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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Not a very busy week – until Omicron sprang to life late Friday and scared the world to bits. Lots of systems will be wound up again I suspect
Otherwise just a few tit-bits of interest!
Feel sorry for those exam candidates messed about by examination tech!
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nib-takes-4-million-stake-in-midnight-health-573123
Nib takes $4 million stake in Midnight Health
By Kate Weber on Nov 24, 2021 12:50PM
Year-old startup already has over 4500 subscribers.
Health insurer nib has acquired a 50 percent stake in Australian digital health startup Midnight Health for $4 million.
Midnight Health integrates telehealth technology, doctors, pharmacy networks and other health partners for patients who do not wish to visit health services in person.
Founded in October 2020, the platform connects users with other services such as male-focused health consultation company Stagger and women’s health solutions company Youly.
Both offer text-based consultations plus access to treatments and prescriptions through innovative online solutions, with plans to expand in senior care in the upcoming months.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/registrars-significant-distress-after-another-remote-exam-failure
Registrars in 'significant distress' after another remote exam failure
An IT glitch forced the college of psychiatrists to cancel its OSCE part way through on Saturday
22nd November 2021
Nearly 300 psychiatry registrars will be forced to resit their clinical fellowship exam after yet another major IT glitch affecting a medical college.
In a scenario that echoes the RACGP’s exam debacle last year, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) was forced to cancel its Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) on Saturday.
The college has blamed a “videoconferencing failure” during the morning session of the exam, which was conducted by an external provider remotely in candidates' homes.
As a result, the 270 candidates — some of whom had reportedly waited 18 months to sit their exams — along with examiners and role players, were unable to join their virtual "rooms" for assessment.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/psychiatry-exam-fail-will-keep-system-under-pressure/58290
22 November 2021
Psychiatry exam fail will keep system under pressure
By Holly Payne
There is no relief on the way for pandemic-fatigued mental health clinicians, after “significant IT issues” forced the cancellation of the RANZCP’s audiovisual Objective Structured Clinical Exam component on Saturday.
With no new psychiatrists to relieve the pressure, Australia’s mental health workforce could reach a boiling point.
Saturday’s last-minute cancellation was just the latest in a series of adjustments and delays to the RANZCP OSCE, with only 207 trainees having had the opportunity to sit the exam since October 2019.
Pre-pandemic, about 700 fellowship hopefuls would have sat the exam over that time period, according to the NSW Association of Psychiatry Trainees.
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Fears of psychiatrist shortage after two years of cancelled exams
By Lucy Carroll and Mary Ward
November 22, 2021 — 2.36pm
Hundreds of trainee psychiatrists have been unable to complete their exams during the pandemic despite serious concerns about workforce shortages in Australia’s mental health sector.
The latest attempt at holding the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP)’s final trainee exams via video link were abandoned midway through on Saturday due to technical difficulties.
Roughly 270 trainees were affected. The objective structured clinical exam involved the remote supervision of role-play scenarios.
A letter sent by the NSW Association of Psychiatry Trainees expressed “concern and disappointment” the exam had not been able to go ahead, after being postponed from October 30.
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Friday, 19 November 2021 12:46
SA Health, Digital Health Agency use new messaging tech to improve patient care
By Staff Writer
New technology designed to streamline communication between hospitals and community health providers is allowing clinicians to share important patient information faster and improve patient care.
SA Health Chief Digital Health Officer, Bret Morris, said SA Health, in partnership with the Australian Digital Health Agency, has trialled the secure messaging technology and is now rolling it out in a staged approach.
“Secure Messaging allows hospitals and healthcare providers, including general practitioners, private specialists and allied health professionals to communicate with each other in a safe and secure manner,” Morris said.
“It reduces the use of fax machines and post, improving accuracy, privacy and the speed in which clinical documents can continue to be shared between sites.
"This technology makes the clinician’s work easier and more efficient, while contributing to improved patient care for South Australians.”
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http://www.healthintersections.com.au/?p=3090
HL7 Australia Webinar: Playing with #FHIR
Posted on November 25, 2021 by Grahame Grieve
After she caused plenty of excitement a few weeks ago, I’m please to inform you that Alissa Knight has agreed to appear on an HL7 Australia webinar with John Moehrke to talk about both her new report and the various responses to it.
The webinar will at 10am on Dec 1st 2021. Registration is free – see EventBrite.
I’ll be moderating the webinar on behalf of HL7 Australia, and also New Zealand – our kiwi colleagues are invited to join us as well. We’ll also be talking about what developers and administrators of systems should be doing to secure their systems.
Thanks Alissa (and John) for agreeing to share their knowledge and experience with us here in Australia and New Zealand.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/finalist-coviu-leads-in-a-banner-year-for-telehealth/
Finalist: Coviu leads in a banner year for telehealth
Rachael
Bolton
Contributor
24 November 2021
Silvia Pfeiffer has always been on the leading edge of video innovation and research. In 1999, she was awarded a PhD in computer science from the University of Mannheim where her thesis was focused on content analysis and what was then called ‘new media’ applications for video.
For context, YouTube didn’t even launch until 2005.
She’s worked on content detection and video search for some of the biggest companies in the world. The prescience of naming her telehealth web service Coviu – five years before the pandemic – is perhaps fitting.
“It blew my mind when they had to pick a name [for the disease] that was so close to our company name,” Dr Pfeiffer confesses. “But there was nothing we could do. We weren’t going to change our name.”
Coviu in fact stands for ‘Collaborative Viewing’ – the core functionality of the telehealth platform.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/gp-fights-back-over-acronyms-specialists-letters
GP fights back over acronyms in specialists' letters
Dr George Quittner says he's sick of scratching his head over non-GP specialist letters and is calling for clarity
23rd November 2021
A Sydney GP has become so frustrated by the number of indecipherable acronyms in other specialists' letters that he now insists that an explanation key be included in reports.
Dr George Quittner has started including a paragraph in his referral letters asking that all return missives contain an attached explanation of any abbreviations used.
His comments come in response to a 6minutes report on a Queensland study that found the average patient discharge summary had 17 different abbreviations.
Dr Quittner said he was often left scratching his head over acronym-laden letters, trying to decipher what tests were done or what syndrome his patient has.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/588097/Hira-clinical-reference-group-created.htm
Hira clinical reference group created
Tuesday, 23 November 2021
NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
A clinical reference group has
been created to advise on the Hira programme at the Ministry of Health.
The business case for Hira tranche one has been submitted to Cabinet for
approval and an announcement on Cabinet’s decision is due soon.
Becky George, interim clinical director for the Hira programme, says the new
reference group has 12 members and will ensure there is a strong clinical voice
in the development of the ecosystem of data and digital health systems, called
Hira.
She says in a new podcast episode of eHealthTalk
NZ that hers is the first clinical role within
the data and digital directorate and “reflects a new emphasis that we're
putting on clinicians and providers”.
The clinical reference group includes clinicians from across medical, nursing
and allied health professions and provides a range of viewpoints from
communities throughout New Zealand.
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NSW Ambulance upgrades P25 network, improves staff safety with GPS tracking
Wednesday, 24 November, 2021
The NSW Ambulance service has upgraded the Far West Project 25 ( P25) radio network with improved coverage and network performance for critical communication operations.
NSW Ambulance has more than 6000 staff, including paramedics, doctors, nurses and corporate personnel, who provide communities with emergency health care and support, clinical care, and rescue and retrieval services across the state. Each year, one in six people in the state receive care from NSW Ambulance, with a call for help every 26 seconds1. April 2021 marked 125 years of the operation for the NSW Ambulance service.
NSW Ambulance needed a partner to redesign its P25 network to ensure all geographical locations across NSW had coverage, it had adequate safety measures in place for staff and the network remained resilient without outages.
Privately owned telecommunications carrier Vertel won the tender by providing a detailed solution that demonstrated an understanding of the requirements needed for NSW Ambulance’s critical operations. The company, which has already proven to be a trusted supplier to NSW Ambulance on previous projects, designed and implemented the P25 upgrade.
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Australia to support accurate meds prescription for patients with kidney problems
Indigenous people and senior Australians are poised to benefit from this latest research project.
By Adam Ang
November 25, 2021 01:40 AM
The government-backed Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre has launched a A$1 million (above $700,000) research project that intends to empower accurate prescription of medications for patients dealing with kidney failure.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The research institute, in tandem with the Northern Territory Health and the University of South Australia, will develop this clinical decision support tool for healthcare professionals that will be delivered as a standalone service via an application program interface, making it easy to integrate with existing prescribing or dispensing software systems.
After analysing the context of medicine prescription and dispensing in the first research phase, they will create a renal dosage calculator algorithm based on NT Health's clinical data sets and other available medicine knowledge databases. In the second phase, they will simulate the impact of the tool in the urban and rural primacy clinics in NT and South Australia.
The final research phase involves a clinical pilot in NT's urban and remote primary health care centres and community pharmacy settings.
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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/my-health-record/covid-19-dashboard
Your COVID-19 information in one place
Your COVID-19 vaccination dashboard in My Health Record brings together information about your COVID-19 vaccinations, test results uploaded and related health information.
What to do if your immunisation details are incomplete
If the immunisation information in your dashboard is empty or seems incomplete:
Check your Medicare Information Settings (under the Profile & Settings tab).
Make sure Yes is selected for 'All information about immunisations recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).'
Selecting Yes will also let your healthcare providers see your immunisation information.
Resources
View your record using an app
What to do if you think information is missing
Contact us
My Health Record enquiries
Phone: 1800
723 471 (select option 1)
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
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https://www.miragenews.com/new-appointments-to-sydney-harbour-federation-681344/
New appointments to Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
The Hon Sussan Ley MP
Minister for the Environment
The Morrison Government has announced two new Board members for the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust reflecting the importance of the Indigenous heritage of the sites, as well as the wider significance of the Harbour Trust to greater Sydney.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said following the Morrison Government’s steps to ensure the ongoing future of the Harbour Trust in administering former Commonwealth defence sites such as Cockatoo Island, Headland Park and Sub Base Platypus, it was important to also ensure the Board brought together the right diversity of skillsets to plan for the future.
“I am pleased to announce that Tanya Denning-Orman, Director of Indigenous Content at SBS will join the Board along with City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Steven Issa,” Minister Ley said.
“Tanya brings a wealth of communications and broadcast experience to the Board and a strong understanding of Indigenous story telling.
“Steven’s appointment reflects the importance of local government perspectives in Heritage planning and place making.
“This is a unique time of opportunity for the Harbour Trust as it undertakes long-term master planning for Cockatoo Island and North Head Sanctuary, and it is important the right mix of Board and Management experience is in place to deliver the best possible outcomes.”
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26 Nov 2021 10:00 AM AEST
HESTA expands investments in digital healthcare innovation
HESTA is expanding its investment in leading Australian health software solutions, today announcing it has acquired a $120m equity stake in the newly combined Genie Solutions and Citadel Group.
Citadel acquired Genie Solutions last month. HESTA, an investor in Genie since 2017 through IFM Private Equity, reinvested the bulk of its proceeds from the sale of Genie into an investment into the newly combined Citadel Group maintaining its exposure to a fast-growing business and the digital healthcare sector more broadly. Both Citadel and Genie are leading providers in their respective market segments.
“HESTA’s deep relationships across the fast-growing healthcare sector gives us a unique investment perspective that’s helping to deliver outstanding investment performance for our members,” HESTA CIO Sonya Sawtell-Rickson said.
“We’re proud to be continuing to invest in the next chapter of Genie Solutions’ growth. Our investment in Citadel Group will give us exposure to a group of companies providing healthcare and enterprise software services in Australia and globally.”
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https://itwire.com/deals/hesta-invests-%24120-million-to-citadel-group.html
Friday, 26 November 2021 11:20
Hesta invests $120 million in Citadel Group
Australian industry superannunation fund for health workers Hesta invests a $120 million equity stake in IT service management company Citadel Group, which recently acquired Genie Solutions.
Hesta, Genie’s investor since 2017 through IFM Private Equity, reinvested its shares when Genie was purchased by Citadel Group. Hesta says this maintained its exposure to a fast-growing business and to the digital healthcare sector more broadly.
“Hesta’s deep relationships across the fast-growing healthcare sector gives us a unique investment perspective that’s helping to deliver outstanding investment performance for our members,” Hesta chief information officer Sonya Sawtell-Rickson says.
“Investments like this are helping improve our members’ experience at work, while also supporting digital innovation in their sector,” Sawtell-Rickson adds.
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Vodafone lobs cut-price fixed wireless to lure homes away from NBN
By Zoe Samios
November 24, 2021 — 12.01am
Vodafone Australia will aggressively cut prices on its fixed wireless internet plans for the next year as it attempts to steal a slice of the broadband market back from the national broadband network (NBN).
ASX-listed TPG Telecom’s mobile brand will halve the cost of 4G and 5G home internet plans and cut the price of mobile devices by up to $600, under a major discount push designed to make the telco more competitive in the market.
TPG Telecom’s group executive - consumer, Kieren Cooney, said an increase in the number of customers using wireless products would deliver higher margins for the telco.
“[The offering] is very competitive from a customer’s point of view,” Mr Cooney said. “We can provide a really great customer experience... because it sits across our network, so there are no hand-offs.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-chair-dr-ziggy-switkowski-to-step-down-573029
NBN Co chair Dr Ziggy Switkowski to step down
By Ry Crozier on Nov 22, 2021 4:54PM
New chair and non-executive director appointed.
NBN Co has unveiled a board shakeup with Dr Ziggy Switkowski set to leave his role as chair at the end of the year, with current board member Kate McKenzie to succeed him.
The vacant board spot will be filled by Nerida Caesar, who will be a non-executive director for three years from January 1, 2022.
All three - Dr Switkowski, McKenzie and Caesar - were at one time former senior executives at Telstra.
Dr Switkowski has been NBN Co board chair since 2013, and was twice re-appointed for additional three-year terms.
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Enjoy!
David.
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