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
-----
It seems things are gradually coming back to life with a few interesting stories. I assume full service will resume after Australia Day – so a week or two yet!!
-----
ADHA sees 'inconsequential' My Health Record data breach notices eroding trust
By Ry Crozier on Jan 8, 2021 7:08AM
Calls for lesser need to disclose.
The Australian Digital Health Agency, overseer of the My Health Record, has expressed concern at the number and type of "potential" data breaches it is being forced to disclose.
In a submission to the Privacy Act review [pdf], the agency (ADHA) asks for changes to the My Health Records Act under which it operates, and for “harmonisation” of data breach rules with those in the Privacy Act.
ADHA said the Act under which it operates requires both “actual and potential breaches” to be reported, a “first of its kind in national legislation”.
“The My Health Record data breach scheme was intended to provide transparency for consumers and the public about the safety and reliability of the My Health Record system,” ADHA said in its submission.
-----
Why the $2 billion My Health Record is a flop
Thu, 7 January 2021 10:19AM-----
Almost a decade after it was launched, doctors are refusing to use the My Health Record that has cost taxpayers $2 billion.
The Australian Digital Health Agency, which runs My Health Record, had forecast it would help eliminate $172m annually in duplicate scans ordered ...
And hospitals use it in just 2 per cent of cases, the latest data from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows. Only one in 10 medical specialists is ...
..... Note article behind firewall - I don't pay for access to these sites on principle!
-----
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/1-3-gp-visits-now-telehealth-report
1 in 3 GP visits now via telehealth: report
Patients have embraced their new way of consulting a GP, Sydney authors say
7th January 2021
One in three GP consultations in 2020 were carried out over the phone or video rather than face-to-face, an analysis shows.
Patients embraced telehealth so enthusiastically that total medical services went up in 2020 despite the pandemic, researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney say.
Their snapshot reveals telehealth consultations for GP services shot up from zero in 2019 to more than 138,000 per week between January and September 2020.
The authors, led by Professor Andrew Georgiou, say their findings underscore the popularity of telehealth.
During the height of Victoria’s second COVID-19 wave in August, phone consultations exceeded face-to-face consultations, they wrote.
-----
https://www.acrrm.org.au/resources/college/digital-health/my-health-record/webinars
ACRRM Webinars
Webinar One
My Health Record for Rural and Remote Clinicians – Dr Tony Lembke, A/Prof Ewen McPhee, A/Prof Chris Pearce and Michele Breed (ADHA)
Webinar Two
My Health Record for Rural and Remote Clinicians – Dr Tony Lembke, Dr Abby Harwood (RFDS) and Dr Kathy Rainbird (ADHA)
-----
Australians urged to stick with COVIDSafe app
January 8, 2021 — 6.39pm
Australians have been urged not to give up on the $5 million COVIDSafe app despite criticism of its effectiveness and privacy fears sparked by moves overseas to give police access to tracing app data.
The Singapore government this week announced police would have access to data from its contact tracing app, which it initially vowed would be used only to find coronavirus cases.
Despite criticising the Morrison government's rollout of the app, Labor's spokesman for cyber security, Tim Watts, backed COVIDSafe's privacy protections and said people should download it and keep it up to date.
Access to COVIDSafe data is strictly limited to health purposes under the legislation that underpinned its creation.
Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, has continued to recommend Australians download the app throughout the most recent wave of cases.
-----
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/patients-unlikely-to-stop-telehealth-after-the-pan
Patients unlikely to stop telehealth after the pandemic: Research
A new GP-led study has labelled telehealth a game-changer, with one author saying ‘we can’t turn back the clock’.
07 Jan 2021
The
research, led by Macquarie University and involving a number of different
Primary Health Networks (PHNs) in New South Wales and Victoria, shows a
dramatic uptake in the use of phone consultations in particular since the
creation of new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item numbers in March last
year.
In the Victorian PHNs captured by the study, GP telephone consultations
increased from zero per week in 2019 to a median of 95,357 per week in 2020,
while video consultations increased from 38 to 2540. Meanwhile, face-to-face
consultations dropped from 202,624 per week to 140,485.
It was a similar story in NSW, where phone consultations increased from none in
2019 to a median of 42,850 per week, alongside an uptick in video consultations
from four per week to 805.
The researchers, led by Professor Andrew Georgiou from Macquarie University’s
Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research, found overall that people
consulted GPs more often from January to September 2020 than they did in the
same period in 2019, despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/why-hackers-love-the-covid-19-vaccine-20201230-p56qso
Why hackers love the COVID-19 vaccine
Ronald Mizen Reporter
Jan 6, 2021 – 6.30pm
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and coronavirus vaccines represent major emerging targets for cyber attacks in 2021, according to Steve Povolny, McAfee's global head of advanced threat research.
And while McAfee has not detected a significant shift in consumer "security maturity" over the past year, awareness of the risks has increased.
"[2020] was a year of continued rise of malware and ransomware, and some of the biggest targeted attacks and some of the most major vulnerabilities we've seen in the public space in many years," Mr Povolny said.
In its latest report, titled The Hidden Costs of Cybercrime, McAfee estimated the global cost of cyber incursions had become a $US1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) drag on the global economy with financial losses reaching about $US945 billion.
-----
January 5 2021 - 4:14PM
Goulburn Mulwaree Library hosts My Health Record talk
Goulburn Mulwaree Library will be running an information session on using the My Health Record service on Monday, January 11.
My Health Record is your health information that can be accessed securely online from anywhere, any time.
You can access this information from any computer or device that connects to the Internet, and you can easily take your information with you when you visit a new health provider or move house.
In an emergency situation your health information such as on allergies, medical conditions, and current medications can be accessed using your My Health Record, even if you're unable to communicate.
-----
Feb. 05 2021
Introduction to myGov and My Health Record: Part 1
Find out how myGov can make managing your online government services easy and convenient.
About this Event
Learn how to set up and use your own myGov account safely, including claiming medical expenses and controlling who sees your My Health Record information.
This workshop is part of a series for beginners run by Boroondara Library Service based on the Australian Government's freely-available Be Connected program. This initiative aims to increase the confidence, skills and online safety of older Australians when using digital technology. https://beconnected.esafety.gov.au/
-----
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/23-doctors-have-been-abused-social-media
23% of doctors have been abused on social media
'I got a death threat': One in four doctors claim they have been attacked by online trolls, US researchers report
6th January 2021
One in four doctors have been attacked by social media trolls, including those who have threatened them with rape and death, a US study shows.
The survey of 464 doctors (average age 39) revealed 23% have been targeted over their stance on their public stance on vaccines, abortion and gun control, their race, religion or work.
“Anti-vaxxers made fake negative reviews of me online. I got a death threat,” one doctor wrote.
One in 10 doctors said they had been being sexually harassed, with women doctors predictably more likely to report being targeted than male doctors (16% women versus less than 2% of male doctors).
-----
Enjoy!
David.
No comments:
Post a Comment