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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The pace and variety of news flow is definitely picking up. This week things are off and rolling again.
A bit of a worry re: a breach of the NZ Reserve Bank!
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/racgp-declares-zoombased-osce-success
RACGP declares Zoom-based OSCE a success
More than 900 fellowship candidates passed its socially distanced version of the OSCE, including 80 who sat an extra day
15th January 2021
The RACGP has declared last year’s alternative OSCE exam — conducted via Zoom video conferencing software — a success, saying the exam proved a “reliable and valid” assessment of doctors' GP skills.
More than 1100 fellowship candidates sat the three-day clinical role-playing exam in their homes.
According to the RACGP’s official exam report, the pass rate was 85%, similar to previous years.
The remote format replaced the OSCE because of the COVID-19 threat.
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New Zealand Reserve Bank urgently responding to 'illegal data breach'
By Tom Pullar-Strecker
January 10, 2021 — 1.55pm
Wellington: New Zealand's Reserve Bank says it is “responding with urgency” to a computer system breach.
The bank issued a statement shortly after 2pm (New Zealand time) on Sunday saying a “third party file sharing service” used by the bank to share and store some sensitive information, had been illegally accessed.
Governor Adrian Orr said the breach had been contained, but the bank was treating the matter with “the highest priority, and acting with urgency”.
“We are working closely with domestic and international cyber security experts and other relevant authorities as part of our investigation and response to this malicious attack,” Orr said in a statement.
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Data risk after RBNZ hit by cyber attack
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is urgently investigating a breach of one of its data systems after a third-party file sharing service used by the bank was illegally accessed.
The third-party service was used to share and store sensitive information, the central bank said in a statement.
RBNZ governor Adrian Orr said the breach had been contained, and
the bank was treating the matter at the highest priority.
“We are working closely with domestic and international cyber security experts and other relevant authorities as part of our investigation and response to this malicious attack.
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$24m ad campaign for COVID-19 aims to build consumer confidence
Australian Government details its proposed information and education national advertising campaign to support the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine
- Nadia Cameron (CMO)
· 11 January, 2021 15:56
Building Australian consumer confidence lies at the heart of the Federal Government’s $24 million advertising campaign to support the rollout of the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccination program.
The national public education advertising and communication campaign was first revealed by Federal Government minister for health and aged care, Greg Hunt, in late December and is due to launch alongside the first rollout of free COVID-19 vaccines across the country.
Valued at $23.9 million, the ad campaign will see the Government work in partnership with states and medical experts to explain regulatory processes to help convince target priority groups to get vaccinated. It will also detail the timing and rollout to assist people to understand how the vaccines work so they’re clear on when and where they can receive the vaccine, Minister Hunt has stated.
The national advertising campaign will debut across a number of channels, including social media, as well as communication specifically for priority groups, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/medtech-predictions-for-2021-1434273352
Medtech predictions for 2021
Wednesday, 06 January, 2021
Three Australian small-cap and start-up executives give their take on what we might see from the medtech industry in 2021.
Dr Hari Nair, Founder and Managing Director at Aegros
2020 has shown the importance of concentrating on advancing medical technology to deal with pandemics like COVID-19. I see 2021 bringing forth major advances in point-of-care diagnostics, including take-home diagnostics such as testing for COVID-19.
I also see advances in the use of respiratory technology for rapid oxygenation and treatment of respiratory diseases.
I envisage that technologies will emerge that allow us to set up major trauma centres in rapid time, including equipment that is portable but advanced enough to work as it would in a major treatment centre. Finally, there is an urgent need for home monitoring systems linked to major trauma centres so that patients who have milder forms of the disease can be monitored in real time but from home.
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CES 2021 Health Tech Gamut that Deserves our Undivided Attention
Guest Opinion: Despite the online-only Consumer Electronics Show featuring several innovations, our focus will strictly be on health-tech. From sleep study to top-notch ECGs, health-centric technology takes the cake at the CES 2021, more so in the wake of the existential threats concerning the pandemic.
Amid the wide range of health care modules, technologies, and concepts, it is the idea of remote healthcare that comes across as the most innovative. With 2020 being the most restrictive year in terms of free-willed movements, a majority of individuals shifted permanently to telemedicine. CES 2021 brings quite a few innovative technologies that further the concept of telemedicine and allow doctors to be more receptive and accommodative towards online patients.
However, the health-tech at CES is anything but restrictive as the leading OEMs and tech-firms have taken it upon themselves to attend to diverse medical disorders and conditions, including but not limited to neurological ailments, allergies, and cardiovascular health.
So let’s get the ball rolling by discussing the market-moving technologies:
HealthyU and Holistic Heart Monitoring
The concept of a seven-lead, multi-functional ECG machine gets a revamped layout at CES, with HD Medical introducing the all-in-one HealthyU for making vitals monitoring easier than ever. To start with, this prototype stacks several resources into one, including a reliable pulse oximeter, dedicated microphone for monitoring lung and heart sounds, blood pressure monitor, and a heart rate indicator. Regardless of these attributes, the gadget is supposed to be smaller than a standard GoPro camera.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/medicare-clarifies-existing-relationship-rule-gp-telehealth
Medicare clarifies 'existing relationship' rule for GP telehealth
It has confirmed any patient in mandatory isolation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic does not have to see their regular GP to claim a telehealth rebate
12th January 2021
The federal health department has issued new guidance on when GPs can claim telehealth items for patients with whom they don't have an “existing relationship".
Restrictions on the items were introduced last July amid a surge in pop-up clinics offering telehealth consults to patients they had never seen before.
They mean that patients must have seen the same GP, or a GP at the same practice, face-to-face in the 12 months before the telehealth consultation takes place.
But there is still widespread confusion about exemptions.
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Thursday, 14 January 2021 12:40
Fujitsu announces breakthrough in AI recognition of complex actions
Fujitsu has announced the development of an AI based technology that can recognise and analyse complex human movements.
The technology, developed by Fujitsu Laboratories, utilises deep learning to recognise the positions and connections of adjacent joints in complex movements or behaviour in which multiple joints move in tandem. This makes it possible to achieve greater accuracy in recognising, for example, when a person performs a complex task like removing objects from a box.
Fujitsu says the technology has achieved the world's highest accuracy in behaviour recognition, with significant gains over the results achieved using conventional technologies which don't make use of information on neighbouring joints.
Fujitsu says the technology can be used to perform checks of manufacturing procedures or unsafe behaviour in public spaces. Fujitsu scientists have presented the details of this technology at the 25th International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR 2020), which is being held online until Friday 15 January.
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Three ways Australian healthcare providers can ride out the ransomware wave
By Aaron Bugal, Global Solutions Engineer at Sophos
Friday, 18 December, 2020
As if coping with COVID-19 wasn’t enough of a challenge for the healthcare industry this year, in mid-November the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) issued a warning of an onslaught of ransomware attempts being launched by malicious actors against the Australian healthcare sector to extract valuable hospital data. Successful ransomware attacks can disable critical systems, which in a hospital could result in a life-threatening situation.
For instance, in September a ransomware attack in Dusseldorf, Germany, resulted in a hospital patient’s death. The death was caused by a delay in treatment, with the ransomware-crippled hospital being forced to transfer the patient to another facility.
So what are the risks?
An ACSC report published in October revealed that the healthcare industry is the most targeted sector by ransomware in Australia. But the sector has long been ripe for ransomware and other cyber attacks. And with decentralised operations across hospitals and healthcare providers, and exponentially growing volumes of patient health information being captured and stored electronically, the industry has become an increasingly appealing target.
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How tech can help combat workplace stress in aged care
By Tammy Sherwood, CEO of Person Centred Software Australia
Monday, 11 January, 2021
The aged-care industry is regularly cited as one of the most stressful industries to work in, with research finding that aged-care workers tend to work longer hours, get paid less and report more cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety compared with other professions. Considering the nature of the job itself — which involves caring for some of the most vulnerable people in society and therefore having to deal with emotional issues such as the deterioration of a resident’s health — it’s little surprise that stress is commonly experienced by care staff, and there’s no doubt that this will have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On top of the usual concerns, carers are now facing fear of personal infection and of passing infection on to friends and family members, with the potential toll of isolation, restricted movement and reduced social functioning further contributing to the problem.
In an aged-care setting, prolonged periods of high-level stress can compromise a professional’s ability to provide high-quality care to his or her residents. Therefore, it’s important that excess stress within the care environment is spotted and treated early, and that procedures are put in place to mitigate any feelings of unnecessary stress on the care workforce.
One solution that aged-care businesses can pursue — in order to help their employees to be healthier, happier and stress-free — is the use of technology within the care environment.
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One third of Australian users have not updated Covidsafe app
New data reveals that more than two million users are using an outdated version of the contact tracing app
Critics say the Australian government should have urged people to update the Covidsafe app from its launch. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Josh Taylor @joshgnosisThu 14 Jan 2021 16.43 AEDT
Last modified on Thu 14 Jan 2021 17.55 AEDT
Nearly one third of the seven million Australians who downloaded the Covidsafe app have not updated to the most recent version, as new figures show the government spend on the contact tracing app has risen to $14m.
The Covidsafe contact tracing app relies on as many people as possible running it, but new data reveals that more than two million users do not have the most up-to-date version.
In the nine months since the federal government launched the app, it has only identified 17 close contacts that were not found through manual contact tracing methods, all of them in New South Wales.
Part of the reason for the app’s lack of success in identifying contacts could be that almost one third could be using an older version, if they are still using the app. Since April, there have been a dozen software updates pushed out to fix bugs, security flaws, and make the app work more effectively on iPhones when the screen is locked.
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Google seals Fitbit deal, despite ACCC concerns
Google’s feisty rejection of Australian watchdog concerns about its Fitbit merger undertakings will force the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to suspend merger investigations and treat the matter as an enforcement investigation.
Google has formally completed its $US2.1 billion takeover of Fitbit ahead of clearance from the US Department of Justice and the ACCC.
The surprise move follows European Commission approval for the deal, after accepting undertakings ensuring the availability of data.
The ACCC issued a statement late last year saying it did not accept Google’s behavioural undertakings seeking to address competition concerns about its proposed acquisition the wearables supplier. It planned a decision on the deal on March 25.
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https://www.itwire.com/development/melbourne-researchers-lead-ai-breakthrough.html
Saturday, 09 January 2021 07:55
Melbourne researchers lead AI breakthrough
An international team of researchers led by Swinburne University of Technology has demonstrated the world’s fastest and most powerful optical neuromorphic processor for artificial intelligence.
The processor operates at mpre than 10 trillion operations per second (TeraOPs/s) and is capable of processing ultra-large scale data. Published in the prestigious journal Nature, the breakthrough represents an enormous leap forward for neural networks and neuromorphic processing in general.
Artificial neural networks, a key form of AI, can learn and perform complex operations with wide applications to computer vision, natural language processing, facial recognition, speech translation, playing strategy games, medical diagnosis and many other areas. Inspired by the biological structure of the brain’s visual cortex system, artificial neural networks extract key features of raw data to predict properties and behaviour with unprecedented accuracy and simplicity.
Led by Professor David Moss (Swinburne), DrMike Xu (Swinburne, Monash University) and Professor Arnan Mitchell (RMIT University) the team achieved an exceptional feat in optical neural networks by dramatically accelerating their computing speed and processing power.
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Centrelink IT overhaul spend hits $1 billion as WPIT enters final leg
By Justin Hendry on Jan 12, 2021 6:58AM
Seven-year project has saved $278 million so far.
Services Australia has now spent more than $1 billion redeveloping the Centrelink IT system under its massive, seven-year welfare payment infrastructure transformation (WPIT) program.
The dollar-figure – which covers the first five years of the overhaul (2015-16 to 2019-20) – was revealed in answers to question on notice from recent budget estimates published late last year.
A spokesperson would not say how much more had been spent on the project to replace the country's legacy income security integrated system (ISIS) since it entered the final leg in July 2020.
Total funding for the project stands at just under $1.6 billion after the government allocated $542.6 million to tranche four in last year’s federal budget.
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Working from home reboots personal computer market
· The Wall Street Journal
The shift to remote work is jolting the lacklustre personal computer market, as chief information officers and other corporate information-technology leaders raced to equip stay-at-home workers during the coronavirus pandemic, analysts say.
After a slowdown early in the year, total global shipments of personal computers in 2020 surged 11 per cent from 2019, to 297 million units, according to a report by research firm Canalys.
The gains represent the sharpest full-year growth rate in a decade, and the highest volume of PC shipments since 2014, the report said.
Within the market, shipments of notebooks and mobile workstations rose 44 per cent from 2019, to more than 235 million units, while conventional desktops and workstations declined 20 per cent to 61.9 million.
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KPMG urges use of blockchain to ensure COVID-19 vaccine integrity
Big four consulting firm KPMG is calling for the use of blockchain technology to be incorporated into Australia’s COVID-19 immunisation program to safeguard the integrity of the vaccine and prevent the potential spread of counterfeit products.
Blockchain, known by many as the technology underpinning the bitcoin digital currency, can also be used to track and trace products across a supply chain, ensuring authenticity and how the product has been treated at each point in distribution — a critical point for something as temperature-sensitive as a COVID-19 vaccine.
KPMG partner Peter Liddell said a blockchain platform could be ready within weeks and help instil greater confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.
“This is a classic example where 21st century technology plays an important part of keeping us safe with a very precious commodity,” Mr Liddell said.
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ADHA Software Developer Community Announcement
Clinical Package Validator
v3.2 - Released
The Australian Digital Health Agency has released version 3.2 of the Clinical Package Validator.
This version of the Validator introduces validation capabilities for Secure Message Delivery (SMD) messages and HL7 v2 messages:
Validation of HL7 v2 messages
- Referral messages (REF_I12)
- Order messages (ORM_O01)
- Observation result messages (ORU_R01)
- MDM messages (MDM_T02)
- Referral acknowledgement messages (ACK_I12)
- Referral response messages (RRI_I12)
- Order acknowledgement messages (ACK_O01)
- Order response messages (ORR_O02)
- Observation result acknowledgement messages (ACK_R01)
- MDM acknowledgement messages (ACK_T02)
- MDM messages (MDM_T02)
For a more detailed description of the changes, please refer to the Release Note.
Who does this affect?
- Developers of systems sending or receiving SMD messages
- Developers of systems generating or consuming HL7 v2 messages
- System integrators
More Information
Clinical Package Validator v3.2 is available for download from:
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https://developer.digitalhealth.gov.au/events/mobile-software-developer-webinar-20-january-2021
Mobile Software Developer Webinar (20 January, 2021)
Wednesday, 20 January 2021 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Online Webinar (Note times are AEST)
To register, click on the button below:
The Australian Digital Health Agency is presenting a one hour introduction to integrating mobile applications with the My Health Record system.
The objective of this session is to provide participants with foundational information about how consumer apps can be integrated with My Health Record.
Topics covered include:
- Technical APIs and Interaction Models
- Developer Onboarding Process & Application Requirements
Who should attend?
These introductory webinars are for Software Developers wishing to integrate their applications with the My Health Record system.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-cuts-average-number-of-users-per-wireless-cell-to-19-559707
NBN Co cuts average number of users per wireless cell to 19
By Ry Crozier on Jan 13, 2021 4:31PM
Down from a peak of up to 60.
NBN Co said it has reduced the number of users per fixed wireless cell from “historical levels of around 60” down to 19 “on average”.
The company said that reducing the average number of users per cell was one initiative it had undertaken to “achieve increased data rates for users”.
It was also optimising “end user radio conditions” and “actively balancing user profiles” as part of the same package of works, it said in a statement today.
“Following a 20 percent increase in the number of active cells in the last twelve months, there are currently 19 users per cell on average, a reduction from historical levels of around 60,” NBN Co said in a statement.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/nbn-approaches-1gbps-using-mmwave-5g-over-distances-of-7-kilometres/
NBN approaches 1Gbps using mmWave 5G over distances of 7 kilometres
Government-owned national broadband wholesaler testing 5G for its fixed wireless footprint.
By Chris Duckett | January 12, 2021 -- 23:22 GMT (10:22 AEDT) | Topic: 5G
The company responsible for the National Broadband Network (NBN) has laid claim to a world record for long-range millimetre wave transmission, saying it hit "close to 1Gbps" across a distance of 7.3 kilometres.
The trial was carried out at Mortlake, Victoria, alongside Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Casa Systems. NBN said it expects to hit longer distances in the future.
5G is being examined as an upgrade path for NBN's fixed wireless network, which covers 620,000 premises across the country. NBN said more than 90% of those premises would fall within 7.3km of a tower.
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Wednesday, 13 January 2021 10:07
nbn claims '5G long-range transmission world record' for fixed wireless
Claiming a "world-record" for long-range 5G transmission using mmWave technology, Australia's government-owned National Broadband Network company is actively developing "new options to further optimise the performance and customer experience of the nbn Fixed Wireless network".
In live testing at an "nbn proof of concept site" near Mortlake,
Victoria, pictured above, nbn and its technology partners, Ericsson,
Qualcomm
Technologies Inc. and Casa
Systems, say they have achieved "a stable 5G mmWave transmission of
close to 1Gbps at a distance of 7.3km, double the distance recorded at the site
just three months ago, and a new record globally. nbn anticipates ongoing
testing to demonstrate even longer range capability in the future”.
We are advised, however, that “these speeds were achieved in the context of a trial and are not necessarily reflective of the speeds that will be experienced by end customers”, which makes sense given the fact the trial site is obviously one where there aren’t huge buildings in the way and the massive density of people and 5G devices that you’d find in a city centre.
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Enjoy!
David.
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