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
Another very quiet week with the biggest news being the new Health IT being implemented in the Defence domain and some movement from Apple in the Health IT Space.
Minister Dutton seems to have gone to ground on the PCEHR. Wonder when we will hear something?
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HARNESSING Apple’s new HealthKit system for patient care may have benefits but there are also big issues involving privacy and the accuracy of data, healthcare professionals said.
The Australian Medical Association said it would welcome the opportunity to meet with Apple to discuss how its HealthKit system and Health app could assist patients.
Apple’s new Health app can amass almost 70 types of health and fitness data on a phone, including blood glucose, blood pressure, body temperature, caffeine level, cycling distance, heart rate, potassium levels, sleep analysis and even falls.
The app can gather data such as steps walked from the phone’s sensors, let users add health information manually, and store data passed to it by devices such as wristband monitors and medical equipment.
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The recent announcement of Apple’s watch defined the next must-have gadget for tech-hungry consumers.
But with smartwatches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays and other wearable devices forming the latest craze in consumer electronics, some business leaders are already asking how they will manage and utilise them for their workforce and customers.
Australians have demonstrated a mania for personal technology. Australia ranks sixth globally for smartphone usage, according to Google, with 64.6 per cent penetration, just seven years after the release of the first iPhone.
The rapid uptake of smartphones caught many organisations by surprise, both in terms of the strong desire of employees to bring them to work, and customer demands to use them as a means of interaction.
There are signs the adoption of wearable technology could happen faster still. Deloitte has estimated the global market for wearables at $US3 billion, and according to the analyst firm Telsyte, there were already 380,000 smartwatches in Australia at the end of June this year.
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September 23, 2014
The different ways clinicians interact does not just shape the success of the communication act. Our propensity to interrupt each other, and multitask as we handle communication tasks alongside other duties, has a direct effect on how well we carry out everything we do. Interruption for example has the capacity to distort human memory processes, and lead to memory lapses as well as memory distortions.
Earlier this year I was interviewed by Dr. Robert Wachter, the Editor of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) WebM&M. In that interview we covered the roles that interruption and multitasking play in patient safety, discussing both their risks, as well as strategies for minimising their effects. The interview also looked at the implications these communication and task management styles have for the design of information technologies.
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TELSTRA has expanded its investment tentacles in Silicon Valley, pumping millions of dollars for a stake in electronic signatures firm DocuSign, which counts blue chip brands Google, Visa and SAP as investors.
The telco joins the likes of Japan’s telecommunications provider NTT and Korean electronics giant Samsung in DocuSign’s latest funding round.
DocuSign, reportedly valued at $US1.6 billion ($1.8bn), offers an online service that allows people to electronically sign documents and return them without the need for printing or scanning.
The news comes weeks after Telstra splashed $US270 million on Ooyala, increasing its stake from 23 per cent to 98 per cent in the Valley-based online video service provider.
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Telstra pays millions for stake in US electronic signatures firm DocuSign
TELSTRA has expanded its investment tentacles in Silicon Valley, pumping millions of dollars for a stake in electronic signatures firm DocuSign, which counts blue chip brands Google, Visa and SAP as investors.
The telco joins the likes of Japan’s telecommunications provider NTT and Korean electronics giant Samsung in DocuSign’s latest funding round.
DocuSign, reportedly valued at $US1.6 billion ($1.8bn), offers an online service that allows people to electronically sign documents and return them without the need for printing or scanning.
The news comes weeks after Telstra splashed $US270 million on Ooyala, increasing its stake from 23 per cent to 98 per cent in the Valley-based online video service provider.
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PUBLISHED: September 23, 2014
Telstra has made an undisclosed investment in DocuSign, a US technology startup that lets people use digital signatures in documents and financial transactions, as part of its push into Silicon Valley.
Telstra spent millions of dollars to buy the stake as part of a funding round, news reports suggested, but it refused to specify the exact amount. It will adopt the system as part of the move.
It comes as global technology giant Apple enters the game of authenticating payments and documents via the fingerprint recognition system on its hugely popular Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices in the US.
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Telco will roll out digital signature technology internally and then offer to customers later this year
Telstra has invested in US-based electronic signature and digital transaction management firm, DocuSign.
The online DocuSign platform lets users upload documents; add names and email addresses of the signers; places tags in the document where the signature, initial and dates are required; and hit send – within a secure, online environment. It is used by more than 40 million people in 188 countries.
Telstra will use the platform internally to speed up its paper-based processes before offering the technology to its customer base later this year.
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The Medical ID record in the new Health app in Apple's iOS 8 hasn't gotten a lot of attention. But it should, says columnist Ryan Faas.
Of all the new features in iOS 8, one hasn't gotten a lot of attention -- and it's the one feature that all iOS 8 users should at least consider.
I'm talking about the Medical ID record in the new Health app. Even if you aren't tracking fitness, diet or sleep -- and fortunate enough not to be managing or monitoring a chronic condition like diabetes, COPD or heart disease -- this is one aspect of the health app worth understanding. Although
all other HealthKit-related functions are on hold for now, Medical ID is fully baked and ready to use.
The Medical ID pane of the Health app is a pretty generic medical information and history form. It contains much of the data that you'd see requested on a form when you visit a new doctor or an urgent care center -- birthdate, existing medical conditions, notes about those conditions or your medical history, allergies (to drugs, foods and environmental factors), medications you're taking, emergency contact (including relationship to you), blood type, whether you're an organ donor and your height and weight. The app automatically pulls your name and photo from the iOS Contacts app.
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Date September 25, 2014 - 4:15PM
Reporter
An anonymous talkback radio caller has confessed to "pseudo-shopping" around Perth pharmacies, buying up to 500 cold and flu tablets a day to on-sell to illicit drug cooks.
The man, known only as "Bob", told 6PR Radio on Thursday morning that he managed to avoid strict controls on the sale of pseudoephedrine-based drugs, including having his personal details recorded on a database set up by the Pharmacy Guild to stop such activity.
If he spent half a day shopping around chemists, he could sell the tablets to drug cooks for $1 each, he said.
"I live on the other side of the fence, mate. I buy them for illegal activity," Bob told 6PR's breakfast show hosts Steve Mills and Basil Zempilas.
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Last week saw the first major face-to-face international openEHR community meeting, which took place in Lilletstrom, near Oslo, at premises kindly organised by DIPS asa, openEHR Industry Partner and major EHR supplier in Norway.
We had 32 participants from vendors including DIPS asa, Cambio Healthcare Systems, Code24, Marand, Ocean Informatics, Raysearch Labs, as well as Erik Sundvall (Linkoping University, Sweden), Gunnar Klein (Professor of eHealth, Informatics Section, Örebro University School of Business), attendees from Oslo University Hospital, Furst Medical Laboratories, Helse-Bergen (Bergen regional health org), as well as Shinji Kobayashi (Kyoto University), David Moner (Polytech University, Valencia), and Luis Marco-Ruiz, who organised the great Tromso openEHR conference earlier this year. I know Koray Atalag (University of Auckland) and some others were listening in.
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PUBLISHED: September 23, 2014
Edited by Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Jake Mitchell
While an offer for the whole of SAI Global has failed to materialise, CIMB analyst Julian Guido thinks the sale of its assurance division should be the “easiest” to achieve.
“Our scenario analysis indicates a potential sale price of $372 million to $483 million,” Guido writes in a research note to clients on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, (SAI’s) valuation still doesn’t appeal to us … with our price target reverting to our passive valuation of $4.20 per share.”
Guido says the sale of the assurance division would be the most likely transaction to proceed given “cleaner operating performance relative to the other two divisions, and identifiable potential offshore buyers such as Intertek, SGS and Bureau Veritas.”
Guido also reckons a weaker Australian dollar does not hurt for offshore buyers.
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Date September 26, 2014 - 9:01AM
Fleta Page
A mobile app tracking and forecasting pollen levels has been issued by the Australian National University, designed to help hayfever and asthma sufferers, who can in turn contribute to national research.
The free Canberra Pollen app has been developed by the ANU's Department of Archaeology and Natural History, which has used its expertise in pre-historic pollen to study pollen in the modern atmosphere.
Department head Simon Haberle said it had the "biggest pollen collection in the southern hemisphere pretty much".
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A FIFO worker is steered towards online CBT resources after admitting to feelings of panic and anxiety.
History
Gary, 38, has been a patient for many years. He experimented with drugs and alcohol during his younger years, but has since returned to the 'straight and narrow' to finish his apprenticeship, get married and start a family.
He is now a qualified electrician. Gary has recently struggled to find locally based employment. For the past nine months, he has been working in a fly-in fly-out role for a mining company.
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On Thursday & Friday 6-7 November 2014 Hl7 Australia is holding a FHIR Forum and Connectathon in Melbourne.
Day 1 is focused on education:
Keynote: FHIR in context … a step forward for patients Andrew Yap, Alfred Hospital Melbourne
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Posted Tue, 23/09/2014 - 15:38 by Josh Gliddon
The use of GS1 standards in healthcare isn’t just about improving the efficiency of supply chains, and therefore organisations’ bottom lines. Instead, says Tania Snioch, industry manager for healthcare at GS1 Australia, it’s all about improving patient safety and healthcare outcomes.
“If a patient is in hospital, they have to be delivered the right healthcare product at the right time,” she says. “If the healthcare product has to be correctly identified in case there is a recall, this demonstrates another clear example of how the GS1 standards come into play.
“The GS1 standards are the foundations that enable a product to be related to the patient. GS1 Barcodes can be scanned at the bedside or in the theatre, thereby reducing risk of the wrong product being provided to the patient, and creating records of what has been administered.”
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Created on Friday, 26 September 2014
The AMT v20140930 September release is now available for download from the NEHTA website.
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Getting Started with eHealth – A guide for General Practice is designed for practices or organisations using the eHealth record system through their clinical software.
Getting Started with eHealth – A guide for General Practice
This guide will show you how to:
- How to link local patient records with their Individual Healthcare Identifier
- Patient consent and patient privacy controls
- Clinical documents
- Assisting patients to register for an eHealth record
- Becoming familiar with the system
- Help and support contacts
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19th Sep 2014
A $133 MILLION electronic record system for Australian military personnel launched today in Canberra will not actually follow Australian soldiers to war. But it is likely to be free of the troubles plaguing Australia’s civilian e-health system.
Launched today by the assistant minister for defence, Stuart Robert, the Defence eHealth System will reduce red tape and provide up-to-date health data on Australian Defence Force personnel to treating clinicians and healthcare providers, Mr Roberts said.
“Importantly, it will also allow health information to be easily and accurately passed to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as well as to civilian health providers,” the minister said.
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The military’s long march to get its nascent eHealth system out of triage and into the hands of Australian Defence Force members and medical staff has managed to leap-frog similar civilian efforts.
The massive department said on Friday said the new ADF eHealth system has been “successfully rolled out in Defence health facilities in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia” with facilities across the rest of Australia to be up and running by “the end of 2014.”
It’s a feat likely to produce a concerned pang or two at the office of Health Minister Peter Dutton who is still contemplating the best way forward for the frequently troubled civilian eHealth counterpart, the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).
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By Kelly Ng | 23 September 2014 | Views: 328
The Australian Defence Force has just bought a new A$133 million (US$118 million) eHealth system to provide health providers accurate, up-to-date health data on their personnel.
The eHealth System will be made available to all stakeholders responsible for providing health services and benefits to defence staff, including clinicians, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and civilian health providers.
The members’ health data, from recruitment to discharge, will be centrally stored and updated in the system. This will help simplify internal work processes and reduce duplication of data, said Stuart Robert, Assistant Minister for Defence.
“The demands of service life can at times lead to physical injury or mental illness. It is therefore essential that Defence’s health services are at the cutting edge to ensure the provision of the best possible health care for our people,” he added.
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24 September, 2014
Over 80% of Australians are now searching for health information online, and the majority of these people are looking for information about medical conditions and symptoms*.
With more and more patients turning to “Dr Google”, it’s important that credible health information is available online and by phone to support those who are making important health decisions at home.
Healthdirect Australia was established by the Australian Government to provide all Australians with access to trusted health information online and over the phone.
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Orion Health has appointed Andrew Ferrier as its new Chairman, succeeding Andrew Clements who announced his leave at the company’s annual general meeting.
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Ignia sharing industry insights at the 2014 Health Information and Technology WA conference
Western Australia’s only e-health conference, HITWA 2014 brings together a diverse range of industry professionals and academics to share their knowledge and stories. International, national and state-wide leaders and thinkers will use HITWA as a forum.
This year's conference theme, 'Leadership and education: Encouraging innovative technologies for improving healthcare' aims to inform attendees about leading, encouraging, educating and engaging with health workforce colleagues in collaboratively designing and building better healthcare services by incorporating innovative technologies into service delivery models.
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- September 24 2014
- Finding No. 5286
- Topic: Press Release
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, July 2013-June 2014, sample = 20,022 Australians 14+ with a home internet connection.
Are our bandwidths getting bigger than our eyes when it comes to gobbling gigabytes? With an increasing number of Australians signing up for over 300GB per month of internet data, Roy Morgan Research looks at whether people with higher (or no) limits are actually doing more with them.
In the year to June 2014, of the 15.7 million Australians (14+) with a home internet connection 9% downloaded TV programs by computer in an average four week period, 7% downloaded feature-length movies, 9% streamed TV and 4% streamed movies.
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Date September 25, 2014
Stuart Corner
The public internet is ubiquitous, you can connect from anywhere to anywhere but it's a decentralised, best-effort service, with poor security.
Private data networks, on the other hand, provide guaranteed bandwidth and guaranteed quality and security, but must be preconfigured.
Now the communications industry has come up with a vision for a "third network" that will combine the flexibility of the internet with the quality and reliability of private, ethernet-based, networks.
It's the brainchild of the Metro Ethernet Forum, an industry body charged with progressing data networks based on the ethernet protocol.
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Date September 27, 2014 - 4:48PM
Bill Rigby
Microsoft will unveil a new name for its best-known product early next week when it offers the first official glimpse of its latest Windows operating system.
The project, known for the past few years as "Threshold" inside the software company and "Windows 9" outside it, will likely get an entirely new brand, or just be called Windows, analysts said, ahead of its full release early next year.
The name change is symbolic of a new direction and style for Microsoft, which is veering away from an aggressive focus on Windows and PCs, the hallmark of previous chief executive officer Steve Ballmer. The new, quieter emphasis is on selling services across all devices and is championed by new boss Satya Nadella.
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Enjoy!
David.
