This appeared a few days ago.
ED doctors are using the My Health Record... definitely, maybe
Is this evidence that the system is offering real-word clinical benefits to treating doctors?
25th May 2021
One of the big selling points of the My Health Record was that ED doctors could check an
This month, we asked the Australian Digital Health Agency how many times a My Health Record document was being viewed in ED.
Instead of a direct answer, we were given a statistic on how often the My Health Record was viewed in public hospitals: 578,000 times in the past 12 months.
There is something on the My Health Record and EDs; however, the data are qualitative, comprising interviews with 10 ED doctors — only six of whom were medium or frequent users of the system.
Surprisingly, the study, published in Health Information Science and Systems, claims to be “among the first to demonstrate that clinicians associate My Health Record use with diagnostic accuracy benefits and efficiency gains”.
It found the main benefit of My Health Record for the doctors was access to the medications list, radiology and pathology results. This was true even for the conscious patients they were treating.
“Prescribed and dispensed information in the My Health Record is usually more correct than what the patient can tell you,” said one doctor.
Another was a little more sceptical. “You could argue that the more information you get, the longer you’ll take … You’re weeding through the problem list from 1963,” they claimed.
More here with long comment.
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/ed-doctors-are-using-my-health-record-definitely-maybe
There is a link to the paper cited, abstract and full text .pdf found here:
https://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-recent-small-study-of-ed-use-of.html
The point of raising this is to just what is going on when a properly credentialed health journalist asks a perfectly reasonable question and gets what amounts to a non answer.
The answer was that a little less that 1600 requests from Public Hospitals per day for some sort of information. Since there are about 700 public hospitals it seems each accesses the #myHR between 2-3 times a day on average. Clearly they are very heavy users and even if all the traffic was from Eds it is trivial by any accounting.
The reason we are given such a useless number is that the system is hardly used. Anything else would be the subject of weekly ADHA press releases you can be assured.
This mob can’t lie straight in bed!
David.
20 comments:
Wait till you stumble across the latest video from the ADHA. Really pulling on the heart strings, using questionable tactics IMHO.
I would provide the link but not sure it deserves to be advertised beyound a mere warning to viewers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJkdqA8d2ZQ
47 views so far. They are still in their little bubble.
A few changes going on internally, retiring acting roles, dismantling the old COO/CEO network - a good think IMVHO
7:59, equally bad but not the one - I can only find it via Facebook now ( seems fitting) - https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=153937379996745&id=193426687755649
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K55TbW7V2F4
It looks like a TV advert. They could probably be done for telling porkies.
ADHA Staffer do tell, I note the old acting COO chap is no longer listed under executive team. I am sure his old boss will scope him up, always useful to have a few token ones around so your distaste is less obvious to the passer-by
More money, credibility and trust down the drain.
COVIDSafe hasn’t found any contacts this year
https://www.innovationaus.com/covidsafe-hasnt-found-any-contacts-this-year/
Denham Sadler
The federal government’s COVIDSafe contact tracing app has not found any new contacts this year and has still identified just 17 people in total, with the agency behind it being forced to issue a correction over incorrect figures provided to a Senate Estimates hearing last week.
At the hearing, Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) chief executive Randall Brugeaud told senators the COVIDSafe had been used to identify 567 close contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases.
This was a sharp jump on the 17 contacts previously reported, and confused some of the Labor Senators.
It was later confirmed that this figure included the 544 contacts identified by manual contact tracers in NSW after COVIDSafe helped to identify a new exposure time at a pub in the state.
After discussions with the NSW government, a new definition was used to determine the cases picked up by COVIDSafe and these were included in the total number.
This still left six new cases identified by COVIDSafe that hadn’t been reported, according to the DTA figures.
But the DTA has now admitted that this number is wrong, and the total number of close contacts identified by COVIDSafe, including the 544 identified by manual tracers in NSW, is actually 561.
This means that no new cases have been picked up by COVIDSafe at all this year, despite significant outbreaks in NSW and Victoria.
The DTA confirmed it has issued a correction to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee about this figure.
COVIDSafe has now identified 17 new close contacts directly, with the government saying it has assisted in picking up a further 544 because it found a new exposure time at the Mounties pub in western Sydney. This example is spruiked on the COVIDSafe app.
...
At the Estimates hearing, the DTA said that COVIDSafe will cost $60,000 per month to continue running from July. It is currently costing more than $70,000 per month to operate.
The federal government was meant to provide a report to Parliament on the effectiveness of COVIDSafe several months ago. Under legislation passed early last year, the government must report on the app every six months. It’s now been more than a year since COVIDSafe was launched, but the government is yet to produce one report.
It is expected that this first report will be tabled in Parliament during the Winter sittings.
They really do have a hard time ditching things when the time is right. Obviously not a game changer or even a mildly useful contributor. The waffle on about Agile practices but in reality even slaying the dragon is overly nibble.
Why put yourself through this? No one will complain and there are other alternatives out there. Or just like the MyHR they feel the need to compete and dominate, rather than govern and complement?
The mantra of today's politicians and senior public servants. "Never admit you are wrong"
You just have to look at the pathetic performances of the Health and the Aged Care Ministers when confronted by the evidence.
Ross Giiiins - someone else who thinks governments have failed us:
Politicians have spent decades dismantling almost the only solution to the pandemic
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/politicians-have-spent-decades-dismantling-almost-the-only-solution-to-the-pandemic-20210601-p57wzv.html
" to me what stands out as the underlying cause of our difficulties – apart from human fallibility – is the way both sides of politics at both levels of government have spent the past few decades following the fashion for Smaller Government.
...
But the smaller government project has been less successful in reducing government spending. The best the pollies have done is contain the growth in spending by unceasing behind-the-scenes penny-pinching."
My Health Record is a spectacular example of the failure to contain spending. They promised billions of dollars of savings and ended up just costing billions.
IMHO, governments have a place. The problem is that governments don't know their place. There's too much testosterone and hubris.
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck at his best...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-03/covid-outbreak-aged-care-vaccination/100184786
"Colbeck keeps insisting he's "comfortable" with the vaccine roll-out. At the same time, he's confessed he has no idea how many aged care staff have received a jab.
How a minister can be completely in the dark, yet "comfortable" with that situation, is a mystery. How he can be untroubled by the lack of information on his desk, is a concern. How he remains unsure whether this is even his responsibility (apparently "it's not a yes or no answer") points to a serious lack of accountability.
This is the same minister, let's remember, who had to apologise last year after an embarrassing appearance before a Senate committee, when he couldn't recall the number of COVID deaths in aged care. Now it's not so much a failure to recall, but a failure to have relevant facts at all and a failure to know whether it's even his job to know."
Aged Care is part of the Health portfolio, so the responsible minister for both My Health Record and Aged Care is Greg Hunt.
In case you were wondering about the experiences Greg Hunt and Richard Colbeck bring to healthcare, Hunt is a lawyer and Colbeck started as an apprentice in the construction industry and developed his own business.
This rather shows a lack of respect to the Australian people when you put politicians with no relevant qualifications, experience or credibility in charge of Health and Aged Care.
Australia's Federal government is toxic. You only have to look at the turnaround of Mathias Cormann in his first speech as head of the OECD.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mathias-cormann-calls-for-ambitious-plan-to-reach-net-zero-emissions-20210601-p57x5g.html
Mathias Cormann calls for ‘ambitious’ plan to reach net zero emissions
That is a good point 10:38. A post truth situation and will the liars paradox cause long-term issues? Something is influencing Peter Dutton for sure.
This cannot be a good sign
A consultancy firm paid $660,000 provided no 'specific advice' on Australia's COVID-19 vaccine strategy
A global consulting firm was paid $660,000 by the Health Department as part of the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy, but a departmental official has revealed that it did not provide "specific advice".
Read in ABC News and on 7:30 tonight
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-03/federal-government-mckinsey-covid-vaccine-strategy-advice/100185786
"McKinsey Pacific Rim has provided ongoing strategic advice and support to the department which is not contained in a specific document," a senior Health Department lawyer told 7.30.
"This included collaboration and participation in a range of activities. However, McKinsey Pacific Rim did not provide specific advice."
Four weeks at five days a week is 20 working days, or $33,000 per day
That's a huge amount of consulting services, ranging from 33 "consultants" at $1,000/day to 4 "consultants" at $8,250/day all for 40 hours a week.
"collaboration and participation" is code for sitting in meetings, talking to people and giving advice. There is nothing inherently questionable about that, but using a consultant usually means you hire someone who has done the job before and has extensive experience in their field.
Can someone remind me the last time there was a global pandemic requiring the acquisition, distribution and application of a new vaccine in a country with a health system like that of Australia?
And McKinsey was able to provide anything from about 4 to maybe 33 "experts", just like that?
Agree Bernard I sat through that quite shocked. There is also the 8 page power point report taken from information published on the web. How often was that sold across the globe.
The ADHA is (or was) a reflection of this, lots of small 1-3 person ‘consultancies’ running around writing reports with same old drawings, all claiming to be experts, but in truth they just rehash stuff, have no practical experience of medical knowledge. The work and presentation pass without any uptake.
Being moved to Strategy these days is a sign your time is up.
Easily fixed - just hold out of providing Financial support for a week then ride in like some latter day Santa clause, or simply stoke a fire under your leading health experts. Both are great distractions.
Talking of experts Steve Hambleton is at it again repeating the big lie.
In Defence Of My Health Record
https://which-50.com/in-defence-of-my-health-record/
"When healthcare providers upload their patients’ information, they save the patient from having to remember and repeat their medical history and carry around hard copies of medical documents"
When you log on to myhr it tells you:
"When you first start using My Health Record there may be little or no information in it
If you can't see a Shared Health Summary you can ask your GP to add one. This is a summary of your health status at a single point in time, such as known allergies, adverse reactions, immunisations and medications."
Note that a SHS is "a summary of your health status at a single point in time". This is not a medical record.
The myhr website explicitly states:
"Your previous medical history such as older test results and medical reports will not be in your new record.
There may be around two years’ worth of Medicare/PBS claims history from your doctor’s visits and medicines a pharmacist has dispensed for you.
If you want details of your medical history to be added to your My Health Record, ask your GP to add a summary next time you see them."
https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/for-you-your-family/howtos/start-using-your-record
But, as the myhr itself says, a SHS is a snapshot, not a history.
There is no place in myhr for a patient's medical history. There is no heading, link or document that could take you to your medical history.
For the sake of argument, let's assume there is.
Unless a patient has had the same GP (or been to the same practice) for a long time, where would a patient's medical history come from? The patient. Very few patients know their own medical history other than major events and/or conditions and even they they are likely to be unreliable.
Yet the website claims states:
"What is My Health Record?
My Health Record is an online summary of your key health information.
When you have a My Health Record, your health information can be viewed securely online, from anywhere, at any time – even if you move or travel interstate. You can access your health information from any computer or device that’s connected to the internet."
This is the big lie "My Health Record IS an online summary".
Anyone reading this will think that the government has created a summary of your "key health information". They haven't, they can't. At best all that myhr can contain is a snapshot, even the test results are a snapshot and they are probably out of context.
Make you wonder about Steve Hambleton.
Hard to accept the ‘independent advisor’ credentials from a man who has made a small fortune of the back the my health record, failed home care program. What he fails to accept is that all what he wants to possible without the my health record system, in fact without it in the way so much more could be done.
He is as much help to health IT what Homeopathic treatments are to A&E. Wonder if he is part of McKinsey?
You comment regarding Homeopathic medicine in ER reminded me of this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0
End the week on a smile I say
MyHR, the homeopathic health record - an infinitely small amount of relevant medical information.
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