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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Huge number of articles to catch up on this week so will let you at it without interruption!
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Queensland Health releases 10-year digital strategy for rural, remote health
It is guided by the principle of leaving no one behind in the delivery of care.
By Adam Ang
February 22, 2022 03:47 AM
Queensland Health has recently published a decade-long strategy to digitally transform the state's healthcare services in rural and remote areas.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The Digital Strategy for Rural and Remote Healthcare is a result of a consultation process involving over 400 clinical, business, and patient representatives across Queensland's hospital and health services.
It has identified infrastructure and technology challenges, including:
· Less access to technology, slower internet, less connectivity
· Data-silos and lack of interoperability
· Extremes of heat, dirt, dust, salt and weather with significant impact on technology
· Scarcity of local, skilled technicians and experienced ICT operators
· Less reliable and advanced ICT infrastructure, connectivity. Less funding for contemporary technologies
· Long lead times when technology needs repair or replacement
Some health services challenges were also highlighted, such as the difficulty in sharing information and accessing community care services; paper-based medications history and physical distance creating a "barrier" to efficient prescribing and delivery of medications; and "distant and time-consuming" medical imaging.
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Health remains most breached sector; human errors rise by 43%
Wednesday, 23 February, 2022
Health care remains the most breached sector, reporting around 18% of all notified data breaches, according to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s (OAIC) latest report.
The Notifiable Data Breaches Report for July to December 2021 shows the OAIC received 464 data breach notifications during this period, an increase of 6% compared with the previous period.
The health sector notified of 83 data breaches, with providers reporting an equal number of breaches resulting from malicious or criminal attack and human error (47% each).
The OAIC is urging organisations to put accountability at the centre of their information handling practices.
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Adopting cloud-first policy, upskilling among ways to further cloud adoption in APAC: report
A report published yesterday by AWS Institute and ACCESS Health identifies the enablers and barriers to cloud adoption in the region.
By Adam Ang
February 21, 2022 11:50 PM
A report published yesterday has offered recommendations on how public health systems in Asia-Pacific can address roadblocks in adopting cloud technologies.
Titled "Overcoming Barriers to Cloud Adoption in Public Healthcare in Asia Pacific", the report was developed by AWS Institute, the thought leadership programme of Amazon Web Services, in partnership with health innovation advisory firm ACCESS Health International.
FINDINGS
A study was conducted in 12 APAC countries: Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, India, and Bangladesh. It engaged almost 40 policymakers, CIOs, CMIOs, and digital health experts to gain insight into the progress of healthcare digitisation in the region.
It was found that among high-income countries, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea were most advanced in terms of cloud readiness and adoption for healthcare. Among the two countries that were classified as upper-middle-income countries, Thailand has wider adoption than Malaysia, although the latter has made more progress in terms of policies. India and Vietnam were found to have greater cloud adoption than their peers in the lower-middle-income bracket.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/wa-health-appoints-new-cio-from-within-575881
WA Health appoints new CIO from within
By Justin Hendry on Feb 22, 2022 7:00AM
Second tech chief in a year.
WA Health has appointed Jonathan Smith as its chief information officer after a brief stint as acting technology chief.
Smith took the job at the department’s shared services arm, Health Support Services (HSS), on a permanent basis in December.
He had been HSS’ interim CIO since the departure of former chief Christian Rasmussen, who left the agency after less than 10 months in October.
Smith comes to the CIO role with four years’ experience at HHS, most recently as its executive director for program delivery.
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DB Results and Thai hospital extend digital transformation partnership
Friday, 18 February, 2022
The Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital Mahidol University has signed an agreement with digital consultancy DB Results to continue their digital transformation partnership.
With more than 2,800,000 outpatient visits and 80,000 inpatient admissions a year, Siriraj Hospital is said to be Thailand’s largest public hospital.
Gavin Bunshaw, Co-CEO, DB Results, said, “We started our journey with Siriraj hospital with an MoU in 2020. The MoU’s principles and guidelines were to make a difference in healthcare services through innovation and technology with the OutSystems Low-Code platform in collaboration with the Siriraj Hospital team. We have followed these principles and guidelines with the implementation of the ‘Pathology system’ and ‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery’ platform (ERAS).”
The company leveraged its agile methodology coupled with design thinking to build efficiencies and streamline hospital processes. The OutSystems Low-Code platform was used with an aim to build solutions four to seven times faster than traditional development.
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Australia to launch new COVID-19 case reporting tool for aged care
This comes amid the rise in COVID-19 deaths in residential aged care facilities.
By Adam Ang
February 17, 2022 04:17 AM
Australia's Department of Health is setting up a new reporting tool in which aged care service providers can report their COVID-19 cases.
The COVID-19 Support Portal on the My Aged Care provider website will allow aged care services to submit de-identified data about COVID-19 outbreaks or exposures at their facilities.
WHY IT MATTERS
Case reporting through the new online site will begin on 28 February. Before then, providers will still have to submit their counts to the government by email.
"The information collected via the new COVID-19 Support Portal is the same as the existing information required to be reported by providers to the Department of Health. We are simply making it more streamlined and effective," the department said in a recent update. The portal, it added, will help "expedite the provision of support to providers when an outbreak occurs".
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/medibank-reports-50-percent-lift-in-ai-customer-interactions-576544
Medibank reports 50 percent lift in AI customer interactions
By Kate Weber on Feb 25, 2022 11:35AM
Digital investments begin to yield results.
Health insurer Medibank has reported its analytics investments saw its customer interactions rise significantly over the half, as customers increasingly switch to digital channels.
Medibank CEO David Koczkar said in the company’s 2022 half year result technology investments have proven rewarding as “more customers are choosing to use our digital channels”.
“Our recent platform investments are paying off, with our leading analytics capability driving a 50 percent increase in the number of AI enabled customer interactions in the last six months,” Koczkar said.
“As a result that customer advocacy milestone is in great shape and is well above our benchmark for the half.”
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/govts-cost-finder-website-finally-list-specialists-fees-soon
Govt's cost finder website to finally list specialists' fees... soon
But it will be voluntary, and officials won't say how many doctors are signing up
25th February 2022
The Federal Government’s specialist fees website is finally going to reveal the fees charged by individual specialists — as long as they agree first.
Touted as a fix for 'bill shock', the Medical Costs Finder website launched three years ago but was dubbed a waste of time because it only lists average out-of-pocket costs for about 1300 in-hospital and out-of-hospital procedures.
But next month, testing will start on an upgraded version allowing individual specialists to list their fees for a limited number of procedures.
Plastic surgeons, obstetricians, ENT specialists, urologists and gastroenterologists would be first in line, with the ability to list their fees for approximately 100 MBS-rebated procedures, the Department of Health said.
It has not said how many doctors have so far signed up, but if the testing goes as planned their fees will be made public by the end of July.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/pwc-doubles-health-department-work-in-bumper-year-of-govt-contracts/
PwC doubles Health department work in bumper year of govt contracts
Denham Sadler
National Affairs Editor
23 February 2022
PwC more than doubled its revenue from the federal Health department in the last financial year as it cashed in on pandemic work outsourcing, with the global professional services giant enjoying an overall 20 per cent increase in government work.
An investigation of contract documents by InnovationAus has found that PwC earned $228 million from federal government contracts in the 2020-21 financial year, up from $191.9 million in the previous year.
This relates to the actual dollar amount paid to PwC in the financial year, rather than the value of the contracts awarded to the firm in this time.
This equates to an increase of nearly 20 per cent year-on-year in 2020-21, the first full reporting year since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a boost of $36 million in revenue from government work.
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Alcidion - H1 FY2022 Results and Webcast Recording
Melbourne, Australia – Alcidion Group Limited (‘Alcidion’ or the ‘Company’) today releases its financial results for the six-month period ending 31 December 2021 (H1 FY22) and a business update detailing operational highlights.
Highlights:
- $30.4M of new contracted sales in the half resulting in contracted revenue able to be recognised in FY22 increasing to $27.1M, up 25% on the prior corresponding period (pcp)
- H1 FY22 revenue of $12.9M, up 16% on pcp
- Gross profit of $10.9M (85% gross profit margin), up from $9.8M on pcp
- Underlying EBITDA loss of $3.2M, is in line with management expectations given planned investment in growth
- Milestone $23.3M contract with the Commonwealth of Australia as part of Consortium led by Leidos Australia
- Material contracts signed with Sydney Local Health District, Queen’s Hospital Burton and a 3-year extension for support and maintenance with Royal Derby Hospital
- Acquisition of Silverlink PCS Software Ltd, positioning Alcidion to deliver a cloud-native, modern and modular Electronic Patient/Medical Record (EPR/EMR)
- Cash balance of $18.9M as at 31 December 2021
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Connecting Consultant Pharmacists to My Health Record: National Provider Portal
Event details
When Thursday, 3 March 2022 6:30pm - 7:30pm (AEDT)
Where Online
Hosted by Australian Digital Health Agency
General enquiries
Phone: 1300 901 001
8am - 5pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday - Friday
Email: help@digitalhealth.gov.au
The Australian Digital Health Agency is hosting a webinar for independent consultant pharmacists interested in connecting and accessing My Health Record.
Having access to health information contained in My Health Record can support accredited pharmacists in the delivery of Home Medicines Reviews, reduce the instance of adverse medication events (including hospital re-admissions) and improve continuity of care for patients across the primary and secondary care sectors.
The session will explain the process of connecting to the National Provider Portal which enables web-based view-only access to a patient’s My Health Record without the need for additional software. The host will take you through the registration process completed via PRODA/HPOS step-by-step and provide assistance and direction if you require additional support. In this session we will also provide an overview of the My Health Record system and key documents that can be accessed along with a live demonstration of the National Provider Portal.
The webinar will provide information about ongoing participation requirements and obligations for your continued access to the My Health Record system. There will be an opportunity for Q+A at the end of the session and a recording will be provided to all registrants.
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https://www.dayhospitalsaustralia.net.au/my-health-record-system-upgrade-2/
My Health Record system upgrade
- 24th February 2022
- General,
My Health Record will be upgraded on 24 February 2022 to allow clinical information system software developers to enhance their systems so that event summaries, discharge summaries and specialist letters can be subtyped on upload to My Health Record.
This release also updates the timing of onscreen alerts and SMS/email notifications to support different interval durations between the first and second doses of each COVID-19 vaccine by age group.
For assistance contact the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471 (Select Option 2).
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A rare silver lining of the pandemic: Online therapy, finally mainstream
During the grim months of lockdowns, the number of people in need of mental health services surged. If there is a silver lining to the devastation of the pandemic, it’s the expansion and adoption of online and tele health services.
Amy Marnie
news.com.au is highlighting the support is available at Beyond Blue’s Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service.
Online health services have long been promoted as a solution to many barriers for Australians seeking help: affordability, accessibility and stigma. Despite this, the uptake of online therapy has been low.
But the pandemic changed that.
For Anita Aherne, the changing world, all five members of the family learning and working from home and caring for a son with special needs created a pressure cooker situation.
“I had lost all my own space, and I was juggling everybody else's problems, and I found that I was really struggling. I was very teary, I just couldn't see a way out,” she says.
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ADHA - Software Developer Community Announcement
Discontinuation of TLS 1.1 access to Verizon certificates-australia websites
Verizon Australia is a third party organisation who manages the issuance of both Medicare and NASH PKI certificates that are used by Healthcare Organisations to undertake electronic business with Services Australia.
Verizon have notified Services Australia that they must make an upgrade to the Transport Layer Security that’s used on their website www.certificates-australia.com.au from TLS1.1 to TLS1.2. The proposed date of upgrade is 31 March 2022.
Software vendors who are currently using TLS1.1 will need to upgrade to TLS1.2 to avoid any impact.
Who does this affect?
All systems that use NASH or Services Australia (Medicare) PKI certificates, that have also been hardcoded to use TLS 1.1, or are running on Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7 or earlier.
These systems may experience issues with the following digital health services:
- The My Health Record B2B gateway
- The Healthcare Identifiers service
- Electronic Prescribing
- Secure Messaging
- Medicare-related services
- Any other use of the NASH or Services Australia (Medicare) PKI
Required action
Please ensure that your software has not been hardcoded to use TLS 1.1. and provide advice to any customers that may be running on Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7 or earlier.
Ensure your software is compatible with TLS 1.2 or 1.3 and that your customers’ operating systems are configured to default to TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3.
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https://marketplace.service.gov.au/2/digital-marketplace/opportunities/19309
Australian Digital Health Agency
Development of visualizations for the new National Digital Health Strategy
Opportunity ID 19309
Deadline for asking questions Wednesday 23 February 2022 at 6pm (in Canberra)
Application closing date Friday 25 February 2022 at 6pm (in Canberra)
Published Monday 21 February 2022
Panel category Marketing, Communications and Engagement
Additional terms
Comprehensive terms apply
Overview
Require visualizations for the new Strategy and Plan: • visual representation of the Strategy framing and Plan framework • infographics to demonstrate initiatives and elements of the Strategy (15) and Plan (10) • infographics to demonstrate current and future state consumer and clinician journeys under the Strategy (8) and Plan (2) • data visualisation of benefits that can be updated over time for the Strategy (25) and Plan (6) The Strategy and Plan will be hosted on the Agency website . The visuals must be compatible with existing Microsoft office applications and will be provided to website developers for inclusion on the website. A designed pdf version of the complete Strategy and Plan are required. We require a presentation pack to accompany the release of the Strategy and Plan that provides a toolkit to 6 stakeholder groups on the adoption of the Strategy and Plan. An engagement plan is required to support endorsement and adoption of the Strategy and Plan by key stakeholders prior to and post release. The supplier will work in an iterative way to develop the deliverables including an onboarding workshop to agree infographic requirements deliverable timeframes and weekly meetings with the delegate.
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https://www.mwhpn.com.au/event/my-health-record-best-practice-qa-session/
My Health Record – Best Practice Q+A session
23 February @ 8:00 am - 8:30 am
These 30 minute sessions are aimed at GPs, Specialists, Practice Managers, Practice Nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers interested in learning more about My Health Record and how to use it most effectively in routine practice. Using a software simulation platform the instructor will answer questions or demonstrate available features of My Health Record using Best Practice.
Details
Date: 23 February
Time: 8:00 am - 8:30 am
Event Category:
Organiser Australian Government
Venue Webinar
WA Australia + Google Map-----
https://wildhealth.net.au/do-workout-apps-mean-squat/
25 February 2022
Do workout apps mean squat?
By Fran Molloy
Physical activity dropped in most populations over the pandemic, as shutdowns closed gyms and sports facilities, and school and work closures kept entire populations at home – with one UK study estimating a 30% decline in exercise in over-16s.
Researchers at the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University surveyed more than 400 Australian adults following the initial covid lockdown in April/May 2020 and found that more than half (53%) reported a corresponding decline in physical activity.
However, about a quarter of respondents (24%) reported an increase in activity during the pandemic, many taking time to walk or exercise outdoors, while around half of this group used fitness apps.
“Social support is certainly important to maintaining exercise behaviour,” says Associate Professor Ivanka Prichard, a co-author of the Flinders University study.
Motivation and self-efficacy (a person’s belief in their own ability) were other factors that prompted the active respondents to keep exercising, she adds.
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Services Australia: Update on Digital Channel Upgrades February 2022
Over the last 12 months, Services Australia has been updating its digital health and aged care channels in the Adaptors to Web Services (A2WS) Project.
Services Australia are working with software developers to:
- upgrade our digital health channels to web services
- replace Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) site certificates with Provider Digital Access (PRODA).
Services
Australia acknowledges that recent events have placed additional pressures on
industry, impacting their ability to transition to web services and PRODA by 13
March 2022.
To help alleviate this, we’re renewing all Medicare and PBS PKI site certificates. This will ensure healthcare locations can continue to access our digital health channels from 13 March 2022.
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https://itwire.com/your-it/avast-survey-australian-elderly-highest-among-internet-non-users.html
Friday, 25 February 2022 11:22
Avast survey: Australian elderly highest among internet non-users
The proportion of internet non-users is highest among the Australian elderly, revealing a digital generation gap, according to a global survey conducted by Avast.
Of the 2,700 people aged 55 and older surveyed worldwide by telephone, 42% use the internet regularly, 31% occasionally, and 27% never.
Half of the respondents are retired and the proportion of people who do not use the internet increases with age: While only 17% of people aged 55-60 do not use the internet, the proportion goes up to 39% among people aged 75 and over.
In a country comparison, respondents in Russia (66%), the UK (61%), Japan (58%), and New Zealand (58%) are the most active online; in Australia (36%), Mexico (28%), France (20%), many people still use the internet little or not at all, and 88% of all people globally have not used the internet.
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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/596443/Free-telehealth-service-for-abortion-support-.htm
Free telehealth service for abortion support
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
NEWS
The government has launched a
national abortion telehealth service called Decide.
Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says the service will connect people
to abortion information, advice and counselling over the phone, from health
practitioners anywhere in the country.
Abortion telehealth services are already offered by some DHBs and expanding
this service nationally is a huge step in improving access to abortion
services, she says.
“In-person care will always be offered, but it’s important that other options
are available as well where suitable,” says Verrall.
“Telehealth makes it easier for people to reach the services and support that
already exist, particularly those who find it difficult to visit a doctor or
clinic. It also gives assurance to health practitioners that their patients
have additional sources of support.”
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Use NBN as an asset not a money maker, warns ACCC boss
7:15PM February 23, 2022
Outgoing competition tsar Rod Sims says the National Broadband Network should not be run with the objective of making a commercial return on the government’s $50bn investment.
Mr Sims, who will next month step down as chair of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, said the focus of the NBN should be “making the best use of this great asset”.
“After spending $50bn on the NBN, the objective must not be a commercial return on the sunk investment,” Mr Sims told the National Press Club in Canberra. “The prices that allow the NBN to get a commercial return on all its outlays, and the prices that make best use of this expensive asset, are very likely quite different.
“We all saw the benefit of having the NBN completed in time for the pandemic lockdowns. That is just a taste of the benefits if we get NBN pricing right.
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Wednesday, 23 February 2022 11:06
Households favour high speed NBN plans as smaller retailers increase share
Almost 8.6 million residential broadband services are now on the NBN and 58% are on high speed services of 50 Mbps, with an additional 15% of customers on speeds of over 50 Mbps, the ACCC’s latest NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report reveals.
As the majority of the ‘Focus on Fast’ promotional discounts have now ended, the number of very high speed services over 100 Mbps fell by about 108,000 services, or 24%, in the quarter. However, almost half of the households that took up very high speed plans in 2021 remain on services above 100 Mbps.
“We encourage consumers to trial new services, but it’s important that they think about their internet usage and choose the speed tier that best fits their needs,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
The report showed that Aussie Broadband continued to make gains in the December 2021 quarter, increasing its customer base by about 46,000 and lifting its wholesale market share to 5.6%, up from 5.1% in September 2021. Superloop also increased its share in the quarter to 1.7%.
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https://itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/telco-expert-backs-accc-call-to-treat-nbn-costs-as-sunk.html
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 18:49
Telco expert backs ACCC call to treat NBN costs as sunk
By Sam Varghese
A well-known telecommunications consultant has thrown his support behind a call by ACCC chairman Rod Sims for the government to treat the costs of the NBN as sunk and focus on getting the best use out of the network.
Paul Budde said in a blog post on Tuesday that Sims had made the statement during a recent Senate inquiry. He cited the head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as saying it would be "bad economics" to try to recover "every last dollar spent” on the NBN rollout.
He quoted Sims as saying: "Obviously the NBN was built by the government, and now that it’s built, I think it’s appropriate to treat its costs as sunk, what matters for Australia is getting the best use out of the NBN.”
When the NBN was first announced, back in 2009, the Australian Labor Party said fibre-to-the-home was earmarked for 93% of premises and fixed wireless or satellite for the remainder. In 2013, when the Coalition was elected, it brought in what it called a multi-technology mix that provides fibre-to-the-node for most premises.
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Enjoy!
David.