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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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Australian Digital Health Agency Annual Report 2020-21
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‘Focus on the good’: Fresh whistleblower claims Facebook let hate, criminal activity to go unchecked
By Craig Timberg
October 23, 2021 — 11.47am
A new whistleblower affidavit submitted by a former Facebook employee on Friday (Saturday AEDT) alleges that the company prizes growth and profits over combatting hate speech, misinformation and other threats to the public, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Washington Post.
The whistleblower’s allegations, which were declared under penalty of perjury and shared with The Post on the condition of anonymity, echoed many of those made by Frances Haugen, another former Facebook employee whose scathing testimony before Congress this month intensified bipartisan calls for federal action against the company.
Haugen, like the new whistleblower, also made allegations to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees publicly traded companies.
The new whistleblower is a former member of Facebook’s Integrity team whose identity is known to The Post and who agreed to be interviewed about the issues raised in the legal filing. Perhaps the most vivid moment in the affidavit comes in a direct quote the whistleblower reported hearing from a top Facebook communications official during the controversy following Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The whistleblower’s name is redacted in the affidavit.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/facebook-whistleblower-warns-federal-mps/
Facebook whistleblower warns federal MPs
Joseph Brookes
Senior Reporter
22 October 2021
The whistleblower who testified to US congress earlier this month that Facebook is putting “profits before people” has urged Australian politicians to regulate the tech giant because it has even less incentive to clean up its act in the smaller market.
In a briefing organised by Liberal MP Julian Simmonds and digital rights group Reset Australia, former Facebook executive Frances Haugen urged a group of parliamentarians to stop putting faith in Facebook to do the right thing on its own, and urgently develop regulations that would bring genuine oversight to its platforms.
“Stop trusting Facebook,” Ms Haugen told a group of parliamentarians including the Coalition’s Anne Webster and Nola Marino and Labor’s Bill Shorten and Tim Watts.
“The question of democracies being endangered is a real, real question.”
Earlier this month, Ms Haugen told US lawmakers that Facebook’s leadership team knew how to make the company’s platforms safer but was refusing to make the changes because it would harm its “immense profits”.
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New whistleblower accuses Facebook of wrongdoing: report
AFP
October 23, 2021
A former Facebook worker reportedly told US authorities Friday the platform has put profits before stopping problematic content, weeks after another whistleblower helped stoke the firm's latest crisis with similar claims.
The unnamed new whistleblower filed a complaint with US financial regulator Securities and Exchange Commission that could add to the company's woes, said a Washington Post report.
In the SEC complaint, the new whistleblower recounts alleged statements from 2017, when the company was deciding how to handle the controversy related to Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
The second whistleblower signed the complaint on October 13, a week after Haugen's scathing testimony before a Senate panel, according to the report.
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Rise of the metaverse could put the entire internet into Facebook
By Tim Biggs
October 23, 2021 — 5.00am
The metaverse is not a new idea. But if tech giants end up implementing it as they plan, it could change how we interact with brands, services and each other in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
With reports that Facebook is set to hire 10,000 staff to create its new web paradigm, and that it will soon change its name to reflect that ambition, metaverse is making the jump from tech industry buzzword to a matter of mainstream concern. So, what is it?
The term comes from science fiction author Neal Stephenson, who in 1992 imagined the Metaverse as an evolution of the internet, where virtual reality gave people the ability to explore interconnected digital sites as though they were worlds.
Proto-metaverses already exist in the gaming space. Look at Roblox or Fortnite, where users log into a single virtual space but have access to tools for creation and sharing, are exposed to sponsored brands and advertisements, can enjoy live music festivals and other entertainment, and so on. There’s also Core, an online game designed explicitly to act as a metaverse for interactive experiences, the latest of which is an immersive music installation from artist Deadmau5.
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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/nepean-hospital-partners-vantari-vr-icu-training
Nepean Hospital partners with Vantari VR for ICU training
They are also working together to craft a procedural training module for airway management.
By Adam Ang
October 18, 2021 11:19 PM
Nepean Hospital, a teaching hospital based in New South Wales, has teamed up with Vantari VR to integrate virtual reality training into its curriculum.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
This partnership will launch and deploy a new virtual training platform over a three-year period. In a press statement, the VR startup said the platform will be integrated into the training curriculum of the hospital's ICU department with a specific focus on central venous catheter insertion.
The partners will also develop a procedural training module to "facilitate a component of airway management in critically ill patients".
WHY IT MATTERS
As Nepean Hospital is managing a heavy case load of COVID-19 patients, the new training platform will help in raising the proficiency of its ICU clinicians and trainees, especially in airway management. This skill has proven to be essential during the pandemic when ICU patients with COVID-19 require intubation.
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Annual report of the Australian Information Commissioner’s activities in relation to digital health 2020–21
Preliminary page
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) was established on 1 November 2010 by the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010.
ISSN 2202–7262
Creative commons
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, this Annual report of the Australian Information Commissioner’s activities in relation to digital health 2020–21 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en). This publication should be attributed as:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Annual report of the Australian Information Commissioner’s activities in relation to digital health 2020–21.
Contact
Enquiries regarding the licence and any use of this report are welcome.
Online:
oaic.gov.au/enquiry
Twitter: @OAICgov
Website: oaic.gov.au
Phone: 1300
363 992
Mail: Director,
Strategic Communications
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
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https://www.miragenews.com/oaic-publishes-annual-report-on-digital-health-656642/
21 Oct 2021 4:58 pm AEDT
OAIC publishes annual report on digital health
The independent privacy regulator for the My Health Record system and Healthcare Identifiers Service has detailed its compliance and monitoring activity in its 2020–21 digital health annual report.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) regulates the privacy provisions contained in the My Health Records Act 2012 and the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010.
Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner Angelene Falk said the annual report highlights the OAIC’s work to ensure privacy measures for Australia’s digital health systems are upheld.
“Over the past year my office has worked proactively to regulate the protection and security of the personal information at the core of both the My Health Record system and the Healthcare Identifiers Service,” Commissioner Falk said.
….. Key 2020–21 statistics
My Health Record
- Finalised one Commissioner-initiated investigation
- Completed 3 privacy assessments, commenced an additional privacy assessment
- Finalised 7 privacy complaints
- Finalised 2 data breach notifications
- Received 11 enquiries
- Received 7 complaints
- Received 3 data breach notifications
- Finalised one privacy complaint
- Received 2 enquiries
- Received one privacy complaint
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Understanding compliance requirements for accessing My Health Record – practical tips for your practice
These one-hour sessions will equip Practice Managers and administrative staff with a sound knowledge of how to implement and maintain policies and procedures to govern access to the My Health Record within their organisation.
These demonstrations will be run multiple times each week and at varying times throughout the day.
Upon completion participants will be able to:
o Understand the legislative framework for accessing My Health Record
o Create and maintain security and access policies for My Health Record
o Manage My Health Record user accounts and training registers
o Understand the importance of Health Identifiers and correct system configuration
o Designate roles and responsibilities for practice staff engaging with My Health Record
o Understand when and how to access information contained within a consumer’s My Health Record
Thu 25 Nov 2021
When 12:00pm
- 1:00pm,
Thursday 25 November 2021
Where Online
Organiser Australian Digital Health Agency
CPD Points Available? Yes
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Author's Opinion
Thursday, 21 October 2021 09:31
ABC iview user data collected through Google Analytics stored in the US
Any data collected by the ABC through the use of the Google Analytics 360 Suite for its iview service is stored in the US, according to the lone document released to a security researcher who sought details about how such data is used.
As iTWire has reported, Dr Vanessa Teague, who runs the infosec outfit Thinking Cybersecurity, lodged an FOIA request on 16 June, seeking full information on data-sharing agreements signed by the ABC with third parties who have access to iview data, including Google, Facebook and customer data hub and enterprise tag management firm Tealium, and any other firm to whom the broadcaster has granted access.
Her request was knocked back and a request to review the decision was also rejected, the latter on 6 September. However, the ABC released one redacted document, the terms of service issued by the Digital Transformation Agency for the use of the Google Analytics 360 Suite.
According to this document, the service can be used for tracking website traffic and is free for sites that record up to 10 million hits a month. As a Federal Government property, the ABC has to subscribe to the service through the DTA which has a paid subscription.
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https://www.itwire.com/strategy/abc-refuses-request-to-rethink-iview-data-sharing-decision.html
Thursday, 21 October 2021 07:19
ABC refuses request to rethink iview data-sharing decision
An internal review by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation of its decision to reject a Freedom of Information request from a security researcher, who sought information on its sharing of data through iview, has upheld the original decision.
The decision was conveyed on 6 September to Dr Vanessa Teague, a researcher who runs the infosec outfit Thinking Cybersecurity, and who lodged an FOIA request on 16 June, seeking full information on data-sharing agreements signed by the ABC with third parties who have access to iview data, including Google, Facebook and customer data hub and enterprise tag management firm Tealium, and any other firm to whom the broadcaster has granted access.
Rejecting the request on 6 September, the ABC said, in part: "Having reviewed your request, I have decided to:
- "Release to you one document, being the DTA [Digital Transformation Agency] Terms of Service, redacted in part;
- "Provide you with additional information relevant to your request, as set out below; and
- "Otherwise affirm the Original Decision that the Identified Documents are not required to be released on the ground that they constitute material communicated in confidence."
Dr Teague was told that the ABC was upholding a decision that it could not divulge details because the arrangements it had with these companies was exempted under section 45 of the FOI Act because disclosure could lead to legal action against it for breach of confidence.
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Wednesday, 20 October 2021 17:25
Govt snubs tech industry, re-introduces cut-down emergency powers bill
In what is a snub to the technology industry at large, the Coalition Government has re-introduced the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2020 into parliament for a second reading, not long after three major tech industry bodies urged a significant revision of the bill before it is voted on.
But the government has ignored this plea and followed the advice of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security which, on September 30, recommended that the bill be split in order to pass what it characterised as "urgent reforms".
The PJCIS made 14 recommendations about the bill, including that it be split into two parts, saying:
"Bill One for rapid passage – to expand the critical infrastructure sectors covered by the Act, introduce government assistance measures to be used as a last resort in crisis scenarios as well as mandatory reporting obligations; and
"Bill Two for further consultation – including declarations of systems of national significance, enhanced cyber-security obligations and positive security obligations which are to be defined in delegated legislation."
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/covid-experts-plagued-by-abuse/56356
20 October 2021
Covid experts plagued by abuse
Doctors and scientists are being harassed in their homes, receiving death threats and being slandered in online spaces.
Their offence in the court of public opinion? Offering comment on the covid pandemic.
This episode of The Tea Room, TMR’s resident covid blogger and acclaimed science writer Bianca Nogrady shines a light on the dozens of researchers and physicians who have experienced abuse since the beginning of the pandemic.
Her recent research on this topic was originally published in Nature magazine.
You can listen and subscribe to the show by searching for “The Tea Room Medical Republic” in your favourite podcast player.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/home-quarantine-app-raises-privacy-hackles/56353
20 October 2021
Home quarantine app raises privacy hackles
Digital rights groups are pushing for more robust digital privacy regulations as Australia moves into the next phase of the pandemic, warning that regulations around personal data collection are not up to scratch.
The blowback is directed at South Australia’s home quarantine app, which works by contacting people in quarantine at random and requesting proof of their identity and location within 15 minutes.
The app uses facial recognition and smartphone geo-location as verification tools.
Failing a check-in – which happens when the person misses their 15-minute window, is located outside their home or is unable to be recognised by the app AI – prompts a visit from SA police.
NSW, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Victoria are in different stages of rolling out similar apps for home quarantine. Queensland is a notable exception, in that its app uses only geolocation data.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=4d31078e-f0f7-40f6-b57d-7706e1de1e65
Dispelling COVID Myths in the Age of Disinformation
Sydney Criminal Lawyers Paul Gregoire
Australia October 9 2021
The mass of conflicting information circulating online during the pandemic – or “plandemic”, if you prefer – has not only been exhausting for all, but it’s also contributed to a deep division forming in Australian society, which mirrors a similar divide that occurred in the US with the coming of Trump.
Take the prominent assertion that COVID vaccines or their mandating transgresses the Nuremberg Code, which is a post-World War Two guide to prevent involuntary experimental research being conducted on humans, as the Nazi regime had been performing in concentration camps.
The code contains ten ethical principles, which include that medical experimentation on humans must be consensual – via free choice, without coercion – that such research shouldn’t cause death or disability and that scientists must conduct any such tests.
The online rumour is COVID vaccines are experimental, so their use and mandating is against the code. However, COVID vaccines have been officially approved in Australia and overseas on a preliminary basis so, they’re not considered to be ‘experimental’ and the Nuremberg Code cannot apply to them.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/cba-turns-to-ai-to-root-out-abusive-payments-20211009-p58ykg
CBA turns to AI to root out abusive payments
Paul Smith Technology editor
Oct 11, 2021 – 12.00am
Commonwealth Bank of Australia will turn on a new technology system it has developed to use the growing power of artificial intelligence to root out and prevent people using its electronic payments system to send abusive messages.
Since early last year, the bank has been seeking to tackle a problem whereby people depositing funds in another person’s account figured out they could include short messages instead of payment descriptions. These have ranged from harmless jokes to serious cases of the system being used as a targeted form of domestic and family violence.
CBA’s general manager of community and customer vulnerability, Justin Tsuei, said the bank’s AI labs had developed the new system to work alongside the automatic block filter that was implemented last year across its digital banking channels, using machine learning techniques, including capability developed by Google to create a powerful abuse detector.
The scale of the problem is highlighted by the fact that more than 100,000 transactions were blocked by the automatic filter that prevents offensive language being used, over a three-month period, and the new AI model detected 229 unique senders of potentially serious abuse, which were then manually reviewed.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nsw-government-told-to-polish-data-sharing-laws-571481
NSW government told to polish data sharing laws
By Justin Hendry on Oct 20, 2021 6:33AM
Review urges changes to maximise use.
The NSW government must strengthen data sharing laws to make them easier for agencies to navigate, enabling the creation of “high value” datasets, a review has found.
The review of the Data Sharing (Government Sector) Act 2015, tabled in state parliament last week, found that amendments were needed to maximise use of the legislation as a tool for data sharing.
It makes 14 recommendations to update the legislation introduced to reform cross-agency data sharing at a time when data was largely siloed and give the Data Analytics Centre “legislative teeth”.
The review – which took into account five written submissions – found the Act’s policy objectives remain valid, with data sharing and analytics now considered “more important than ever”.
“Linked datasets and data insights derived from them are increasingly viewed as critical government assets and digital infrastructure,” the report from the Department of Customer Service [pdf] said.
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Endeavour to use algorithms, facial recognition to tackle problem gamblers
October 19, 2021 — 5.00am
Australia’s largest drinks and hotels business Endeavour Group has unveiled plans to use predictive algorithms and facial recognition to identify problem gamblers across its network, as part of its broader corporate responsibility and sustainability strategy.
The company, which owns and operates BWS, Dan Murphy’s and around 300 hotels and pubs, has also confirmed it has no intention of opening a new Dan Murphy’s site in Darwin after controversial plans to open a store near a number of dry Indigenous communities was axed earlier this year.
In June, an independent panel advised that Endeavour, which was owned by Woolworths at the time, should not proceed with building the site after it was determined the company had failed to consider the significant negative effects the store would have had on the city’s Aboriginal community and placed profits above all else.
Steve Donohue, Endeavour’s chief executive, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald a Darwin Dan Murphy’s store was not in consideration, with the business announcing a new community advisory committee would be established in Darwin next year to explore initiatives that would reduce the harm caused by drinking and problem gambling in the community.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/i-was-receiving-1400-tweets-hour-including-death-threats
'I was receiving 1400 tweets an hour, including death threats'
Dr Tanya Selak became the victim of a social media pile-on after she posted on Twitter about mask wearing
18th October 2021
Last month, Dr Tanya Selak became a trending topic on Twitter.
This, as many people know, can be a good thing — a signal that what you have to say is of interest. And sometimes it can be a bad thing.
For Dr Selak, whose original post carried the innocuous title "I’m a vaccinated anaesthetist and this is how I shop for my family", it was very bad.
Among the 1400 tweets an hour she subsequently received were personal abuse and death threats.
An anaesthetist in Wollongong, she said she had been trying to offer the social media world a little education based on the advice of NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant.
Shop only when you need to, wear a mask, sanitise, register on entry and exit, physically distance and shop with purpose to limit time inside, was the message.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/do-you-really-know-effect-youre-having-all-your-patients
Do you really know the effect you're having on all your patients?
Analysing performance, practice trends and patient management is becoming more and more important
31st August 2021
By Associate Professor Chris Pearce
Delivering effective care is a complex task, but broadly speaking there are two new things you need to understand.
First, you need insight into the care of the practice population, not just individual patients.
Second, you need insight into the ways individual GPs, and the practice as a whole, contribute to providing that care.
In days gone by, that was hard to do, but with the rise of digital exploration tools that analyse what is happening to patients and practice trends, the obstacles are being overcome.
These tools are growing in number. They include programs such as POLAR, the extraction tool my company, Outcome Health, has developed, but there are others such as Doctors Control Panel, Pen CS and MedicineInsight.
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Zuckerberg’s Facebook the digital Frankenstein feeding on hate, rage
11:00PM October 17, 2021
Like Dr Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Mark Zuckerberg has created a monster he cannot control. The recent revelations of The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files and testimony before US congress of product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen, appear to have removed any doubt regarding the extent of Facebook’s unwieldy problems, and the lack of willingness on behalf of its leadership to deal with them.
Zuckerberg is the largest shareholder, chief executive and president of Facebook. Yet the most recent revelations about the failures of his company suggest he has lost control of the product he created in a dorm room 17 years ago. Despite being a trillion-dollar company, whistleblowers and investigative journalists have exposed how Facebook is unable to prevent people being bought and sold as slaves on its platform, or prevent people from selling subplots of the Amazon rainforest to land speculators. Facebook’s executives have even been unable to stop the platform from being used to incite genocide, as it was in Myanmar in 2018.
But what is it about Facebook’s platform that makes it so monstrous? On the face of it its mission sounds innocuous. “Facebook was built to bring people closer together and build relationships,” Zuckerberg has written in a company mission statement. How could such a mission turn awry? Isn’t bringing people “closer together” an unalloyed good?
In theory, yes. But in reality, what Facebook and its algorithms do is catalyse sectarian divisions by bolstering in-group identity while promoting out-group hate. Nothing brings people “closer together” than hating a common enemy. And, importantly, this is not a process that impugns any particular side of the political spectrum. As each side is brought “closer together”, the further they pull away from each other. In the US context, social media propels the Black Lives Matter and transgender activist movements on the left and the Stop the Steal and anti-vaccination movements on the right. What these movements have in common is that they all rely on tribal solidarity animated by social grievance.
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Monday, 18 October 2021 00:52
Cyber security experts say Australia ransomware action plan falls short
The Federal Government has released its ransomware action plan, but cyber security experts Claroty and Varonis say it falls short and needs greater commitment from the government.
Scott Leach, vice president of sales, Varonis Asia Pacific (APAC) said, “any time the Federal Government recognises the increasing risk ransomware poses to Australian organisations is a positive. However, there is still room for improvement in today’s Ransomware Action Plan. There are a number of actionable steps that the government could have included, with the aim of improving compliance in a range of industries. For example, the government could issue directives that encourage organisations to introduce a range of positive cyber security measures by a particular date, such as a Zero Trust approach and a strict policy of least privilege, which means employees are only given access to the files necessary to do their jobs.”
"These directives would have a significant and immediate impact on the organisations who adopt them. Restricting access to an organisation’s most sensitive files ensures that if a data breach ever does occur, the risk of attackers stealing these sensitive files and moving laterally throughout the network is significantly reduced. With little or no access to sensitive files, ransomware is significantly less effective, saving organisations thousands of dollars (if not millions in some cases) and taking the power away from hackers.”
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David.
16 comments:
The ADHA annual report makes interesting reading.
As we all know the primary purpose of MyHR is to reduce data fragmentation. The original proposals said so and it was repeated in the most recent ANAO review, so it must be so.
If you do a search on the annual report, there are no words starting with "fragment".
The other justification for the multi-billion dollar behemoth was to save money.
A search on "saving" returns two hits, both in secure messaging:
"Secure messaging
The need for healthcare providers to connect to each other safely and securely is fundamental. Secure messaging is a core foundational capability required to enable safe, seamless and confidential information sharing across all healthcare providers and enabling integrated and coordinated care across the Australian health sector.
Secure messaging supports the delivery of messages containing clinical documents and other information between healthcare organisations , whether it is sent directly or through one or more secure messaging providers.
Secure messaging eliminates the need for re-keying or transcribing, integrates more efficiently into clinical workflows, provides a single channel for correspondence and enables an audit trail of successful delivery. Additionally, secure messaging provides time and cost savings through integration with clinical software, automation of tasks and postage cost savings.
The Agency’s Secure Messaging program is working collaboratively with industry, suppliers of secure messaging solutions and clinical software vendors to reduce existing barriers to adoption and provide pragmatic and implementable solutions"
ADHA produced a roadmap for a project to implement secure messaging in November 2019. I can't see anything on the ADHA that says how the project is going.
There is an undated page that describes what secure messaging is
https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/healthcare-providers/initiatives-and-programs/secure-messaging
It claims that:
"An economic analysis undertaken as part of the development of the National Digital Health Strategy has estimated the gross economic benefit of secure messaging could be around $2 billion over four years and more than $9 billion over 10 years."
As usual for both ADHA and this government - long on promises; short on delivery.
A search for "save" produces three hits:
"My Health Record
In a lifetime, most people will see lots of different healthcare providers, from GPs prescribing medicine to pathologists analysing blood or radiologists taking an X-ray. Having to repeat yourself or drag reports around can be challenging.
My Health Record is a safe and secure place where your key healthcare information can be kept so that a more complete picture of your health is available to you and your healthcare providers whenever it’s needed. This saves time, reduces unnecessary tests and the chance of medication-related errors and helps put you firmly at the centre of your healthcare journey.
Having important health information with you throughout your life helps to ensure you receive the most accurate healthcare possible.
Most importantly, it could hold vital information to save your life in an emergency."
Which is the same old exaggeration and spin - no dollars.
and in a reference to eprescriptions
"I thought everybody was using e-scripts, I know I didn't need to be asked twice by my doctor. I mean how simple is this: get an electronic script sent by your doctor to your phone, repeat is sent back to your phone, you save the number in your contacts as prescriptions"
Still no dollars.
ADHA must spend an enormous amount of time and effort concocting such long documents that say very little of substance. I guess the report on end-to-end security and privacy will be in a similar style.
A few observations worth noting in the Statement of Financial Position to 30 June 2021
Operating Activities includes:
1. Under the Intergovernmental Agreement the Jurisdictions contributed $29.75 million and the Australian Government contributed $32.3 million.
2. Appropriations totalled $195,392,000 (Commonwealth payment).
The $195.392M plus $32.3M suggests the Federal Government is funding of 88%. of the ADHA.
Cash used includes:
3. $189,410,000 paid to Suppliers being 75.7% of Total cash received.
4. $36,105,000 paid to employees being 14.4% of Total cash received.
Wages and salaries totalled $27,995,000 which at an average of say $120,000 per employee equates to approx. 230 employees.
Consultants and contractors received $35,822,000.
Objectives of the Agency:
"All assets and liabilities of National E-Health Transition Authority and My Health Record system operation activities managed by the Department of Health transferred to the Agency on that date." ('that date' is probably 1 July 2016)
Capital commitments:
"The Agency has a $20.3 million contractual obligation for the MHR system improvements in the financial year 2021-22, and a $6.5 million contractual obligation for the provision of Health Gateway Services, which extends for three financial years."
My Health Record (MHR)
There does not seem to be any ‘value’ accounting for the MHR software system asset. Presumably this might be because the IP and software pertaining to the MHR is not an ADHA asset!
Given that substantially more than $2 billion has been expended on developing and deploying the MHR it does seem strange that the MHR appears to have no $ asset value allocated against it. Perhaps it is recorded elsewhere.
If you think the financial management of ADHA is a puzzle, here's a question for you.
How much less than Joe Biden does Scott Morrison get paid?
Answer USD1,500 pa.
Joe Biden USD500,000 pa.
Scott Morrison USD495,500 pa
Scott is the fourth highest paid world leader.
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3150589/does-carrie-lam-really-get-paid-more-joe-biden-11-highest
Doesn't that make you feel proud?
Not really - more ashamed is a better description.
If it is licensing and services it will be OPEX
You will love the latest videos from ADHA on the new digital strategy. Lots of unrelated things and technologies with …you guessed it ….. my health record carefully placed ever so blatantly.
There is an amazing Youtube video from HIMAA 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OkGpCVHm1A
It is called Connecting Care in Victoria by Bronwyn Taylor and discuses Victoria's plans to create a Health Information Exchange.
The second slide is most informative.
"Health information is currently fragmented, leading to risks to the quality and safety of care.
A patient's care journey can take them to different public health services over the course of an illness, trauma, or procedure. Patients also move locations and may require care from different clinicians who are not familiar with their medical history
Currently in Victoria, health information is fragmented and clinicians rely on patients and their families to disclose which health services they have attended. Clinicians then source health information from other services, often via phone calls or fax"
Slide seven says: Its (sic) a complex world out there...
and doesn't even mention MyHR
IMHO this is the most damning criticism I have ever seen of MyHR. After nine years in operation and over $2billion wasted, Victoria is starting again.
@8:48PM "Given that substantially more than $2 billion has been expended on developing and deploying the MHR it does seem strange that the MHR appears to have no $ asset value allocated against it. Perhaps it is recorded elsewhere."
That's an interesting observation indeed.
Who owns the MHR IP?
Does the Australian Taxpayer (Government) have any equity in the MHR and if so what is the equity value?
The value of something is what someone will pay for it.
The big obstacle with MyHR is its legislation. No private organisation fits in so nobody can buy it so there is no value in the system. There may be value in what it does for patients and/or government but there is no evidence of either.
There's obviously no value to the Victorian government either which is why they are going their own way.
@1.0PM "The value of something is what someone will pay for it."
What!!! No transparency in the financial statements is ok with you? No way.
"The big obstacle with MyHR is its legislation. No private organisation fits in so nobody can buy it so there is no value in the system."
What!!! "Nobody can buy it." Bizarre. If the government wants to privatise the system it needs to put a value on the MyHR and that surely must reflect in some way the investment cost in developing and implementing the system.
"There may be value in what it does for patients and/or government but there is no evidence of either." In accounting terms that would probably be classified as the Intangible Value.
It seems to me if the My Health Record is not included in the financial statements with a $value assigned to it then it is reasonable to assume that either the financial statements are not transparent, are deficient and have not been adequately audited, or the My Health Record is an asset with no value which seems incredible. As a taxpayer I would like to know what my taxes have been spent on.
Cannot see how there would be any monetary value in the MyHR. Funds go on licensing and services, the system I assume would be similar to SaaS. The content - health records - hold not sellable value for the government only risk and cost in the event of the inevitable severe breach. Not an unusual case for Government
Be interested to better understand if there are financial people willing to comment
Cannot see how there would be any monetary value in the MyHR.
Strange comment. Plenty of other medical software solutions have a monetary value, some have a huge monetary value even though their user / customer base is quite small compared with the MHR user / customer base numbers which run into many millions.
"Cannot see how there would be any monetary value in the MyHR.
Strange comment. Plenty of other medical software solutions have a monetary value, some have a huge monetary value even though their user / customer base is quite small compared with the MHR user / customer base numbers which run into many millions."
Yes, but all those systems actually work much as intended! The myHR does not - it is pretty much pure cost and no benefit!
David.
Those other systems are sold to people who are legally entitled to collect and view all the data they contain.
MyHR is no such system.
The MyHR is not a commercial product nor is is owned by a commercial company. I cannot see how the government could sell it. Political minefield if you ask me
It's a bit like the French submarine fiasco; spend billions of dollars, deliver nothing of value, leave the project to sink to the bottom, continue spending more money to try and exit the mess created, and spend more money to start all over again. Sounds familiar.
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