Here are a few I have come across this week.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and a paragraph or two. 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 payment.
General Comment:
Well it looks like it will be a very interesting Budget that Mr Swan is describing as ‘boring’!
I only hope for readers here that is not the case!
On other fronts we seem still to have all sorts of issues continuing to grumble along. It is really getting to be long enough to get the Qld Health Payroll fixed!
We will all wait and watch on Tuesday at 7:30pm. I published my wish list yesterday!
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Eligibility rules threaten e-health regime
- Karen Dearne
- From: The Australian
- May 04, 2010
FLAWED regulations for the Healthcare Identifiers regime may force the closure of existing e-health programs and force software and IT service providers to employ a registered practitioner "to sit in the corner" in order to meet eligibility requirements.
Under the proposed rules, programs such as shared care for patients with chronic diseases, clinical trials, secure messaging services and e-prescribing may be shut down because software-makers and third-party service providers will not be treated as "eligible organisations" because they are not directly delivering healthcare.
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Emergency e-health meeting called
- Karen Dearne
- From: Australian IT
- May 07, 2010
LEADING medical software-makers are meeting on Monday to hammer out policy and technical concerns over the Rudd government's Healthcare Identifiers project in a worsening crisis as the proposed July 1 launch date looms.
It's understood more than 70 members have agreed at short notice to attend a full-day industry roundtable in Sydney, as Health Minister Nicola Roxon's departmental chiefs and Medicare officials hustle to fix key regulatory matters threatening to derail enabling legisation for the HI service in the Senate.
The Medical Software Industry Association has requested a briefing from senior Health and Medicare staff on flaws in the regulations that threaten to shut down existing e-health programs and force IT service providers to employ a health professional in order to meet eligibility requirements.
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http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/go-figure-silence-of-2mayear-bureau-20100508-uktz.html
Go figure: silence of $2m-a-year bureau
MATTHEW BENNS AND JULIE ROBOTHAM
May 9, 2010
IT IS costing the NSW taxpayers $2 million a year and was supposed to be operational last year but the Bureau of Health Information has so far failed to file a single report.
In March last year former health minister John Della Bosca announced the bureau would be up and running by July 2009, providing more transparent data to improve patient care.
The government's promise was in response to Peter Garling's special commission of inquiry into NSW public hospitals that called for an independent source of health information. But calls to the bureau last week were being transferred automatically to Health Support Services while its website promised it would ''be issuing the first of its releases shortly''.
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Effective health IT can 'save 5000 lives'
- Adam Cresswell, Health editor
- From: The Australian
- May 07, 2010
AN estimated 5000 deaths, two million GP and outpatient visits and 310,000 hospital admissions could be prevented every year if an effective IT system were rolled out - saving up to $7.6 billion in health costs annually, according to an analysis for release today.
The biggest share of the savings, worth $2.6bn each year, would come from reducing medication errors, while a further $2.3bn would come from improved care and prevention, according to the analysis of how greater computerisation could benefit Australia's health system.
Drug errors occur for various reasons, such as prescriptions being misread, wrong doses given, or because doctors do not spot the drug they are about to supply may interact with others the patient is already taking.
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Doubts cast on telehealth projects
- Karen Dearne
- From: The Australian
- May 04, 2010
THE future of a number of telehealth pilot projects is in doubt as the original funding runs out at the end of the financial year and no new payment models have emerged.
Under the former $120 million Clever Networks program to roll out broadband infrastructure and services in rural and remote areas, telehealth projects have proven successful.
But with no progress on revamping arrangements for Medicare benefits so doctors and other clinicians can be paid for services provided, it is unclear how some services will remain financially viable.
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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/gp-ehealth-network-forecast-to-save-health-system-billions
GP e-health network forecast to save health system billions
7th May 2010
CONNECTING general practices in an e-health network could shave nearly $5 billion off Australia’s healthcare costs, and avoid more than two million GP and outpatient visits each year.
According to a new analysis by international management consultants Booz & Company, practices that make a $3000 investment in e-health could yield a potential annual saving of $668,000 for the healthcare system.
These savings would accrue by reducing medication errors, improving adherence to best practices and reducing unnecessary hospital visits.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/345795/primary_role_e-health_low-spending_budget/
Primary role for e-health in low-spending budget
NBN, IT skills likely to be sidelined in next Federal Budget, but Henry Tax recommendations will play some part
- James Hutchinson (Computerworld)
- 07 May, 2010 16:40
Speculation on what the Federal Government may introduce in its annual Budget on 11 May has centred on e-health.
As part of the Budget, it is believed the Government will introduce $2 billion in funding for the health sector, following the announcement of a National Health and Hospitals Network and ongoing national health reform initiatives. While e-health measures were not included in recent health reform announcements, industry bodies have speculated that electronic health initiatives are still on the agenda and may be introduced as part of the budget.
"We think there's going to be something there and we think it's going to be pretty specific on e-health, maybe patient records," Australian Computer Society (ACS) chief executive officer, Bruce Lakin, told Computerworld Australia.
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http://www.nehta.gov.au/media-centre/feature-story/634-smd
NEHTA at the IHE Australia SMD Connectathon
Australia’s first Secure Message Delivery (SMD) Connectathon was held in Canberra from 19 to 23 April 2010.
Over 45 participants from industry, government and GP Divisions visited the collaborative event which was organised by IHE Australia, an open not-for-profit organisation supporting the interoperability needs of e-health Standards users in Australia. The Connectathon was funded by DOHA, and supported by the Medical Software Industry Association and Standards Australia.
Thirteen software companies took part in the event, developing code and testing the interconnectivity between their commercial software applications, using new specifications published by Standards Australia in March, and testing procedures developed and monitored by the NATA-accredited Australian Healthcare Messaging Laboratory (AHML).
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Qld Health payroll system in chaos: ASU
- Kym Agius in Brisbane
- From: AAP
- May 05, 2010
QUEENSLAND Health's payroll system is in "chaos" with 35,000 wage anomalies to resolve and more banking up with each pay cycle, the Australian Services Union says.
Tens of thousands of Queensland Health staff have been underpaid, overpaid, or not paid at all after new payroll technology was installed in March.
More workers have been incorrectly paid in the latest pay cycle on Wednesday.
The ASU, which represents Queensland Health's 650 payroll staff, says technical issues with the new software are yet to be fixed.
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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/software-glitch-hampers-child-flu-vaccine-records
Software glitch hampers child flu vaccine records
7th May 2010
SEVERE reactions to this year’s seasonal flu vaccination appear to occur in children naïve to flu vaccine and in those younger than three, rather than the entire under-five cohort as initially suspected.
But establishing a precise denominator for this year’s vaccinated cohort has been fraught with difficulty because a software glitch has prevented optimum recording of doses on the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR).
Perth paediatric immunologist Associate Professor Peter Richmond said the affected children were mostly younger than three years. “It seems to have affected more children who are getting vaccine for the first time – the data we’ve got from Princess Margaret Hospital would suggest that,” he said.
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http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/articles/70/0c068f70.asp
Computer says yes
3-May-2010
By Dr Craig Lilienthal
AS a GP with a long interest in risk management, I was disappointed to read the Australian Doctor article that computers don’t improve the quality of patient care (‘Computers dont improve care quality’, 16 April).
I know there is a difference between risk management and quality assurance, but these two activities are closely related. Dr Paul Nisselle, Avant’s former general manager of clinical risk management, used to say they were the flipside of each other, while I refer to them as being at the opposite ends of a spectrum, but overlapping in the middle.
I have worked in computerised practices for more than a decade and I shudder to think of the poor quality of my medical records when, in the bad old days, I wrote everything by hand — medical notes, prescriptions, referrals and certificates. My handwriting was so bad that I used to print important things rather than use my excuse for cursive script. While on most occasions I could read my own notes, none of my colleagues could read them and I always felt sorry for the local pharmacists.
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http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/mr-yr10-nr-nr079.htm
Better Pharmacy Services
Source: Government of Australia Posted on: 3rd May 2010
The Government and Pharmacy Guild of Australia have finalised the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement, which will provide better pharmacy services for consumers and a stronger role for pharmacy at the front line of health care.
The Pharmacy Agreement will ensure all Australians continue to have easy access to essential medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, by providing security and certainty for Australia’s network of 5000 community pharmacies.
Key features and reforms under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement will include:
- Medication-management programs, under which pharmacists provide education and support to patients on how to best use their medications and avoid medication errors. This will include medication reviews for consumers, including at home and in residential aged care, and specific support for patients with chronic conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes and asthma.
- Support for pharmacists to provide dose administration aids to patients who experience difficulty remembering to use their medicines – preventing unnecessary adverse medication events.
- Safer prescriptions, through encouraging pharmacies to use electronic prescriptions.
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http://www.cio.com.au/article/345598/vic_govt_cools_off_large_it_projects/
Vic govt cools off large IT projects
Smaller government 2.0 ventures on the rise
- Rodney Gedda (CIO)
- 06 May, 2010 11:13
The Victorian state government has become "gun shy" on big IT projects, prompting questions about whether overall IT spending is set to decline, according to an analyst firm.
Some $650 million of funding for IT projects over four years was allocated in the 2005-06 budget. It compares with $525 million in 2006-07, $120 million in 2007-08, $460 million in 2008-09 and $400 million in 2009-10.
Steve Hodgkinson, research director at Ovum, said past budgets have accumulated a rolling four-year funding portfolio that peaked with a total of about $500 million in the 2008-09 year for new IT-enabled transformation programs such as public transport ticketing, train and bus systems, Healthsmart, the Ultranet, VicSmart fibre to schools and systems development projects in the Justice and Police departments.
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http://www.cio.com.au/article/345623/privacy_commissioner_warns_dangers_scanning_ids_pubs_clubs/
Privacy Commissioner warns of dangers in scanning IDs in pubs and clubs
Scanning policies must adhere to privacy laws
- Lisa Banks (CIO)
- 06 May, 2010 15:52
Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, is warning CIOs of pubs and clubs around Australia to be aware of privacy obligations to their patrons.
It is commonplace for pubs and clubs to request identification of patrons as they enter a venue, however Curtis has warned that patrons’ information could be divulged to a third party if proper security procedures are not adhered to.
“ID scanning, fingerprinting and iris scans are becoming increasingly common at pubs and clubs, and I am not convinced that all venues understand what their privacy obligations are when using these technologies,” she said in a statement.
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iSOFT Business Solutions Partners With Real Asset Management to Deliver a Complete Financial and Asset Management Solution
Published on May 04, 2010
iSOFT Business Solutions, the financial software, procurement and bespoke solutions provider, announces a partnership with Real Asset Management (RAM), a provider of fixed asset management software and services. The new partnership sees the integration of RAM's complete asset management solution with iSOFT's Integra Open Enterprise suite, providing users with fixed asset management functionality to complement iSOFT's existing accounting module.
iSOFT Business Solutions delivers financial solutions and services across its strong commercial base as well as the public sector, working with the NHS, Central Government, Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Police Authorities and Not for Profit organisations to help improve performance and drive financial efficiency.
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Rivals put pressure on Telstra to make up its mind on NBN
- Mitchell Bingemann
- From: The Australian
- May 07, 2010
PRESSURE is mounting on Telstra to agree on a deal to participate in the national broadband network after the release of a $25 million report that declared the $43 billion NBN project could be built without the telecommunications giant.
Telstra's rivals heaped praise on the findings of the KPMG and McKinsey-led implementation study, which found that the government's ambitious plan to connect 90 per cent of the nation to a fibre-to-the-home network capable of 100Mbps internet speeds was financially viable, with or without Telstra's participation.
Macquarie Telecom described the findings as a long-sought-for win for equal access in the telco sector, while Telstra's closest rival, Optus, said it would open up true broadband competition for consumers and carriers alike.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/345775/analysts_greet_nbn_study_ask_business_case/?eid=-6787
Analysts greet NBN Study but ask for business case
Four analysts provide the low down on the study, with some doubt over customer uptake rate assumptions
- Tim Lohman (Computerworld)
- 07 May, 2010 12:26
Analysts have broadly welcomed the findings of the NBN Implementation Study, but expressed some doubt around the state of a business case for the national infrastructure project.
Ovum’s David Kennedy said the Study’s cost estimate of $26 billion for coverage of 93 per cent of the population was realistic and in the range the analyst house had expected – between $25 and $30 billion.
However, there was much less detail in the Study on the revenue side, Kennedy said, particularly around the assumptions on the rate of fibre take up.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/345621/nbn_implementation_study_numbers/?eid=-255
The NBN Implementation Study numbers
And a few others that relate to the rollout of the National Broadband Network rollout
- Trevor Clarke (Computerworld)
- 06 May, 2010 15:41
The NBN is a numbers game. Despite all the commentary around socio-economic benefits, innovation levels and other effects the fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network promises, most discussions remain focussed on the figures. So here are a few in the wake of the NBN Implementation Study’s release:
- 84 - The McKinsey & Company and KPMG prepared report, The NBN Implementation Study, includes 84 recommendations for Government
- $43 billion – The Federal Government’s objectives for the NBN can be “implemented within the $43 billion estimate of capital expenditure by deploying fibre to 93 percent, fixed-wireless from the 94th to 97th percentiles and satellite to the final 3 percent of premises”.
- 1.6 million – Communications minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, says extending fibre to 93 per cent of premises would potentially add another 1.6 million premises to the FTTP network, including 1.3 million new premises expected to be built by 2017-18.
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Stephen Conroy confident of NBN deal
- Blair Speedy
- From: The Australian
- May 05, 2010
THE federal government is confident of reaching an agreement with Telstra for the telco to shift its network traffic to the $43 billion national broadband network. It also plans to reintroduce legislation to split the company in two next week.
Speaking after a business breakfast in Melbourne yesterday, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said he would release the findings of an implementation study by business consultants KPMG and McKinsey this week, but would not respond to it until a period of community consultation was complete. He was confident the study would support the economic case for building the NBN, regardless of the nature of Telstra's involvement.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/rollout-of-a-disaster/story-e6frg6zo-1225862269608
Rollout of a disaster
- Malcolm Colless
- From: The Australian
- May 05, 2010
DESPITE the bravado from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, it is clear the federal government must reshape its strategy for a national broadband superhighway if it wants to prevent this policy dream turning into a financial and logistical nightmare.
The government's $43 billion plan - which materialised out of thin air a year ago - to connect 90 per cent of Australian homes, schools and businesses (10 million premises) with super-fast fibre-optic cable within eight years was always unrealistic. For a start, meeting this target would require at least 5000 premises to be connected every day for the life of the project.
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Canberra moves a step closer to e-government
- Andrew Colley
- From: The Australian
- May 04, 2010
THE federal government has moved a step closer to its aim of using web technology to promote transparent administration, but the Coalition has labelled the effort as just "blah, bureaucracy and boffin-speak".
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig yesterday announced that the government had accepted most of the findings of its Government 2.0 taskforce.
The taskforce, which reported its findings to the government in December, was established to come up with ways to use the internet to make public service information more readily available and promote stronger engagement between government and citizens.
Of the 13 recommendations the government only challenged a handful.
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Enjoy!
David.
Cynthia Johnson, April 22, 2010