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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! It’s pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/mygov-is-a-huge-disappointment-key-architect-despairs/
myGov is a ‘huge disappointment,’ key architect despairs
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
5 May 2022
A key architect of myGov says he “despairs” at the lack of progress on the platform and that the outsourcing of the development of a new version to private consultants was a “huge mistake”.
Labor last weekend promised to launch an audit of the myGov program if it wins the looming federal election, saying the platform is “not up to scratch”. Former Australian Government chief information officer Glenn Archer, who played a lead role in the launch of myGov nearly ten years ago, agrees.
Mr Archer, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University, was the inaugural national manager for e-government at Centrelink in the early 2000s, and was responsible for putting the first four transactions online, the first time services had ever been delivered via the internet by the Australian government.
Ten years later in 2012, Mr Archer drove a government proposal to undertake a significant upgrade of Centrelink’s online services, in what would become the birth of the myGov platform as it is known today.
Mr Archer was the Australian government CIO in the early 2010s, and was a member of the myGov steering committee, advising Cabinet on the 2013 upgrades to the myGov platform.
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https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/nominate-a-brilliant-woman-in-digital-health/
Nominate a brilliant woman in digital health
May 5, 2022 | Community Chats, Member news, Surveys
Nominations are open until 13 June for Telstra Health’s 2022 Brilliant Women in Digital Health Awards.
Now in its second year, the awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of 25 women across Australia for achievements in health and aged care.
Nominate yourself or someone you know by completing the online nomination form by Monday 13 June, 5pm AEST.
AIDH CEO Dr Louise Schaper is a member of the judging panel to select Australia’s most brilliant women in digital health, based on the following broad criteria which recognises:
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https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/aidh-lists-priorities-for-2022-federal-election/
AIDH lists priorities for 2022 Federal Election
May 2, 2022 | Advocacy, AIDH ACT, AIDH news, Featured
MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 2 May 2022
The Australasian Institute of Digital Health is calling on political parties and candidates in the federal election to demonstrate their support for continued investment in the digital enablement of healthcare.
AIDH CEO Dr Louise Schaper said the Institute prioritised the development of a fully funded national virtual care strategy, commitment to a digitally enabled health workforce and investment in the infrastructure needed for a 21st century healthcare system.
The Institute released its Federal Election Statement today “Shifting the dial on Australia’s transition to a digital health future”.
“We want to see all candidates committed to supporting investment in the digital enablement of healthcare, and in the capability required for our health system to be responsive in an increasingly interdependent health and aged care landscape,” Dr Schaper said.
“It is imperative that we preserve the momentum gained from the rapid scaling of consumer-centric, digitally enabled health solutions in response to COVID-19,” she said.
“Australia needs a co-designed, accessible, and fully funded national virtual care strategy; investment in a digitally equipped and trained workforce; and investment in the infrastructure that underpins the delivery of healthcare in the 21st century.”
The Institute’s 2022 Federal Election statement outlines our priorities and makes a series of recommendations to address these areas and shift the dial on Australia’s transition to a digital health future, she said.
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Wearable technology promises to revolutionise health care
Do not let bureaucracy delay matters
May 5th 2022
IT IS A stealthy killer. When the heart’s chambers beat out of sync, blood pools and clots may form. Atrial fibrillation causes a quarter of more than 100,000 strokes in Britain each year. Most of those would never happen if the heart arrhythmia were treated, but first it has to be found. Tests are costly and inaccurate, but Apple Watches, and soon Fitbits, can detect it, are far cheaper and can save those whose lives are in danger.
This is just one example of the revolution about to transform medicine. Smartwatches and -rings, fitness trackers and a rapidly growing array of electronically enhanced straps, patches and other “wearables” can record over 7,500 physiological and behavioural variables. Some of them are more useful than others, obviously, but, as our Technology Quarterly in this issue explains, machine learning can filter a torrent of data to reveal a continuous, quantified picture of you and your health.
These are early days for the quantified self, and for investors in digital health it is still a wild ride. Witness the recent collapse in the share price of Teladoc, which provides online consultations, a worrying sign for other would-be disrupters. But for patients the innovation in wearable devices has just begun. Individual firms may come and go, but wearables and artificial intelligence look set to reshape health care in three big ways: early diagnosis, personalised treatment and the management of chronic disease. Each promises to lower costs and save lives.
Start with early diagnosis. Wearables can detect subtle changes that otherwise go unnoticed, leading to less severe disease and cheaper treatment. Sensors will reveal if an older person’s balance is starting to weaken. People’s gait and arm-swing change in early-stage Parkinson’s. Strength exercise can help prevent falls and broken limbs. Psychiatric diagnosis may be enhanced by tracking patterns of smartphone use—without monitoring what people see or type. A smart ring can help a woman conceive, by predicting her menstrual cycle. It can also detect pregnancy less than a week after conception (many women continue to drink or smoke for weeks before they realise they are pregnant).
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https://developer.digitalhealth.gov.au/resources/news/health-api-gateway-transition
Health API Gateway transition
March 30, 2022
The Australian Digital Health Agency is upgrading Australia’s digital health platform to ensure it continues to meet the needs of Australians into the future. The first key upgrade is a new Health API Gateway that will provide a secure and scalable digital platform for exchanging and accessing health information.
The Australian Digital Health Agency is upgrading Australia’s digital health platform to ensure it continues to meet the needs of Australians into the future.
The first key upgrade is a new Health API Gateway that will provide a secure and scalable digital platform for exchanging and accessing health information. It will be a key enabler of the Agency’s work to create a collaborative environment to accelerate adoption and use of innovative digital services and technologies. It’s the first step in achieving a future where digital health is in broad use.
The current gateway (Oracle API gateway) is being decommissioned and the new Health API Gateway Services will constitute a standalone, contemporary capability to provide services for the My Health Record system that can be extended to support the infrastructure in the national digital health infrastructure and broader future state concept.
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Video recording – Digital Transformation Tech Talk webinar – 8 April 2022
At this webinar, our presenters Michael Lye and Fay Flevaras spoke to aged care and IT professionals about our work to create a better-connected, sustainable and modern aged care IT network in the aged care sector. This is the first webinar in a series of Digital Transformation Tech Talks.
Date published: 6 May 2022
Video type: Presentation
Description: On Friday, 8 April 2022 we held the first of our Digital Transformation Tech Talk webinars.
Moderator Janine Bennett, Engagement Lead, Digital Transformation and Delivery Division, Department of Health
Panellists Michael Lye, Deputy Secretary, Ageing and Aged Care Group, Department of Health
Fay Flevaras, First Assistant Secretary, Digital Transformation and Delivery Branch, Department of Health
Laura Toyne, Acting Branch Manager, Program and Project Delivery, Digital Programs and Engagement Division, Australian Digital Health Agency
Greg Keen, Acting First Assistant Secretary, Reform Implementation Division, Department of Health
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Facebook ‘knowingly put lives at risk’
May 6, 2022
Tech giant Facebook deliberately took down the Facebook pages of emergency services, hospitals and charities as part of a negotiating tactic against the Australian government, despite claiming the take downs were accidental, according to a leak from internal company whistleblowers.
Facebook last year banned news in Australia as part of a negotiating tactic with the federal government, which was considering legislation to force tech giants to pay for news. Hundreds of other pages were caught up in the ban including critical health organisations and charities like Oxfam Australia, a move Facebook said was ‘inadvertent’.
As The Australian reported at the time, Facebook’s five-day ban hit a swath a large and seemingly random array of community groups, charities and government agencies, many of whom provide crucial health advice and support to people in need.
The whisleblowers’ disclosure shows how Facebook blocked access to essential services including the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the Council on Homeless Persons, the Australian Medical Association, Suicide Prevention Australia, the Tasmanian Government, SA Health, Fire and Rescue New South Wales, Safe Steps Family Violence Response Center, 1800Respect, First Nations Media Australia, and a wide range of other cultural, government and health agencies.
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Facebook deliberately blocked Australian government and health care pages last year: report
By Chris Zappone and Nick Bonyhady
May 6, 2022 — 6.46am
The social media platform Facebook deliberately blocked pages of Australian government and health care services accounts last year as part of its effort to fight the passage of the media bargaining code, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing whistleblowers and internal documents.
Based on Facebook documents as well as testimony filed to US and Australian authorities, whistleblowers claim that the platform, owned by Meta, “deliberately created an overly broad and sloppy process to take down pages”.
Senior executives including chief executive Mark Zukerberg then praised the effort, according to documents obtained by the Journal, with chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg saying it had set a new standard of “thoughtfulness” and “precision of execution”.
Legislation for the world-first media bargaining code, which requires platforms to reimburse Australian media companies for news content they share, was opposed by the US tech giants Facebook and Google.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/which-industry-protects-your-privacy-best-20220503-p5ai7u
Which industry protects your privacy best?
John Davidson Columnist
May 6, 2022 – 9.24am
Australian companies are falling behind their international competitors when it comes to protecting the online privacy of their customers and users, a study has found.
The Privacy By Design research, conducted by the Australian cybersecurity consultancy CyberCX, analysed the online privacy practices of hundreds of popular domestic and international businesses operating in Australia on an industry-by-industry basis.
It found that the retail industry was the worst performing sector, in part due to its widespread use of hidden trackers and third-party cookies, that follows the movement of customers as they move from site to site, often without their knowledge.
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'Big tech' data harvesting comes under fire by world central bank group
By Marc Jones on May 6, 2022 6:32AM
Customers should get more control over personal info.
A paper published by the world's main central bank umbrella group, the BIS, has called for individuals and firms to be given more control over the data collected on them by social media and other Big Tech firms and banks.
The boom in internet-enabled mobile phones, apps and other high-tech gadgets in recent decades has led to an explosion of personal data that firms now harvest, process and sell.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) paper published on Thursday said while most countries already have some laws around data use, most individuals still were not aware of what was at stake, or their rights over their data.
Authorities should therefore adopt new data governance systems to "level the playing field between data subjects and data controllers," the paper said.
They should require firms to get clearer consent to collect data, better explain how it was being used and make it easier to be accessed by those from whom it was harvested.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/patient-data-sold-to-ice-cream-companies/68352
4 May 2022
Patient data sold to ice-cream companies
Spörken-Vasz explains that harvesting diabetics’ information from the PHN data lake is all for their benefit.
Ice-cream companies have bought patient data from PHNs and are using it to target advertising at the most vulnerable, The Medical Republic has learnt.
TMR spoke to a representative from Spörken-Vasz.
TMR: Patients are understandably upset that their confidential medical information has been sold on to third parties. What would you like to say to patients who are anxious about what’s happened?
SV: I understand their concerns. But given the huge amount of data that’s being extracted from GP databases all over the country it was inevitable that some of it would either leak out or be sold on to private companies. What I would say is this: Spörken-Vasz is a brand that patients can trust, we’ve been making ice-cream like no other since 1961.
TMR: … Ok … What kind of data were you able to get hold of?
SV: We had access to all kinds of information including patient demographics, treatment history, referrals, medications, mental health history, prescriptions, you name it. I didn’t want to bore you with the details today so instead I brought along a sample of salted caramel ice-cream for you to try! Once you start exploring the caramel ribbons and crunchy biscuit you won’t be able to resist. Would you like some?
TMR: Errr ….
SV: … Nom nom nom …
TMR: Maybe later. What patients and GPs want to know is what exactly did you do with all of this information?
SV: Well, we started off by searching for the type of patient who can’t stop gobbling up delicious mouthfuls of heavenly ice-cream and so we trawled through the data using key terms like obesity, type 2 diabetes, MI, depression, fatty liver and ankle oedema. We then targeted those patients with ads, promotional material and special offers. And by refining our searches we were able to match one of Spörken-Vasz’s forty-seven extraordinary flavours of ice-cream with the right patient.
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Opinion: How do we do no harm with AI in health care?
By Professor Enrico Coiera*
Wednesday, 04 May, 2022
AI has the possibility to not only enhance many of our existing services, such as the interpretation of imaging and pathology, but also to open the door to new opportunities. Research is already underway for instance using AI to improve treatment of rare brain tumours1. AI can also be used to support and educate consumers in self-care and prevention and to optimise hospital processes.
It may come as a surprise to many then that Australia lags behind other nations in investing in the development of AI for health care. The US leads with industry investment in AI for health care estimated to exceed US$6 billion in 2021, driving potential savings of US$150 billion by 2026. In the UK, the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab), established by the NHS, is part of a GBP 1 billion investment in AI. Former UK health minister and renowned surgeon Professor Lord Ara Darzi’s review2 of the NHS identified productivity improvement from smart automation of £12.5 billion a year, 9.9% of the NHS England budget. Specifically, the review found that AI enhanced breast cancer3 image interpretation could reduce the time UK radiologists spend reviewing images by 20% (890,000 hours annually).
While Australia is ideally positioned to become a global powerhouse in the real-world application of AI, we have only now achieved a clear plan for how this will be done — safely, ethically and sustainably. Through a consortium of universities, healthcare bodies and industry, the AI in Healthcare Roadmap4 has been developed.
The AI in Healthcare Roadmap shows the path that Australia should take to embrace the opportunities that AI brings. The roadmap identifies the current gaps in Australia’s capability to translate AI into effective and safe clinical services and provides guidance on key issues such as workforce, industry capability, implementation, regulation and cybersecurity. It also acknowledges the extensive work already undertaken nationally and internationally and builds on this work.
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Algorithms giving financial advice? Better get used to it
Banking reporter
May 4, 2022 — 8.00am
Here’s a long-running and tricky problem facing our superannuation system: many people would benefit from getting financial advice, but they simply cannot afford it.
This dilemma is growing more acute, as the cost of full-service financial advice continues to climb, while more baby boomers are retiring with a pot of super money, and need good advice on what to do with it.
Super funds face growing pressure to respond, including from an upcoming “retirement income covenant,” which from July will require funds to prepare a retirement income strategy on behalf of members.
However, providing thousands of retiring members with affordable advice about their super is a big challenge.
Could part of the solution be a form of digital advice from a computer program, rather than a human adviser?
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Billionaire Bryan Johnson excites neurons and investors
By Danny Fortson
The Times
10:04PM May 2, 2022
A lab technician turns a knob near the back of my neck, tightening on to my skull a helmet packed with enough lasers to make a Storm Trooper jealous. “How’s that feel?” he says.
Honestly, kind of strange. Atop my cranium is the Kernel Flow, a bulky array of modules that is about to bombard my brain with photons. The strange-looking device took five years and more than $US50m of the personal cash of tech tycoon Bryan Johnson to develop.
Think of it as an MRI machine – those coffin-like monstrosities you see in medical dramas where patients lay perfectly still while it images their insides – shrunk down to a helmet that provides a live video of what is happening in your brain by analysing blood flow and oxygenation.
Johnson made his fortune when he sold his payments start-up, Braintree, for $1.15bn to PayPal in 2013. Online payments make life easier. But Kernel? He reckons that it could, quite literally, change the world. “This really is about the future of being human,” Johnson said.
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https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2022/05/02/accc-consumers-online-data/
10:00pm, May 2, 2022 Updated: 10:51pm, May 2
ACCC says consumers need more choices about what online marketplaces do with their data
Consumers using online retail marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon “have little effective choice in the amount of data they share”, according to the latest report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Digital Platform Services Inquiry.
Consumers may benefit from personalisation and recommendations in these marketplaces based on their data, but many are in the dark about how much personal information these companies collect and share for other purposes.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said:
We believe consumers should be given more information about, and control over, how online marketplaces collect and use their data.
The report reiterates the ACCC’s earlier calls for amendments to the Australian Consumer Law to address unfair data terms and practices.
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https://www.mwhpn.com.au/event/the-future-of-digital-health/
The future of digital health
23 May @ 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm
The use of digital health technologies has rapidly increased over the past two years of the pandemic. General practice responded promptly to implement technologies so they could continue to care for their patents remotely and practices and patients have become more familiar with using digital health tools to complement their care.
What can we expect for the future of digital health? In this session, delivered in partnership with the Australian Digital Health Agency, we will discuss the RACGP’s vision for a digital health future, targeted, proactive and preventative care personalised to the patient, artificial intelligence and clinical decision support technologies. Participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions.
This session is part of the Digital health live Q&A series running across May.
+ Google Calendar+ Add to iCalendar
Details
Date: 23 May Time: 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Event Category: Health
Organiser RACGP
Venue Webinar
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Four steps to robust clinical cybersecurity
By Samuel Hill, Medigate
Friday, 29 April, 2022
Australia’s healthcare system has been plagued by cyber attacks in the last few years.
In April 2021, a cyber attack on Uniting Care Queensland left four hospitals and several aged-care homes without any access to patient records. Just one month prior, a cyber attack on Eastern Health forced four hospitals in Melbourne to take their IT systems offline and postpone elective surgeries.
Hospitals in particular are attractive targets for attackers due to the critical nature of their operations and the opportunity to cause massive disruption. A major contributing factor to the success of these attacks is poor cyber hygiene.
The lack of a strong security culture and need for increased security training in Australia’s healthcare system is well-documented. For example, in 2019 Victoria’s Auditor-General sought to prove a point by successfully hacking and accessing sensitive patient data in some of the state’s biggest hospitals using basic hacking tools. The audit revealed that several hospitals made basic cybersecurity errors, such as using default account names and passwords set by manufacturers that can be easily located online.
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https://happeningnext.com/event/my-health-record-in-specialist-practice-eid4snvmea1dw1
My Health Record in Specialist Practice
Schedule
Tue May 10 2022 at 08:00 am to 09:00 am
UTC+10:00
Location
Join us for a
breakfast session to highlight the benefits of use of the My Health Record
system for specialist practitioners.
About this Event
Join Katrina Pyle, My Health Record Specialist Champion, and a representative from the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) for a breakfast session to highlight the benefits of use of the My Health Record system for specialist practitioners.
Topics covered include:
• Benefits of accessing My Health Record information to specialist practice
• What is new in My Health Record?
• Pathology and Diagnostic Imaging connections
• Patient privacy and consent to access My Health Record
• Q & A
Participants will also learn how to address patient privacy and consent requirements, and how to facilitate a discussion of how My Health Record can add value to specialist practices.
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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/app-helps-patients-control-gout/68220
2 May 2022
App helps patients control gout
By Karina Bray
Gout is relatively easy to treat, but with notoriously low medication adherence, treating physicians face an uphill battle getting patients to control serum urate levels.
But now researchers have developed a mobile phone app that appears to help gout patients self-manage their condition, in conjunction with a serum urate test kit and health professional input.
The randomised controlled feasibility study, published in Lancet Rheumatology, found that three in four participants who used the app hit the 0.30mmol/L urate target. In contrast, only one in six participants who had standard care did.
“Supporting patients to manage their own gout can transform clinical outcomes, and the approach we have developed offers a way of doing this without putting more pressure on an already stretched healthcare service,” said lead author Dr Philip Riches, consultant rheumatologist at the University of Edinburgh.
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May 10 2022
My Health Record in Specialist Practice
by Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN
Actions and Detail Panel
Event Information
Join us for a breakfast session to highlight the benefits of use of the My Health Record system for specialist practitioners.
About this event
Join Katrina Pyle, My Health Record Specialist Champion, and a representative from the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) for a breakfast session to highlight the benefits of use of the My Health Record system for specialist practitioners.
Topics covered include:
• Benefits of accessing My Health Record information to specialist practice
• What is new in My Health Record?
• Pathology and Diagnostic Imaging connections
• Patient privacy and consent to access My Health Record
• Q & A
Participants will also learn how to address patient privacy and consent requirements, and how to facilitate a discussion of how My Health Record can add value to specialist practices.
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David.
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