It Seems We Are Being Let Down By Governments All Over – We Need To Demand Better!

This sad tale appeared last week:

Chief Health Officer knew about police accessing SafeWA data in January, but ministers clueless until March

By Hamish Hastie

June 23, 2021 — 7.03pm

Questions have been raised over why ministers did not find out before late March that police were accessing SafeWA user check-in data, with West Australian Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson revealing he was first told about the issue in early January.

Dr Robertson told an upper house committee on Wednesday morning his contact tracing team first told him WA Police were requesting access to the data in early January, which he then relayed to either WA Health director-general David Russell-Weisz or an acting director general shortly after.

The first order to produce the data was made on December 14 in relation to the shooting death of former Rebels boss Nick Martin at Kwinana Motorplex on December 12. Police were granted check-in data for more than 2400 people who attended the motorplex that night.

Police made six more requests for data since December but only one other – information relating to a stabbing in Victoria Park in February – was granted.

When the SafeWA app and mandatory contact registrations were announced in November last year Health Minister Roger Cook promoted them with concrete assurances the data would only be used for health purposes.

Mr Cook said he found out about the access in late March while Premier Mark McGowan found out mid-April, but the news triggered urgent legislation to close the loophole available to police to retain public trust in the app. That bill passed parliament last week.

While Dr Robertson conceded his recollections of when he found out were not exact they put into question the timeline Dr Russell-Weisz has put forward.

In front of the same upper house committee Dr Russell-Weisz said he had “informally” found out about the access requests in late February but it was only raised with him formally by the Public Health Team around March 10, after which he immediately raised the issue with Police Commissioner Chris Dawson.

The opposition raised questions over why relevant ministers found out about the data access months after such senior health figures had been made aware.

Upper house Liberal MP Nick Goiran said he found it hard to comprehend why the ministers were not made aware earlier.

Dr Robertson said police and WA Health were discussing the issues internally and put protocols in place to manage requests.

Mr Cook maintained the earliest he became aware of the issue was at the end of March when he was notified by the director general in a briefing note.

Opposition Leader Mia Davies asked Mr Cook in Parliament whether there had been a failure in communication by bureaucrats to escalate the issue but he said there were a lot of discussions that happened in the background at departments before going to ministers.

A detailed time line follows the article here:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/western-australia/chief-health-officer-knew-about-police-accessing-safewa-data-in-january-but-ministers-clueless-until-march-20210623-p583mg.html

And then we had this:

How a bunch of data nerds shamed government to release vaccine data

A group of community data and digital evangelists have been extracting most of the data the public reads and sees about COVID-19.

Tom Burton Government editor

Jun 22, 2021 – 5.22pm

How many people have been vaccinated in Australia? This is the simple question a group of young data and digital evangelists has been pushing the federal government to answer for nearly four months.

Frustrated by the lack of vaccination data, young Melbourne data specialist Anthony Macali set up a hack to scrape the data from the back of the West Australian health site.

“WA was the only state actually publishing fully vaccinated data for the different states,” Macali explains.

“They have the high level numbers on the site, but if you want to be super precise it’s better to get as many decimal points as you can.”

Using Google’s readily available Chrome developer tool box, Macali was able to scrape the data his data colleagues, media groups and the general public have been yearning for.

“It’s a bit fiddly. You got to know which JSON (on open data-sharing format) source to find and it took a little bit of digging.

“I needed to be confident that this number was as accurate as I could before pointing it out to the international outlets.”

Macali’s collaborators have reverse engineered this data to derive estimates of first- and second-dose data now being published by various sites. It is this data, in the absence of official numbers, that mainstream media have relied upon for their broadcasting, publishing and graphics efforts.

In the absence of official government data, Macali’s site has become the de facto source for Oxford University’s global site, Our World in Data. This is the leading site health authorities and governments from around the world use for tracking COVID-19.

“If you look at some of the other countries missing second doses – countries like China, Saudi Arabia – it’s highlighted that if I had not done this dashboard hack we would be in the same group as them,” Macali said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s newly hand-picked tsar of the federal government’s vaccine program, Lieutenant-General John Frewen, finally committed to publishing this data. Not immediately but “at the earliest opportunity”.

Frewen’s commitment was met on Twitter by a collective cheer from Macali and his community data wonks, who since March last year have worked voluntarily to get Australia’s COVID-19 data out of the dark ages.

Working in tandem with major media outlets and other volunteer analysts, it is this group that has dragged governments across the country into publishing real time data in easy-to-understand formats on the pandemic.

Apart from Macali, in the loose group of evangelists has been former Sydney Morning Herald web producer Juliette O’Brien, aided by veteran web pioneer Carlos Monteiro and a team of volunteers.

O’Brien’s site, covid19data.com.au, was the first to go live, built on a simple open platform called Wix, and has been visited by more than 2.5 million users.

As the pandemic was breaking, O’Brien was working at the Herald and wanted to put a chart into a story.

“At that stage, Australia had about 40 cases. As a digital journalist, I was kind of used to being a bit of a Jill of all trades, in a digital way. I wasn’t really a data expert or a data person, but I knew my way around the spreadsheet and I was able to pull things together just using a few out-of-the-box tools,” says O’Brien, who 15 months later is still at it.

“I’ve done it seven days a week since March 2020. And the motivation came from the huge wave of public interest there was for up-to-date data.

”If there weren’t so much interest in it then I wouldn’t have continued.”

O’Brien has relied upon about $70,000 of donations to “keep the lights on” and to improve the site, declaring it has been the coalition of collaborators that has made the whole exercise possible.

“I remember back in March last year being on a Zoom at around midnight with a data scientist in Melbourne who I’d never met, figuring out how to chart the exponential growth of Australian cases.”

Another collaborator has been Jessica Urquhart, a Queensland woman who early last year took it upon herself to begin tweeting under the account COVID_Australia the many daily pandemic updates from around Australia.

It has been pulling the data from the various state announcements in near real time, often classified in a mishmash of different categorisations, multiple timings and revisions that has been the greatest challenge for the open data collaborators.

“The data is only a couple of thousand lines and 10 or 20 different metrics. It’s nothing crazy in the big scale of things,” Macali says.

Lots more here:

https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/how-a-bunch-of-data-nerds-shamed-government-to-release-vaccine-data-20210622-p5835p

What we have here, it seems to me, are bureaucracies working hard to make sure the public are misled as to what is being done with their data or preventing the public getting no real data as to what is actually going on!

When did we reach the stage that the public are mealy data subjects to be ignored or ‘mushrooms’ to just to be kept in ignorance? I don’t know but it is time the trend really needs to reverse!

David.

 

Commentators and Journalists Weigh In On Digital Health And Related Privacy, Safety, Social Media And Security Matters. Lots Of Interesting Perspectives - June 29, 2021.

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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! Its pretty sad!

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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https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/exploring-moreland/events/whats-on/dental-health-and--my-health-record/

Dental Health and My Health Record

Moreland City Libraries and Merri Health are providing these free health information sessions where you can learn about the importance of dental health and what your My Digital Health Record is. ADHA Propaganda

 

• Thursday 15 July               with Urdu interpreter
• Thursday 12 August          with Arabic interpreter
• Thursday 26 August          with Pashto interpreter
• Thursday 9 September      with Turkish interpreter

Registration is essential.

Free child-minding for parents who register and attend full information session.

Conditions apply.

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https://www.innovationaus.com/expedited-data-sharing-legislation-sails-through-parliament/

Data-sharing legislation sails through Parliament

Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter

25 June 2021

Legislation facilitating an expedited data-sharing deal with the US has sailed through Parliament in minutes with bipartisan support and not even a debate, just days after Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed the bill did not have bipartisan support.

The International Production Orders (IPO) bill passed through the lower house late on Wednesday night with a number of amendments following 23 recommendations from the national security committee.

It was then passed quickly by the Senate on Thursday, the last sitting day until August. Both times it was not debated by either major parties, with Labor and the Greens tabling their speeches due to a lack of time.

This was despite a number of concerns surrounding the legislation in terms of privacy and human rights protections, and previous claims that it did not have bipartisan support.

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https://www.innovationaus.com/govt-fails-to-deliver-covidsafe-report/

Govt fails to deliver COVIDSafe report

Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter

25 June 2021

The federal government has failed to produce a six-monthly report on the effectiveness of its COVIDSafe contact tracing app during the winter sitting of Parliament, despite promising to do so and it now being in used for well over a year.

As part of legislation introduced to underpin privacy safeguards around COVIDSafe, the Health Minister is required to produce a report on the operation and effectiveness of the app and the national database every six months, and to table it in Parliament within 15 sitting days of its completion.

These reports must be prepared “as soon as practicable after the end of each six-month period”.

“This is designed to ensure an appropriate degree of transparency and to build public confidence in the strong privacy protections that will apply under this bill,” the legislation said.

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https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/nominate-for-the-aidh-board-by-22-july/

Nominate for the AIDH Board by 22 July

Jun 24, 2021 | Board

You can be a leader in the digital health community and help drive the movement for better, connected healthcare.
AIDH Fellows and Members are invited to consider nominating for a Board position this year, sharing their expertise and knowledge and taking a leadership role at the Institute.

There are three vacancies for a three-year term and one vacancy for a one-year term.

• Elections will be held via e-voting only.
• The AGM will be held on Thursday 2 September 2021 with further details of this hybrid event to be announced in due course.
• The official notice of the AGM, the agenda and the Board nominee statements will be distributed on Thursday 5 August 2021.

If you would like to nominate, please read through the documentation and complete the nomination form, include your photograph and 150-word candidate statement letting Fellows and Members know why they should elect you to their Board and what you can bring to the digital health community by sitting on the Board.

NOMINATION PROCESS DOCUMENT

NOMINATION FORM

Nominations close at 5pm AEST Thursday 22 July 2021

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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/western-australia/chief-health-officer-knew-about-police-accessing-safewa-data-in-january-but-ministers-clueless-until-march-20210623-p583mg.html

Chief Health Officer knew about police accessing SafeWA data in January, but ministers clueless until March

By Hamish Hastie

June 23, 2021 — 7.03pm

Questions have been raised over why ministers did not find out before late March that police were accessing SafeWA user check-in data, with West Australian Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson revealing he was first told about the issue in early January.

Dr Robertson told an upper house committee on Wednesday morning his contact tracing team first told him WA Police were requesting access to the data in early January, which he then relayed to either WA Health director-general David Russell-Weisz or an acting director general shortly after.

The first order to produce the data was made on December 14 in relation to the shooting death of former Rebels boss Nick Martin at Kwinana Motorplex on December 12. Police were granted check-in data for more than 2400 people who attended the motorplex that night.

Police made six more requests for data since December but only one other – information relating to a stabbing in Victoria Park in February – was granted.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/police-debacle-undermines-public-trust-in-covid-app/47788

24 June 2021

Police debacle undermines public trust in covid app

COVID-19 Public Health Technology

QR code contact-tracing apps are a crucial part of our defence against covid.

But their value depends on being widely used, which in turn means people using these apps need to be confident their data won’t be misused.

That’s why this week’s revelation that Western Australian police accessed data gathered using the SafeWA app are a serious concern.

WA Premier Mark McGowan’s government has enjoyed unprecedented public support for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic thus far. But this incident risks undermining the WA public’s trust in their state’s contact-tracing regime.

While the federal government’s relatively expensive COVIDSafe tracking app — which was designed to work automatically via Bluetooth — has become little more than the butt of jokes, the scanning of QR codes at all kinds of venues has now become second nature to many Australians.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/microsoft-unveils-windows-11-566445

Microsoft unveils Windows 11

By Stephen Nellis on Jun 25, 2021 6:35AM

Looks to challenge Apple's business model.

Microsoft on Thursday showed Windows 11, its first major operating system revamp since 2015 with new changes that take direct aim at Apple's lucrative App Store business model.

Windows 11, which will hit the market by the end of this year, will include a new Windows Store that will let software developers use their own in-app payment systems and pay no commissions to Microsoft.

It will also let users both find and run Android mobile applications on their laptops and PCs, thanks to technology assistance from both Amazon and Intel.

The moves stand in contrast to Apple's "walled garden" approach, in which the iPhone maker only lets users download software from the App Store and imposes controls on software developers, including a requirement to use Apple's in-app payment systems and pay commissions of up to 30 percent.

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https://www.smh.com.au/technology/microsoft-debuts-windows-11-first-major-update-in-six-years-20210625-p5845h.html

Microsoft debuts Windows 11, first major update in six years

By Matt O'Brien

June 25, 2021 — 5.43am

Microsoft has unveiled the next generation of its Windows software, called Windows 11, that has sleeker visual features and is more open to third-party apps.

The newest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system announced will be a successor to today’s Windows 10, which the company introduced in 2015.

In a challenge to rival Apple, the company also announced that it won’t force app developers to pay fees to Microsoft for using its app store; and that Google’s popular Android apps will run on its new system.

Windows 11 is expected to become available later this year on new computers and other devices and as a free update for those with Windows 10. It includes a host of cosmetic upgrades, such as a new Start button, a revamped task bar and sounds, and under-the-hood features designed to boost speed and efficiency.

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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/mhr-proof-of-vaccinations

Getting proof of vaccination from My Health Record

If you need to prove you’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19, you can get an immunisation history statement from My Health Record.  ADHA Propaganda

This statement shows all your vaccinations recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register, including COVID-19 vaccinations.

Different ways to get proof of vaccination

If you use an app to access My Health Record, you can get your immunisation history statement from the immunisation section of the app.

Find out how to access My Health Record through an app.

If you’re using a browser, follow the steps below.

Get your statement from My Health Record

Use the quick link in myGov

Anyone 14 or over and managing their own My Health Record can get their immunisation history statement from their record.

You can do this even if you are not eligible for Medicare or DVA benefits.

Find out how to get a My Health Record without a Medicare or DVA card.

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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/podcasts/my-health-record-general-practice

Podcasts • My Health Record

My Health Record: General practice

Published 23 June 2021 ADHA Propaganda

Discover how My Health Record benefits both patients and doctors with advice from leading health professionals using this system in general practice.

Speakers: Dr Andrew Rochford (Facilitator), Dr Peter Del Fante (Clinical Reference Lead, General Practitioner, Public Health Physician), Dr Charlotte Hespe (Director, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Board), Dr Christine Pascott (Agency Board Member) and Dr Mike Bainbridge (Agency Board Member).

Subscribe and listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/new-system-aims-to-reduce-healthcare-admin-burden

New system aims to reduce healthcare admin burden

The online initiative is designed to cut red tape for general practices and other healthcare providers and will be made available across the country.

Jolyon Attwooll

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23 Jun 2021

The Provider Connect Australia (PCA) system is designed to allow healthcare providers to update their information online only once, rather than having to change multiple directories.
 
It is now being developed for nationwide use by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), following a ‘proof of concept’ trial in north New South Wales.
 
The CEO of the agency Amanda Cattermole said that the PCA system will ‘enable up-to-date, consistent information to be available right across the healthcare system’.
 
‘It really is around ... [enabling] health providers to interact with each other more securely instead of having to go through different directories, [and] look at multiple systems and use multiple steps when they try and communicate,’ she told newsGP. 
 
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https://www.innovationaus.com/labor-not-happy-about-supporting-online-safety-bill/

Labor ‘not happy’ about supporting Online Safety Bill

Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter

18 June 2021

The Online Safety Bill will pass Parliament after Labor offered its support for the controversial legislation despite being “not happy” about the way it has been delivered, and the Greens labelling it “utterly undercooked”.

The legislation was briefly debated in the Senate this week and will likely pass the upper house next week, with the support of Labor after the Opposition negotiated a numer of amendments with the government.

The Online Safety Bill extends the online content takedown scheme to Australian adults, allowing for the issuing of removal notices for content deemed to be rated as R18+ and higher, and to order the sites and apps to be blocked if they don’t comply.

Communications minister Paul Fletcher has said the bill “gives new protections for Australian adults subjected to seriously harmful cyber abuse” and “widens” the powers of the eSafety Commissioner.

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https://www.itwire.com/entertainment/the-acma-more-aussies-watching-and-listening-to-internet-content.html

Wednesday, 23 June 2021 16:03

More Aussies watching and listening to Internet content: ACMA

By Chris Coughlan

Aussies are watching more content online, with 55% of them watching video via online subscriptions in a week.

New ACMA research highlights that Australia’s love of watching and listening to content online continues to grow.

The ACMAs latest interactive report, Communications and media in Australia: How we watch and listen to content, shows streaming and subscription services soared in popularity in 2020.

The report examines the ways Australians are watching and listening to online and offline content and services – and the devices we use. Highlights include:

• Australian adults spent more time watching TV and online content in 2020 – an average of 28.5 hours in the week prior to the survey. This increased from 21.4 hours in 2019.
• The popularity of subscription services rose, with 55% of Australians watching video content via online subscription services in the previous 7 days.
• Mobile phones were the most popular device used to stream video content at home in 2020, followed by smart TVs and laptops.
• Over one-third (36%) of Aussie adults watched catch-up TV in the past week, up since 2017. However, watching live free-to-air TV fell over the 4 years.
• The number of adults tuning in to radio remained steady, while those listening to a music streaming service increased.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/online-safety-bill-passes-the-australian-senate-566352

Online safety bill passes the Australian senate

By Kate Weber on Jun 23, 2021 12:26PM

After being introduced in February.

A controversial online safety bill passed the Australian senate on Tuesday night, moving the rules closer to becoming law.

The Online Safety Bill 2021 establishes schemes to protect cyber abuse victims by forcing social media companies, internet and hosting providers to remove harmful material within 24 hours.

The eSafety commissioner will also be granted stronger powers to block access to domains and URLs where material is hosted.

Communications minister Paul Fletcher, who introduced the bill to the federal government in February, said “the Act represents a step-change for eSafety”.

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https://wildhealth.net.au/rethinking-our-interoperability-paradigm-in-the-cloud/

22 June 2021

Rethinking our interoperability paradigm: in the cloud

Cloud Interoperability

By Jeremy Knibbs

What happens if government puts a stake in the ground, as has occurred in the US and the UK, and says to local providers and vendors, enough is enough, you’ve all got five years to be open and interoperable to this standard?

Interoperability is a dirty word.

It promised us so much but has disappointed us so much more.

It dictates nearly all of our serious thinking time in digital health. We are obsessed with the word, with the problem.

It drains away enormous amounts of funding in all sorts of ways which somehow are never in any meaningful alignment.

If you look at the interoperability scoreboard in the last two decades, you don’t see many wins: perhaps electronic prescribing is a notable recent exception, although this is still not working properly.

In the context of our current digital health infrastructure, it has been significant. That context is that we really don’t have a digital health infrastructure as such.

What we have is a fragmented melange of one government moonshot (now lost in space), several secure messaging dead ends, state government ‘not invented here’ bespoke solutions, , most focussed at the tertiary sector, and a primary care sector stranded in legacy land.

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https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/how-a-bunch-of-data-nerds-shamed-government-to-release-vaccine-data-20210622-p5835p

How a bunch of data nerds shamed government to release vaccine data

A group of community data and digital evangelists have been extracting most of the data the public reads and sees about COVID-19.

Tom Burton Government editor

Jun 22, 2021 – 5.22pm

How many people have been vaccinated in Australia? This is the simple question a group of young data and digital evangelists has been pushing the federal government to answer for nearly four months.

Frustrated by the lack of vaccination data, young Melbourne data specialist Anthony Macali set up a hack to scrape the data from the back of the West Australian health site.

“WA was the only state actually publishing fully vaccinated data for the different states,” Macali explains.

“They have the high level numbers on the site, but if you want to be super precise it’s better to get as many decimal points as you can.”

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https://www.zdnet.com/article/human-rights-commission-asks-ndis-to-remember-robo-debt-in-automation-push/

Human Rights Commission asks NDIS to remember robo-debt in automation push

Australian Human Rights Commissioner has cautioned the use of artificial intelligence in government decision-making, asking it ensure the algorithm is fair, accurate, and accountable.

By Asha Barbaschow | June 22, 2021 -- 06:16 GMT (16:16 AEST) | Topic: Innovation

Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Commissioner Edward Santow has cautioned the federal government against using artificial intelligence in any further decision-making, highlighting the risk to human rights AI can pose.

Santow, speaking on Tuesday about the recently released Human Rights and Technology Report, pointed to the Centrelink online compliance intervention program -- of which the automation element became colloquially known as robo-debt -- to highlight this risk.

"Our concerns about the use of AI in decision-making, especially in really important decision-making -- I'm very conscious that in the move towards the use of independent assessments in the NDIA that there is a risk that some of the mistakes that were made with regard to robo-debt could be made again in this context," he said.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) announced the introduction of independent assessments for NDIS participants. They are designed, according to the government, to make sure access to the NDIS is fair and equitable for new and existing participants.

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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/ransomware-attacks-on-health-sector-growing-in-number-and-sophistication/news-story/84ac538b5d059fd78b9bf0c1921ba198

Ransomware attacks on health sector growing in number and sophistication

Chris Griffith

5:42PM June 21, 2021

Hospitals, medical and health centres and aged-care facilities remain vulnerable to ransomware attacks that show no sign of abating.

Those conducting the attacks are becoming increasingly bold and less concerned about the consequences that can affect internet-facing equipment such as wearable biosensors and remote monitoring systems.

Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting major infrastructure – Colonial Pipeline in the eastern US and Australia’s largest meatworks JBS are two recent cases.

Hospitals and medical facilities are of greatest concern because the breakdown of an internal IT system could have a huge impact on patients’ treatments.

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https://www.wsfm.com.au/lifestyle/dr-andrew-rochford-answers-your-digital-health-questions-2/

Dr Andrew Rochford Answers Your Digital Health Questions

By Writer

21 June, 2021 ADHA Propaganda

With so many changes happening all around us when it comes to our health, we asked the one and only Dr Rochford to help us answer your questions about Digital Health, and about the options now available for all Australians to access.

YOUR QUESTION: How can I be sure my health record is keeping my information private and secure?

Dr ROCHFORD: Security is a key design element of the My Health Record system, which adheres to Australian Government security requirements. Many safeguards are in place to protect the information held in the My Health Record system, such as strong encryption, firewalls to block unauthorised access, audit logs to track access to records, initial and regular anti-virus scanning of documents uploaded to records, and system monitoring to detect suspicious activity.

There are people, processes, technologies and legislation keeping the information held in My Health Record safe.

People – The My Health Record system is monitored by the Cyber Security Centre within the Australian Digital Health Agency. All personnel involved with the administration of the system undergo security checks.

Process – A range of security processes limit access to the My Health Record system. External software goes through a conformance process before it is allowed to connect to the system. This includes healthcare provider software and mobile applications.

Technology – There is a range of technology to protect the sensitive personal and health information held in the My Health Record system.

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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4c9d1fbd-a4bd-4dca-b0ed-b547308419a6

A final word on privacy

Holding Redlich - Angela Flannery

Australia June 17 2021

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) announced on 26 May 2021 that it is undertaking an assessment of compliance with section 15.1 of the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies – Governance) Code 2017 (Code).

What is the Code?

The Code was made under section 26G of the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). It applies to all Commonwealth agencies that are subject to the Privacy Act (excluding Ministers).

The Code is limited to addressing governance issues relating to compliance with the Privacy Act, including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Accordingly, the focus of the Code is on APP 1, which sets out the core requirements for regulated entities to manage personal information in an open and transparent way. In particular, APP 1.2 requires entities to take positive steps, which should be documented, to both establish and maintain internal practices, procedures and systems that comply with the APPs.

Given its focus, the Code has four specific objectives, as set out in section 6:

• to set out what agencies must do to comply with APP 1.2;
• to enhance the privacy capability and accountability of agencies;
• to promote good privacy governance and a positive privacy culture; and
• to build public trust in the privacy practices of agencies.

What is the OAIC assessing?

The OAIC’s assessment is limited to considering compliance with section 15.1 of the Code. That section requires each regulated agency to maintain a register of their Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and to publish that register on its website.

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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/article/the-role-of-video-telehealth-in-supporting-australia-s-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-814886546

The role of video telehealth in supporting Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout

By Dr Silvia Pfeiffer, CEO and Co-founder of Coviu
Friday, 18 June, 2021

The force of the pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for Australia’s healthcare system. Now, with the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out across the country, Australia’s healthcare system is continuing to be stretched.

Throughout the pandemic, telehealth has proven its value to the industry, consumers and healthcare practitioners alike, with a whopping 97% of Aussie GPs now using telehealth to provide healthcare services, compared to just 15% before the pandemic. Additionally, the federal government recently announced that telehealth support as part of the Medicare Benefits Schedule has been extended, meaning it is still a cost-effective and safe way for Australians to consult their healthcare providers as we enter this next stage of COVID normal.

Telehealth can play a critical role in supporting the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Overseas, the UK and US are using telehealth to improve vaccine efficiencies, from addressing patient concerns to supporting patient follow-ups. This reveals an opportunity for telehealth to be similarly leaned on here in Australia.

The role of video telehealth

Telehealth provides an alternative to many in-person consultations and provides an important tool for ensuring accessible health care. Phone and video telehealth are the common modalities; however, there can be limitations to phone consultations, such as not being able to physically see a patient’s facial expression.

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https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2021/22/gps-put-down-the-phone-and-switch-on-the-webcam/

GPs: put down the phone and switch on the webcam

Authored by  Andrew Baird

Issue 22 / 21 June 2021

MY OWN review of Medicare data for GP services for the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 highlights some interesting trends in the use of video for GP telehealth consultations.

The Australian Government paid $49.5 million in Medicare benefits for Australian GP video telehealth services conducted in the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. It paid $1.8 billion in Medicare benefits for Australian GP phone services in the same period. For every Medicare dollar spent on video telehealth services, 36 Medicare dollars were spent on phone services.

In the same 12-month period, there were 149 213 674 GP services – 72.0% were in-person, 27.4% were by phone, 0.6% were by video, 97.7% of GP telehealth services were by phone, and 2.3% of GP telehealth services were by video. Video was used for 0.6% of Level A, B, C and D attendances; for 0.6% of chronic disease management items; and for 1.4% of mental health items.

The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) states “videoconference services are the preferred approach for substituting a face-to-face consultation. However, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providers will also be able to offer audio-only services via telephone if video is not available”.

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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-wall-street-journal/the-world-relies-on-one-chip-maker-in-taiwan-leaving-everyone-vulnerable/news-story/48935af26913cea8eaa5455e5722f1a1

Chip maker’s dominance leaves world vulnerable

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s dominance poses risks to the global economy, amid geopolitical tensions and a major chip shortage.

By Yang Jie, Stephanie Yang, Asa Fitch

From Dow Jones

20 June, 2021

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s chips are everywhere, though most consumers don’t know it.

The company makes almost all of the world’s most sophisticated chips, and many of the simpler ones, too. They’re in billions of products with built-in electronics, including iPhones, personal computers and cars — all without any obvious sign they came from TSMC, which does the manufacturing for better-known companies that design them, like Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.

TSMC has emerged over the past several years as the world’s most important semiconductor company, with enormous influence over the global economy. With a market cap of around $550 billion, it ranks as the world’s 11th most valuable company.

Its dominance leaves the world in a vulnerable position, however. As more technologies require chips of mind-boggling complexity, more are coming from this one company, on an island that’s a focal point of tensions between the U.S. and China, which claims Taiwan as its own.

Analysts say it will be difficult for other manufacturers to catch up in an industry that requires hefty capital investments. And TSMC can’t make enough chips to satisfy everyone — a fact that has become even clearer amid a global shortage, adding to the chaos of supply bottlenecks, higher prices for consumers and furloughed workers, especially in the auto industry.

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Comments more than welcome!

David.

 

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 28 June, 2021.

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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Seems State Budget Season has brought a little financial cheer to the Digital Health Sector.

Otherwise not much big news this week – but a good deal of private sector action announced.

We also note the US does not understand UFOs. What news!

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https://idm.net.au/article/0013489-digital-health-agency-flies-edrms-cloud

Digital Health Agency flies into EDRMS Cloud

Friday, June 25, 2021 - 12:36

The Australian Digital Health Agency, the government agency in charge of the country’s $A2 billion My Health Record system, has adopted iCognition’s Electronic Document and Records Management as-a-service cloud solution, EDRMSaaS.

iCognition won an open tender to deliver the SaaS solution in a contract worth over $A500K.

EDRMSaaS.Cloud offers a SaaS deployment of Micro Focus Content Manager, including iCognition’s in-house developed solutions for collaborative workspaces, publishing, line-of-business application connectors, data migration tools and specific automated functions.

The Australian Digital Health Agency was established in 2016 taking over operation of the former Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).

It is a statutory authority jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the states and territories. The Agency expects to have more than 500 EDRMSaaS users working from offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/health-tech-wins-big-in-nsw-budget/47781

24 June 2021

Health tech wins big in NSW budget

Political The Hill

By Holly Payne

In what it is calling a record investment in health, the NSW Liberal government has committed more than $30 billion to the sector in this week’s budget announcement.

As expected, big chunks of change are heading straight to the pandemic front lines, funding PPE, vaccine distribution and pop-up clinics.

Major health infrastructure projects and rural health, all told, were allocated $4 billion for health capital projects across regional and metro areas.

Digital health was the next biggest winner, with $500 million in funding earmarked for various projects over the next four years, including the Single Digital Patient Record, Real Time Prescription Monitoring and the NSW Telestroke Service.

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https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/new-south-wales-invests-106m-single-emr-system

New South Wales invests $106M in single EMR system

Adam Ang | 23 Jun 2021

The government of New South Wales has set aside a total of AU$30.2 billion ($22.8 billion) in its 2021-2022 budget for NSW Health, the state's ministry of health.

Among budget items under the Health Cluster, an initiative to unify NSW's present EMR solutions is getting $141 million ($106.3 million) "to enhance care coordination, further digitisation, improve patient experience and increase service sustainability."

WHY IT MATTERS

The initiative refers to the Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) system project, which envisions a "single, holistic, statewide view of every patient – and for that information to be readily accessible to anyone involved in the patient’s care", according to Dr Zoran Bolevich, chief information officer of NSW Health.

NSW Health said in December that the SDPR will consolidate the geographically fragmented health record systems in the state, including the Patient Administration System (PAS), the Electronic Medical Record (eMR) and the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), into a unified platform.

The single EMR platform will help clinicians get "better informed", while patients will have a "more seamless" care experience. "It will give patients the confidence that regardless of where they live or which service they attend, their information will be available to their treating clinician in its entirety," the statement read.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/sa-budget-sinks-20m-into-cyber-security-to-protect-govt-systems-566363

SA budget sinks $20m into cyber security to protect govt systems

By Justin Hendry on Jun 23, 2021 3:24PM

As the state's core policing system gets another $21m funding shot.

The SA government has set aside more than $20 million in this year’s state budget to help protect its systems from cyber attacks.

Budget documents handed down on Tuesday show an “immediate investment” worth $20.6 million over three years to “enhance [the] cyber security of government systems”.

The funding – which will flow to the Department of Premier and Cabinet – will be used to “improve whole-of-government ICT cyber security systems and processes”.

More than half of the $20.6 million investment will be spent in 2021-22, with just $4.9 million and $4.7 million allocated in 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively.

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https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/bundaberg/as-telstra-readies-its-bid-for-medical-director-developed-in-bundaberg-speculation-is-swirling-on-the-comparative-value-of-its-sibling-best-practice/news-story/f884aa1c64f6e09cd57e18a25370a403

Telstra poised for Medical Director bid as Best Practice estimated at $1b

As Telstra readies its bid for Medical Director, developed in Bundaberg, speculation is swirling on the comparative value of its sibling Best Practice.

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https://www.zdnet.com/article/digital-health-agency-says-my-health-record-risk-mitigation-work-on-track/#ftag=RSSbaffb68

Digital Health Agency says My Health Record risk mitigation work on-track

Addressing concerns raised by an audit that had asked the agency to create a risk management plan as well as remind users of My Health Record of how the emergency access function should be used.

By Asha Barbaschow | June 21, 2021 -- 05:53 GMT (15:53 AEST) | Topic: Security

The system administrator of Australia's oft-criticised My Health Record has agreed to a number of recommendations made by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit as part of its probe into the security resilience of the online medical file.

The committee in 2019 scrutinised a report from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) which pointed out a number of security issues concerning the Australian Digital Health Agency's (ADHA) My Health Record implementation that otherwise widely gave ADHA the tick as "largely effective".

In a response [PDF] to the committee, ADHA provided an update to its ANAO My Health Record Performance Audit Implementation Plan, which was developed in February 2020.

One of the recommendations made by ANAO was that ADHA conduct an end-to-end privacy risk assessment of the operation of the My Health Record system under the opt-out model, including shared risks and mitigation controls. It also recommended for the agency to incorporate the results of this assessment into the risk management framework for the My Health Record system.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/active-ingredient-prescribing-woes-continue/47654

22 June 2021

‘Silly brain fart’: active ingredient woes continue

Clinical Medicolegal Pharmaceuticals

By Holly Payne

GPs continue to warn of potentially dangerous scenarios arising from active ingredient prescribing legislation.

The legislation, which kicked into gear early this year, has required all practice management software to change the ways in which prescription medications are listed when printed out.

Now, no matter what brand name is typed into the computer, the print-out will just list the active ingredient.

The only way to get it back is for the prescribing doctor to go back into the script list, delete the entry, and rewrite it, remembering to tick a “no substitutions” box while they’re there.

Issues with the system have been varied, ranging from patients assuming they’ve been incorrectly prescribed a new drug to a patient with a serious egg allergy almost receiving a generic flu vaccine

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https://www.ama.com.au/gp-network-news/my-health-record-get-pathology-results

My Health Record to get pathology results

20 Apr 2017

The Australian Digital Health Agency has recently advised the AMA that pathology tests carried out at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and The Children’s Hospital at Randwick will be the first to be shared with patients signed up to the My Health Record. Other locations in NSW will be progressively going live over the coming months with work also commencing in the Northern Territory, Tasmania, ACT, and Queensland.

The inclusion of pathology reports does not replace existing communication of pathology reports between laboratories and doctors or consumers. Where a report is uploaded it will be immediately available to members of the health care team but there will be a seven day delay before patients will be able to view the report, so that results can be discussed with them beforehand.

Patients will have the opportunity to request their results not be uploaded to the My Health Record if they choose.

Fact Sheet for GPs

Patient Fact Sheet

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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/monash-bivacor-team-to-lead-new-frontier-in-artificial-heart-technology-843558260

Monash–BiVACOR team to lead new frontier in artificial heart technology

Monday, 21 June, 2021

Monash University and BiVACOR are leading a consortium of universities, hospitals and industry to develop and commercialise the world’s first durable total artificial heart.

With $1 million in federal government funding via the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the Artificial Heart Frontiers Program will develop and commercialise new devices through the use of novel, innovative technology. The research team is aiming to take this new technology to market within the six-year duration of the MRFF Frontiers program, and hopes to save lives, create jobs and establish Australia as a worldwide leader in the medical device sector.

The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart is an implantable total artificial heart based on rotary blood pump technology. Similar in size to an adult fist, it is small enough to be implanted in many women and some children, and is capable of providing enough cardiac output to an adult male undergoing exercise.

The heart’s design incorporates magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology — the same principle used in high-speed trains — and includes left and right vanes positioned on a common rotor to form the only moving part, a magnetically suspended double-sided centrifugal impeller.

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https://www.careerone.com.au/jobview/director-operational-performance/ee0afbf2-ab1e-419b-8fff-c5e848fee2bb

Director, Operational Performance - ADHA

• Canberra ACT

Full job description

About the Agency
The Australian Digital Health Agency is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them.

This role can be based in Canberra, Sydney or Brisbane and offers flexible work arrangements. The Agency invests in management and leadership training.

About the Role
This role sits in the Technology Services Division and takes responsibility for and provides strategic and technical expertise in the management of system performance, monitoring of systems connected and interacting with the National Digital Health Infrastructure; leading a team of specialists to monitor and troubleshoot system, conformance and vendor issues, while working with the wider Technology Operations Branch to ensure operational alignment of objectives.
The Director, Operational Performance works with a range of internal and external stakeholders and contributes to the solutions for complex technical and systems related problems across multiple environments, which is critical to the success in the role. 
The Director Operational Performance is also responsible for onboarding and monitoring of software vendors into production including business to business and business to mobile interfaces, and the development and monitoring of system implementation requirements. The role will provide leadership and trend analysis capabilities to drive and promote a culture of continuous improvement.

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www.digitalhealth.gov.au

National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) Transition webinar

23 June, 2020

Dear Valued Industry Partner,

Register your interest in the National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) Transition webinar.

The Agency will be hosting a webinar to provide information on the transition from NASH SHA-1 to SHA-2 certificates.

Date: Wednesday 7 July 2021 – 1 pm to 2 pm AEST

This is targeted at various people within your organisation responsible for product management, operations management, software development, testing and customer support. Please forward this email to anyone in your organisation who you think might benefit from this webinar.

During the webinar, we will be discussing the transition from NASH SHA-1 to SHA-2 certificates, timelines and what you and your customers will be required to do to support this. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions.

People who wish to attend must register their interest by clicking this registration link and completing the registration process.

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Software Developer Community Announcement

My Health Record FHIR Gateway v2.1

The Australian Digital Health Agency has updated the My Health Record FHIR Gateway specification.

Scope

This release updates the API specification, data mapping and error mapping to incorporate changes required to introduce a new API call service to retrieve an immunisation history statement in PDF format. This statement can be used as proof of immunisations.

The following end product and product component documents have been updated:

1. My Health Record FHIR Gateway v2.1
2. My Health Record FHIR Gateway – API Specification v2.1
3. My Health Record FHIR Gateway – Data Mapping v2.1
4. My Health Record FHIR Gateway – Error Mapping v2.1

Who does this affect?

New and existing software developers of mobile applications that will integrate with My Health Record.

More Information

For a more detailed description of the changes, please refer to the My Health Record FHIR Gateway - Release Notes v2.1

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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/recent-media-releases/provider-connect-australia-helping-healthcare-providers-stay-connected

Provider Connect Australia - helping healthcare providers stay connected

Published 25 June 2021

Healthcare provider organisations around the country can now update information about their healthcare services and practitioners in just one place using Provider Connect Australia, eliminating the need to keep multiple directories up-to-date manually.

Provider Connect Australia is new technology that maintains the accuracy of healthcare service and practitioner contact details and will be rolled out nationally. It is expected to achieve economic benefits of more than $30 million per year by 2025.

When healthcare provider organisations update their contact details in the Provider Connect Australia service, this automatically sends their new details to nominated hospitals, pathology and radiology services, public service directories, secure messaging providers and more.

Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said Provider Connect Australia would drive greater interoperability and adoption of secure messaging across the Australian healthcare system and provide benefits to both patients and health professionals.

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https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/australia-rolling-out-online-healthcare-provider-directory

Australia rolling out online healthcare provider directory

Adam Ang | 25 Jun 2021

The Australian Digital Health Agency, a statutory body responsible for implementing various digital health initiatives, has announced that it will launch an online platform where healthcare providers in the country can place and update information about their services and practitioners.

WHAT IT DOES

According to a press release, Provider Connect Australia maintains the accuracy of healthcare service and practitioner contact details. It can also automatically send new details to nominated hospitals, pathology and radiology services, public service directories, secure messaging providers and others.

Previously, health organisations were required to fill out between 10 and 20 paper or online forms to notify other providers about the changes in their services or practitioner information. The ADHA said Provider Connect Australia eliminates that "substantial" red-tape burden.

Formerly called Service Registration Assistant, Provider Connect Australia was first tried out in Northern New South Wales last year, where it was found that 99% of participating practitioner records held in the health district's address book were "out of date".

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https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/latest-ai-powered-pharmacy-dispensing-platform-launched-australia

Latest AI-powered pharmacy dispensing platform launched in Australia

Adam Ang | 23 Jun 2021

Pharmacy IT solutions provider Fred IT unveiled on Tuesday a new pharmacy dispensing platform powered by artificial intelligence.

WHAT IT DOES

The company says the Fred Dispense Plus platform is an improvement from the widely used Fred Dispense Australia platform.

Among its features, the Fred AID (Artificial Intelligence Directions) tool uses AI and big data to support clinical and business decision making. As it predicts medication directions, the AI tool allows pharmacists to quickly and safely enter directions for dispensing labels through shortcuts instead of manual typing. Another smart tool on the platform can perform pricing comparison.

According to Fred IT, its newest pharmacy dispensing platform enables "safer" dispensing with a new and secure Microsoft SQL local database and integrated MIMS drug interactions. Additionally, it features "faster" electronic prescriptions with embedded My Script List and token management with MedView Flow.

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https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/advanced-human-imaging-finish-integration-health-screening-tech-nexus-vita-app

Advanced Human Imaging to finish integration of health screening tech with Nexus-Vita app

Adam Ang | 24 Jun 2021

Australia-listed Advanced Human Imaging has entered into a binding agreement with Singaporean health tech company Nexus-Vita for the integration of its smartphone-based health screening platform with the latter's upcoming health app. The deal is for a consideration of $500,000.

WHAT IT DOES

Nexus-Vita is developing an application that allows users to manage and keep their health data, such as from wearable devices, training, nutrition and care programmes, that can also be shared with doctors, healthcare providers, personal trainers or chronic disease management specialists.

It plans to add into its health app the AHI CompleteScan, a health screening platform that enables a smartphone to scan a user's face, body and skin for measurements, health indicators and risks. Based on AHI's website, the software kit will later include blood biomarker chronic disease assessment and monitoring.

Nexus-Vita sees its application improving lifetime health, minimising the need for medical interventions and saving cost and resources for both users and health systems.

"A key differentiator of our platform is we will engage with our consumers to assist them in understanding their chronic disease risk," said Nexus-Vita CEO Jeff Marquass in a statement.

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https://wildhealth.net.au/intra-hospital-interoperability-moving-to-crisis-point/

22 June 2021

Intra hospital interoperability moving to crisis point

Clinical Admin EHR/EMR Hospital Interoperability Nurse call system Sponsored

By Staff Writers

A modern interoperable hospital setup featuring simultaneous management of multiple patients with multiple data points on many integrated and co-ordinated devices is emerging. It is one of the greatest new challenges for administrators seeking improved safety, efficiency and patient centricity.

Most Australian hospitals, even relatively newly built ones, will feature a melange of non-integrated devices and reporting systems, and an array legacy alert systems, which aren’t well co-ordinated with any other systems or care team workflows.

These systems usually build up via the use of multiple vendors, either over time or even in new builds, which increases the complexity of anyone attempting to co-ordinate clinical teams and their interactions with patients.

As the number of systems proliferate – physiological monitors, ventilators, IV pumps, dialysis, EMR, nurse call and real-time care team location services, to name a few – each creating patient data for a particular aspect of a patient’s management, and each often having its own cascading alarm management protocol, the fatigue and confusion among a care team can start to expand rapidly.

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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/570914/National-service-wont-focus-on-consolidating-IT-systems.htm

Consolidating IT systems not focus of national health service

Wednesday, 23 June 2021  

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The new national health service will not focus on “ripping and replacing” DHB IT systems but will implement national systems where it makes sense to do so, the lead policy advisor for digital and data within the Transition Unit says.

Health Minister Andrew Little announced in April that the government is scrapping all 20 DHBs and replacing them with a new Crown entity called Health NZ.

Speaking at the MTANZ HealthTech Conference in Auckland on June 23, Emily Mailes said “digital health and data are going to be so critical to make this reform a success”.

Mailes said the details of the transition are still being developed, but all DHB contracts will automatically roll over to Health NZ and the new Maori Health Authority in July of next year when the new organisations are formally established.
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https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/unitingcare-queensland-update-on-ransomware-infection/

UnitingCare Queensland update on ransomware infection

Published on June 24, 2021

UnitingCare Queensland said it had made “good progress” in restoring its computer systems and applications online after a ransomware infection in late April.

“This includes the restoration of our key corporate systems, as well as reinstatement of many of the integrations between applications supporting our business processes,” said UnitingCare Queensland in a statement.

UnitingCare Queensland, which provides aged care, disability support, health care and crisis response through Blue Care, Lifeline, The Wesley Hospital, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital and St Stephen’s Hospital, was a victim of the Sodinokibi/REvil malware, which has been known to encrypt files and try to delete backups, before demanding a ransom payment since April 2019.

UnitingCare Queensland said it continues to partner with third-party incident response and threat eradication specialists to ensure integrity across its digital channels.

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https://www.itwire.com/business-it/australian-genome-research-facility-deploys-cloudian-object-storage-solution-to-manage-its-data.html

Monday, 21 June 2021 12:16

Australian Genome Research Facility deploys Cloudian object storage solution to manage its data

By Kenn Anthony Mendoza

The Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) processes at least 10 terabytes of data in a week that drives important research. After searching for a solution, it has chosen Cloudian’s storage solution to help manage its data and noted its scalability and cost-effectiveness.

The AGRF has deployed Cloudian’s S3-compatible object storage solution, enabling AGRF to manage and store its rapidly growing volumes of genome sequencing data more effectively, Cloudian announces.

The AGRF is said to empower world-class genomic science in the biomedical, clinical, agricultural and environmental sectors, with over 15,000 clients worldwide. The organisation has been at the centre of COVID-19 research, from assisting researchers with vaccine development to detecting the virus in wastewater. AGRF is also distinguishing itself by sequencing genomes of Australian threatened species to aid conservation efforts.

In an average week, AGRF processes at least 10 terabytes (TB) of data—equivalent to one year’s worth of data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Because this data drives important research, AGRF needs a storage system that enables it to easily manage, protect, and access the data at the lowest possible cost.

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https://www.itwire.com/business-it/aspen-medical-leverages-cradlepoint%E2%80%99s-connectivity-for-their-medical-staff.html

Tuesday, 22 June 2021 10:22

Aspen Medical leverages Cradlepoint’s connectivity for their medical staff

By Kenn Anthony Mendoza

Global healthcare provider Aspen Medical has rolled out Cradlepoint NetCloud and over 220 wireless routers to enable connectivity across federal government-funded GP-led respiratory (COVID-19 testing) clinics and for their vaccination teams in aged care facilities.

Under the deal, Aspen Medical taps Cradlepoint’s mobility solutions that can deliver fixed connection for sensitive patient data, telephony, and printing services. By using a NetCloud-configured Cradlepoint router, medical workers can upload patient data to the system within a matter of minutes.

Earlier this year, Aspen Medical managed COVID-19 testing facilities and hotel quarantine at the Australian Open in Melbourne and leveraged Cradlepoint to deliver connectivity for medical staff.

Since many respiratory clinics are in regional, rural or remote areas, Aspen Medical chose Cradlepoint for mobility solutions that deliver fixed connection for sensitive patient data, telephony, and printing services.

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www.andhealth.com.au

ANDHealth Welcomes States' Investment in Digital Innovation 

 

ANDHealth this week welcomed budget announcements by the NSW and SA Governments which included further investment into entrepreneurship and innovation, virtual care, telehealth, e-prescribing and electronic medical records to support the growth of Australia’s digital health sector. This recognition and investment marks a critical step by state governments in advancing our digital health infrastructure.

However, industry growth hinges on structures which look beyond health IT to evidence-based, connected and data driven products proven to directly impact patient outcomes. The depth and breadth of the funding announced by NSW and SA Governments directly points to both states taking a leadership role in transforming their economies and the health of their citizens via technology.

Bronwyn Le Grice, Managing Director and CEO of ANDHealth, commented, “As Australia’s only organisation specialised in the acceleration of commercialisation in digital health technologies, we see the gaps that exist to support new deep tech digital health ventures in Australia. Funding from both the NSW and SA Governments will not only facilitate the generation of new ideas, design, and investment in these two states, but will create sustainable jobs and economic growth in targeted sectors, including digital health.”
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http://www.medianet.com.au/releases/203180/

24 Jun 2021 11:48 AM AEST

Singular Health Group launches innovative Medical File Transfer Protocol              

SHG transforms the way diagnostic images can be transferred globally with blockchain based Medical File Transfer Protocol (MFTP) 

·         Diagnostic images have transformed healthcare, but patients and practitioners often lack simple ways to access and understand them. 

·         A recent UK study showed that over 80% of patients want to receive their images directly, but the process to do so is complex, and in 2D.

·         SHG’s transformational Medical File Transfer Protocol (MFTP), launched today, provides a secure and auditable method for the transfer of medical DICOM images between practitioners and patients.

·         MFTP to act as backbone infrastructure for transfer of medical images and 3D design files between different modalities to share imaging files for the 3Dicom software on desktop, mobile devices and VR headsets throughout the Scan to SurgeryTM process. 

·         Previously limited by file size, SHG’s 3Dicom software automatically provides lossless data compression of up to 85% in DICOM, facilitating the MFTP.

·         Transactions completed via the MFTP, such as consent to share images and the image’s download, are stored on a private blockchain for a full audit trail.  

24 June 2021 – Singular Health Group Ltd (ASX: SHG) (“Singular Health”, or “the Company”) has today released the first publicly available version of its Medical File Transfer Protocol (MFTP), as part of the 3Dicom v2.5.0 software release.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-to-make-hfc-connections-again-from-late-july-566415

NBN Co to make HFC connections again from late July

By Ry Crozier on Jun 24, 2021 1:04PM

After overcoming chip shortage and work scheduling issues.

NBN Co will resume taking new hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) connection orders from July 26, after replenishing its stock of network termination devices (NTDs) and overcoming workforce management system issues.

The company said in a statement that it now has “sufficient stock” of the HFC modems on-hand, “with further deliveries expected”.

“We are pleased to confirm that we have acquired sufficient stocks of HFC modems and resolved a number of issues that have impacted the availability of field technicians, which will enable us to recommence taking new orders to connect premises to the network via HFC technology,” NBN Co’s chief customer officer Brad Whitcomb said.

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https://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/new-regulatory-model-for-nbn-a-%E2%80%98step-closer%E2%80%99-says-accc.html

Tuesday, 22 June 2021 13:19

New regulatory model for NBN a ‘step closer’ says ACCC  

By Staff Writer

Australia’s competition regulator the ACCC says a new regulatory model for the National Broadband Network is one step closer after a telecommunications industry roundtable last week brought together NBN Co, broadband retailers, industry groups, consumer representatives and government.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) called the roundtable after NBN Co announced it would be seeking to revise its special access undertaking, which is a key part of the regulation that governs the prices NBN Co can charge retailers.

“Getting the regulatory framework for the NBN right is a key priority for the ACCC this year. This roundtable was the first step in that process and it was pleasing to see stakeholders coming together to discuss the issues in an open, constructive way,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

“It is clear that the NBN pricing construct is a key issue for stakeholders, and the Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) component of NBN’s pricing model was a particular focus of discussion.”

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-opens-300m-regional-co-investment-fund-566327

NBN Co opens $300m regional co-investment fund

By Ry Crozier on Jun 23, 2021 6:40AM

For satellite and wireless footprint upgrades.

NBN Co is now inviting expressions of interest for its $300 million regional co-investment fund, which will part-pay broadband infrastructure upgrades in areas served by either fixed wireless or satellite.

The fund was announced in September last year as part of a multi-billion dollar package of upgrades to the NBN.

“Expressions of interest can now be lodged to allow project costings prior to interested parties deciding to submit an application,” NBN Co said in a statement.

“The closing date for receipt of build estimate requests is 5pm (AEDST) on October 1 2021, and the closing date for applications under the initial round is 5pm (AEDST) on February 18 2022.”

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https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/pentagon-remains-baffled-by-ufos-in-new-report-on-encounters-20210626-p584gf.html

Pentagon remains baffled by UFOs in new report on encounters

By Nomaan Merchant

June 26, 2021 — 7.47am

Washington: A long-awaited US government report on UFOs released Friday makes at least one thing clear: the truth is still out there.

Investigators did not find extraterrestrial links in reviewing 144 sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories. But they drew few other conclusions and instead highlighted the need for better data collection about what’s increasingly seen by Democrats and Republicans as a national security concern. In all but one of the sightings investigated, there was too little information for investigators to even broadly characteristic the nature of the incident.

There were 18 cases in which witnesses saw “unusual” patterns of movement or flight characteristics, the report said, adding that more analysis was needed to determine if those sightings represented “breakthrough” technology.

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Enjoy!

David.