcare organisations internationally, is a comprehensive enterprise-wide solution that simplifies and automates the complexities of healthcare billing and claiming.
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https://itwire.com/open-sauce/nbn-co-can-seriously-get-in-the-way-of-communications.html
Author's Opinion
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of iTWire.
Thursday, 19 November 2020 18:54
NBN Co can seriously get in the way of communications
The NBN Co has been recently claiming that it has fast connections, super-fast connections and anything else that should satisfy the needs of even the most discriminating consumer, but that appears to be as much BS as any of its other claims.
On Thursday afternoon, I was all set to kick back and enjoy an afternoon of drinking wine and consuming cheese courtesy of global networking giant Cisco, one of those rare occasions when one gets the chance to get tipsy and enjoy the hospitality of a company of this size.
I don't often agree to such invitations, but when the gracious Adela Amanowicz makes an offer, one really finds it very difficult to respond in the negative, even if one is, by nature, anti-social.
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Wednesday, 18 November 2020 10:08
TelSoc calls for policy debate on NBN to focus on network long-term benefits
Australia’s telecoms industry association, the Telecommunications Society (TelSoc) says the policy debate about the National Broadband Network now needs to shift to the long term benefits of the network.
According to TelSoc’s NBN Futures Group the debate should now focus on a longer-term perspective on how the full social and economic benefits of national broadband services, including 5G, can be realised.
TelSoc has called for the shift following the completion of the NBN build and projected upgrades, as well as the increasing rollout of 5G - and the community’s “remarkable dependence” on broadband services during COVID-19.
The call from the NBN Futures Group comes following its development of a proposal for key policy planks for a bipartisan National Broadband Strategy for 2020-30.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/rivals-pour-cold-water-on-telstra-s-nbn-aspirations-20201113-p56ejs
Rivals pour cold water on Telstra's NBN aspirations
Paul Smith Technology editor
Nov 17, 2020 – 12.00am
Optus has led opposition among telecommunications rivals to Telstra's plan to restructure and buy the national broadband network, saying it would be a terrible outcome for taxpayers, competition and consumers.
At its annual investor day last Thursday, Telstra unveiled its most significant corporate restructure since privatisation, creating three separate legal entities that could be spun off in the future. Chief executive Andy Penn said one of the groups, called InfraCo Fixed, could feasibly be a future acquirer of the government-owned NBN.
Of five rival telecommunications companies spoken to by The Australian Financial Review since Telstra's announcement, only Aussie Broadband welcomed the idea, with Optus saying the government should immediately rule out the possibility.
Optus' vice-president of regulatory and public affairs Andrew Sheridan said Telstra had already gleaned huge financial rewards from agreeing to relinquish its infrastructure dominance to the NBN, and that a spun-off Telstra division would not be sufficiently independent to prevent the kind of lopsided commercial agreements that existed before NBN's inception.
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https://itwire.com/mobility/govt-accepts-less-than-half-of-5g-inquiry-recommendations.html
Saturday, 14 November 2020 07:18
Govt accepts less than half of 5G inquiry recommendations
The Australian Government has accepted six of the 14 recommendations made by the 5G inquiry conducted by the House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, assessing the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia.
In its response, released late on Friday, the government said it supported the following recommendations:
- that it work with carriers to boost industry awareness of the benefits of 5G;
- that it work with ACMA to develop a campaign to respond to concerns about 5G;
- that it ensure carriers ensure rollout trials are conducted in rural and regional areas;
- that it review the framwwork to encourage co-location of facilities and equipment were fit for purporse in the 5G environment;
- that it facilitate talks between carriers, network operators and utility and infrastructure owners to manage redundant or ageing equipment; and
- that it take steps to speed up spectrum allocation.
But it did not commit to the following recommendations, saying they were either noted or else supported in principle:
- that it carry out an assessment of existing powers and immunities arrangements;
- that it recommend carriers work with road and transport infrastructure managers on maintaining safety standards;
- that it make carriers consider utilising multi-user infrastructure to ensure rural and regional people benefitted from 5G services in a timely manner;
- that it look at ways to boost manufacture of 5G infrastructure in Australia;
- that it review current arrangements enforcing network and data security for supply of 5G equipment;
- that it recommend ARPANSA create a suitable means to speak to the community about safe levels of electromagnetic radiation;
- that it ask the communications and education departments to review the curricula for ICT TAFE course so that graduates were ready to work when they finished their studies; and
- that apprenticeships in the ICT sector be increased to help with the 5G rollout.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, a lobby group for the mobile industry, welcomed the government's response.
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Sunday, 15 November 2020 06:06
Union criticises NBN Co chief for taking bonus despite cost blowout
The union representing workers at the NBN Co has levelled storng criticism at the company over the fact that chief executive Stephen Rue has given himself a $1.2 million bonus while overseeing a cost blowout of $6.7 billion and not taken 300,000 premises into account in the rollout plan.
The cost blowout and the fact that so many premises were missed in the rollout plan were revealed during Senate Estimates.
Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union national assistant secretary James Perkins said in a statement: "It's unbelievable that Stephen Rue is on a seven-figure, taxpayer-funded salary, and can't get the basics right.
"This really shows how plagued the NBN system is from top to bottom. We've been calling for an overhaul of the system for months, and this news couldn't be any more of a red light that we've got a big problem with our national broadband network.
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SpaceX, NASA launches four astronauts into space
Joey Roulette
Updated Nov 16, 2020 – 12.27pm, first published at 12.19pm
Cape Canaveral, Florida | Elon Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, has launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station, NASA's first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.
SpaceX's newly designed Crew Dragon capsule, which the crew has dubbed Resilience, lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7.27pm US eastern time on Sunday (11.27am Monday AEDT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX has launched two NASA astronauts in the first operational flight for the private rocket company.
"That was one heck of a ride," commander Mike Hopkins said from Crew Dragon to SpaceX mission control about an hour after lift-off. "There was a lot of smiles."
An air leak caused an unexpected drop in capsule pressure less than two hours before launch, NASA officials said. But technicians said they conducted a successful leak check, and the scheduled launch was still on.
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Enjoy!
David.
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