The Spin Just Seems To Go On and On. With the Health Identifier Legislation Passed We Deserve The Promised Transparency.

The following appeared late yesterday.

Medicare snoops escape sack

• Karen Dearne
• From: Australian IT
• July 21, 2010 5:05PM

NO Medicare staffers have been sacked for snooping on confidential client records, with most privacy breaches resulting in an emailed warning only.

Medicare has revealed that 51 staff members made "unauthorised access" to customer information held by the agency in the first six months of 2009-2010.

.....

Medicare has also confirmed it spent $48.7 million on building the identifier system, under a two-year contract with the National e-Health Transition Authority originally worth $57 million. NEHTA received $98 million in funding for the project from the Council of Australian Governments.

NEHTA chief executive Peter Fleming told The Australian tenders would soon be issued for private sector partners for a range of e-health programs, including implementation of the identifier service switched on by Medicare this month.

However, the only way medical practitioners or healthcare organisations can presently obtain their patients' individual healthcare numbers is by phoning Medicare.

None of the major software-makers are ready to supply the necessary interfaces to link doctors' systems with the new service as technical specifications were only released last month.

Full Article Here:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/medicare-snoops-escape-sack/story-fn4htb9o-1225895209553

What is most important – other than the obvious point that Medicare can’t seem to actually control its employees – is that the last four paragraphs reveal just how little has actually been achieved in the implementation of the Health Identifier Service, and how spectacularly expensive it seems to have been so far – for so little apparent progress.

It makes really good sense that the facts as to just how these funds were expended gets revealed by an audit as discussed here.

http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-excellent-idea-long-overdue.html

This should happen well before further large scale funds are committed.

If the only access to the HI service is by telephone, one wonders just what has exactly been developed so far other than an implementation of a data-base schema in something like DB2 and development the various access paths and controls as outlined in the ‘Concept of Operations’.

We learn further on the electronic interfaces etc are still a ‘twinkle’ in the developers eyes – so I guess there will be more continuing cost.

Has anyone else wondered just why there has not been disclosure of the predicted ongoing operational costs of the HI Service and who is actually going to be funding this in perpetuity? It would be a bit sad if it got going and was then defunded a few years later – unless of course it wasn’t being used to any substantial level. Without some incentives for providers to adopt the HI Service this is, of course, a real risk.

Of course there is also the small matter that there is no public business case to justify all this. One wonders just where that is hiding in the era of so-called ‘open government’.

We can be sure it won’t be anywhere near free!

Now the legislation is passed, all this should be on the public record I believe. We could do with the transparency promised here:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/nehta-puts-finishing-touches-to-health-identifier-plan/story-e6frgakx-1225890944023

Nehta adds final touches to e-health

· Fran Foo

· From: The Australian

· July 13, 2010 12:00AM

“Mr Fleming was happy with NEHTA's progress.

"When I joined, the commitment was by July 1 we would have the identifiers in place, and that was delivered," he said.

Unique healthcare identifiers were "created" by Medicare on July 1 for more than 96 per cent of the population.

He accepted that there were multi-faceted challenges in setting up e-health system and vowed to be as transparent as possible. The key to success would be change management.”

One also wonders just what NEHTA is going to go to tender for. They will make very interesting reading indeed when released!

David.

This May Be A Further Blow to Progress with the Health Identifier Service.

The following appeared a day or so ago.

Health staff unable to work as agency overloaded

KATE BENSON

July 17, 2010

Hundreds of desperately needed doctors and nurses have been told it could be months before they can work because of ''incompetent bungling'' by a new federal government agency which did not employ enough staff to answer phones.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is now responsible for registering and accrediting more than 560,000 health workers nationally but has been in meltdown since opening two weeks ago.

Its office has been swamped with more than 3000 calls a day, forcing it to outsource inquiries to an external call centre and set up new state-based phone numbers to spread the load.

The agency, which takes over the work of 85 smaller state-run boards, was designed to reduce costs and multiple layers of red tape but health workers say the transition has been bungled and the service was launched without adequate resources.

They complain that phones are not attended, staff have not been adequately trained and registrations are not being processed.

The bungle affects a wide range of health workers, including overseas-trained doctors recruited to work in Australia, and nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, optometrists, psychologists and osteopaths wanting to renew their registrations or register for the first time.

.....

''It is another case of incompetent government bungling and the backlog is putting huge pressure on hospitals and patient care,'' said Chris Tsolakis, the director of the recruitment agency Medipeople.

.....

A spokeswoman for the agency conceded there had been ''teething problems'' because the project, which required moving about 1.5 million records, some which were not computerised, to one IT system, had been ''very ambitious''.

......

The chairwoman of the Medical Board of Australia, Joanna Flynn, said doctors had been asked not to contact the new agency for the first 10 days to avoid overloading it during the transition phase.

.....

The vice-president of the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association, Sue Douglas, said it was unacceptable that doctors were being prevented from working because of problems with the introduction of the new agency.

''This has been three years in the making,'' Dr Douglas said.

''You'd think it would have been ready, but it doesn't surprise me.

''The old system was so incredibly cumbersome, such a bureaucratic bungle of inefficiencies, that how could the new one be any better?''

''This just wreaks havoc on doctors' livelihoods and on patients.''

Full article here:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/health-staff-unable-to-work-as-agency-overloaded-20100716-10e72.html

Looks like we have another ‘pink bats’ or ‘BER’ saga building here. I have to say it sounds like a bit of an unplanned administrative messs.

We really can’t have the situation like the one reported in 6minutes.com.au last very long!

Medical board meltdown

by Jared Reed

The new national medical board has had to revert to state-based reporting of medical complaints after being swamped by enquiries over registration details.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency says it is fielding 3000 enquiries per day for medical and other health practitioners, which along with IT problems has forced it to redirect complaints handling back to the states.

AHPRA says it will publish state-specific phone numbers within the next 24 hours to ensure “concerns can be raised efficiently about individual practitioners.”

See:

http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=520375

There are few implications of all this.

First if just creating a professionals register of 560,000 people works this well one wonders just how the Government will all go with the with the HI Service establishment involving 20+ million people.

Second, given practitioner authentication is to be based on these registration records, we can be pretty sure any planned progress for the National Authentication System for Health (NASH) won’t be running as smoothly as might have been hoped. I am sure this will all get fixed at some point – the only question really is when. This does not have the feel of a quick fix.

Third the implications for health service delivery of having professional registration and re-registration delayed or made uncertain are obvious!

This is a sense that this might be a bit too accident prone to me!

David.

A Trivial Bit of Site News

The usage of the blog has steadily grown - especially over the last year.

This does seem like a bit of a milestone however.

PAGE VIEWS
	Total	300,018
	Average Per Day	376
	Average Per Visit	1.6
	Last Hour	21
	Today	224
	This Week	2,635

Thanks to all those visitors!

David.

A Sobering Tale of A Mess in E-Health in Holland.

The following appeared a while ago

Dutch EHR plans put on hold

09 Jul 2010

Holland may have flown high in the World Cup but plans for a national electronic health record system now look set to go into extra time, Ton Smit reports.

Plans for a national Electronic Health Record in the Netherlands have been put on hold after the Dutch Senate voted to make major changes to the national programme.

Until the EHR legislation is approved the Dutch EHR programme will no longer be mandatory. Care providers will now only be allowed to link to the national EHR on a strictly voluntary basis.

In addition, there will be no more financial incentives to encourage GPs, pharmacists and hospitals to link to the national EHR infrastructure.

In the proposed legislation individual providers who refuse to connect to the national infrastructure face potential €33,500 fines.

The proposed EHR legislation fell into disgrace, after too many amendments were introduced. Many Senators also felt that the wrong technological model had been adopted. The Dutch EHR system is based on a pull model that dynamically pulls together records from local source systems.

The Dutch EHR is based on an online medication list and a patient medical summary for GPs.

The rollout of these two core services will now continue on a strictly voluntary basis –without financial carrot/stick incentives from The Hague.

In addition the Department of Health (VWS) will not be allowed to add new functionality to the present EHR rollout.

Considerable delays are likely as the legislation will probably be returned to Parliament. This decision will be made in two months.

Indonesian born Dutch Labour MP, Ing Yoe Tan, who was a key mover in the legislative changes- expects a delay of at least one year.

Much more here:

http://www.ehealtheurope.net/comment_and_analysis/608/dutch_ehr_plans_put_on_hold

Please read the whole article. This is a sobering tale that shows how badly these mega-projects can go if not managed to fully engage both the public and the providers.

A salutary lesson for both NEHTA and DoHA as they dream the their ‘greata bigga system’!

Much better to go ground up – or even ‘middle out’ – rather than top down, which seems to be the only way some of the bureaucrats are thinking.

Be afraid, very afraid is all I can say!

AusHealthIT Poll Number 27 – Results – 19 July, 2010.

The question was:

Do You Believe Clinicians Should be Obliged To Provide Information For Patient Held Records Under Threat of Medicare Payment Withholding?

For Sure

- 18 (51%)

Probably

- 4 (11%)

Neutral

- 3 (8%)

Probably Not - Without Incentives

- 4 (11%)

Not At All Without Cost Recovery

- 6 (17%)

Votes: 35

I was surprised by this outcome. I would argue that if you want quality, usable information then you are going to have to provide some incentive for the providers to assemble and transmit the information.

Obviously a good many don’t agree with that view. We shall see if we ever get to the stage where the workability of this proposal is tested.

Again, many thanks to all those who voted!

David.

What an Excellent Idea! – A Long Overdue Intervention in Australian E-Health.

I spotted this a few days ago

E-Health, Gershon face progress audit

By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on July 16th, 2010

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has flagged possible audits into the Federal Government's progress on e-health and the implementation of the Gershon Review recommendations.

The office's 2010/11 work report, released today, contains over 130 pages of current and proposed government audits.

It mentions a possible audit of the Department of Health and Ageing's national e-health implementation scheme to investigate management and co-ordination strategies used in deploying e-health in Australia.

In the 20010/11 budget, the Rudd Government made a hefty financial commitment to the implementation of e-health records in Australia, allocating $466.6 million to the scheme. Earlier this month, Health Minister Nicola Roxon laid out a "roadmap to reform" for the next two years, providing an overview of the national e-health deployment plan.

More here:

http://www.zdnet.com.au/e-health-gershon-face-progress-audit-339304592.htm

A bit of checking found that few days ago the Australian National Audit Office published their draft work program for 2010-11.

The full document can be found here:

http://www.anao.gov.au/uploads/documents/2010_Audit_Work_Program1.pdf

The document title is as follows.

Australian National AUDIT Office

AUDIT WORK PROGRAM JULY 2010

Where is gets really interesting is in the proposals for some audits that are still not locked in but planned for next year.

There are two that would make a riveting read.

On Page 73 we read.

National E-Health Implementation

In the 2009−10 budget, the Australian Government committed $57 million to E-Health to facilitate the transition of paper-based clinical record keeping to electronic means for better information exchange to deliver safer, more efficient, better quality healthcare.

Over the period July 2009 to June 2012, the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) will deliver key components of the National E-Health Strategy, endorsed by Australian Health Ministers in late 2008. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to provide $208 million to NEHTA, with 50 per cent funded by the Commonwealth and the remainder by the states and territories under the COAG funding formula.

An audit would examine DoHA’s management and co-ordination of E-Health developments within DoHA and with state/territory governments.

And this would be fun also

Page 84

Medicare Australia’s Role in the Development of the Unique Healthcare Identifier (UHI) Service

The provision of modern health care requires a greater sharing of health information between practitioners. The Unique Healthcare Identifier (UHI) will identify patients, practitioners and organisations involved in health care across Australia, and provide assurance regarding the identity of health records being communicated electronically.

In December 2007, the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) signed a two-year, $51.6 million contract with Medicare Australia to design, build and test the UHI Service, which was to be delivered in December 2009.

An audit would examine Medicare Australia’s role in the development and delivery of the UHI Service, including the management of the contract with NEHTA.

----- End Quotes.

There is really little to say about this other than I would really look forward to highly constructive audits that might improve things a little!

I wonder who suggested these audits to the ANAO?

David.

Australian Medical Journal (and clearly the AMA) Lose Faith in NEHTA.

There is an amazing editorial in the just released Medical journal of Australia. It is a MUST read for all those interested in Australian e-Health.

Read it here:

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_02_190710/van10637_fm.html

The key to what it is being said is here:

“Since its inception in July 2005, NEHTA has been spending just under $164 000 a day.7 It is yet to deliver any e-health outcomes beyond a 2009–2012 strategic plan and the development of a national health care identifier system that was recently ratified by the Australian Government.10

In May this year, the federal government allocated NEHTA a further $466.7 million over 2 years, ostensibly to fund development of core national standards and tools that can provide all Australians with access to a personally controlled electronic heath record from 2012–13. The federal government will thus spend $639 315 each day on the implementation of personally controlled electronic health records.7 Despite this, vigorous debate is ongoing as to who will actually control the records! Confusion reigns.

It must be remembered that the realisation of e-health infrastructure in Australia is underpinned by taxpayers. Whether it will ever produce a functional electronic communication and record system, which actually improves health care delivery, is the million-dollar question.”

----- End extract and read the rest at the site above.

What a massive and stupid mess up this is, as this blog has been reporting for as long as it has existed.

This is truly ‘game on’ for the arrogance of NEHTA and my sense is, whatever happens at the election, we will see great changes follow!

This is a game changer that both parties cannot ignore! NEHTA has just moments to show it is either useful, or that it needs to be put out of its misery. Clearly the latter, with relevant safeguards to protect the limited value we have had for all this money, is the right course.

David.

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 18 July, 2010.

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, yesterday our less than a month old Prime Minister went to the Governor-General and called an election for August 21, 2010. As she said when she took the job ‘game on’!

From the e-Health perspective we have the following so far:

Julia Gillard's address to the nation

• Julia Gillard
• From: The Australian
• July 17, 2010 3:38PM

GOOD afternoon Australians one and all.

Can I say good afternoon to members of the Canberra press gallery and at least say to them they’ll be relieved to know their days of standing on street corners waiting for the election to be called are over.

And can I say to Australians on the 24th of June I had the very great honour of becoming Prime Minister of this country, the greatest country of all.

And on that day I acknowledged that I had not been elected by the Australian people. And I said then to the Australian people that I would ensure, that in the near future, they would to able to exercise their birthright, their vote, to select their Government and their Prime Minister.

Today I honour that pledge, and today I seek a mandate from the Australian people to move Australia forward.

This morning I asked Her Excellency, the Governor-General, to dissolve the House of Representatives so that elections can occur for the House and half of the Senate on Saturday, August 21.

.....

Instead of supporting computers in schools and e-health, he would abandon all of it.

.....

For the full speech go here:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillards-address-to-the-nation/story-fn59niix-1225893284705

From Tony Abbott we have:

Tony Abbott's mental health strike

• Matthew Franklin and Adam Cresswell
• From: The Australian
• July 01, 2010 12:00AM

TONY Abbott has ignited the unofficial election campaign by targeting Labor's policy weak point of mental health with a $1.5bn spending package.

The package includes 800 new hospital beds.

Capitalising on health sector anger about Rudd government inaction on mental health, the Opposition Leader yesterday promised to fund 80 new mental health treatment facilities, including 60 serving young people.

.....

Mr Abbott's policy documents released yesterday said a Coalition government would raise the funding by abolishing a range of Labor programs, including expanded funding for GP services, the GP Superclinics program, an e-health system and existing youth mental health programs.

.....

More here:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/tony-abbotts-mental-health-strike/story-e6frgczf-1225886435544

So superficially, on the e-Health issue, there is no choice. Sadly, in my mind, it is actually rather like a Hobson’s choice or more accurately a Morton’s Fork.

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_Fork

Definition:

“A Morton's Fork is a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives (in other words, a dilemma), or two lines of reasoning that lead to the same unpleasant conclusion. It is analogous to the expressions "between the devil and the deep blue sea," "between a rock and a hard place," or, as those in the Spanish-speaking world say, "Between a sword and the wall." This is the opposite of the Buridan's Ass.”

The reason I say this is that I have zero confidence that the present Labor Government approach will yield much, if anything, in terms of e-Health progress – while the Liberal Opposition seem to be saying they have essentially given up on e-Health.

A credible approach from either lot would be a vote winner for me!

-----

http://www.smh.com.au/national/roxon-vows-hospital-website-will-open-next-month-but-wont-say-when-20100716-10e74.html

Roxon vows hospital website will open next month, but won't say when

MARK METHERELL

July 17, 2010

The federal government has rushed out a pre-election announcement on the long-awaited MyHospital website.

The Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, who said she could not say exactly when next month the website would begin operating, said she was announcing it because of speculation that the it might not happen.

Ms Roxon said the site would enable people to check how individual hospitals performed against national averages for elective surgery and emergency care, but would be based on 2008-09 statistics collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and would also list hospital services available.

However, information on the frequency of hospital-triggered infections and mistakes was not yet available from the states because of different reporting systems, Ms Roxon's spokeswoman told the Herald.

-----

http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/articles/5b/0c06b05b.asp

My Hospitals website ready next month

16-Jul-2010

A NEW website comparing the nation's hospitals should be up and running before the federal election, the Federal Government says.

The government announced in April that it would introduce "transparent reporting" on every hospital's performance against new national standards as part of its $50 billion health reform agenda.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon today revealed that a scaled-down version of those reports would be available online on the My Hospitals website from August.

"My Hospitals will show how a hospital performed compared [with] national average waiting times for elective surgery and emergency department care," Ms Roxon said in a statement.
-----

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/myhospitals-website-to-open-next-month-roxon-announces/story-fn59niix-1225892647083

MyHospitals website to open next month, Roxon announces

• Joe Kelly
• From: The Australian
• July 16, 2010 11:49AM

THE government's MyHospitals website is scheduled to be up and running next month to compare the performances of public hospitals against national benchmarks.

Announcing details of the site today Health Minister Nicola Roxon said: “MyHospitals draws back the curtain on the performance of Australia's hospital system and provides an unprecedented level of transparency as the Gillard government works to deliver better health and hospital services for hardworking Australians,”

The minister said the website aimed to provide information on which hospitals were performing well and which hospitals needed to lift their performance and require further assistance.

It will cover hospitals in all states and territories with the exception of Western Australia, which did not sign up to the government's health funding reforms in April.

-----

http://www.cio.com.au/article/352806/deakin_university_train_medical_students_online/?eid=-601

Deakin University to train medical students online

Project set to ease rural mental health workforce shortage

• Lisa Banks (CIO)
• 12 July, 2010 13:56

Deakin University has received funding to implement video conferencing facilities to teach students in Geelong, Warrnambool, Ballarat and Box Hill.

The federal government funding of $336,120 will allow students in these rural areas to fill mental health workforce shortages.

Minister for Indigenous health, rural and regional health, Warren Snowden, said the facilities will utilise video conferencing technology.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/353313/new_mobile_computing_queensland_emergency_services/?eid=-6787

New mobile computing for Queensland emergency services

Queensland Ambulance and Fire and Rescue Service to get new mobile data terminals

• Tim Lohman (Computerworld)
• 15 July, 2010 12:36

The increasing availability of high speed wireless data networks and mobile computing devices has spurred the Queensland Government to expand its application of mobile data systems for its agencies providing emergency services.

The Government will set up a panel of providers as a method of giving agencies the flexibility to develop mobile data terminal solutions that meet their needs and utilises existing infrastructure.

The panel will act as a source of mobile data terminal hardware, peripherals and software as well as expanded network coverage via the incorporation of HSDPA (high speed 3G services), satellite networks or other private data networks.

-----

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/219867,lawyer-finds-ehealth-record-loophole.aspx

Lawyer finds eHealth record loophole

By Mahesh Sharma

Jul 14, 2010 3:20 PM

Australians can choose to pay a premium for privacy.

Australian citizens will only be able to avoid information being recorded against their healthcare identifier number by using medical services anonymously or giving a false name and paying full price for medical services, according to a legal expert.

University of Melbourne law professor Loane Skene - who supports the healthcare identifier as a way to allow research organisations to access medical information without consent - raised the prospect during a speech at the University of Monday night.

The Healthcare Identifier Act came into effect on July 1. It assigns Australian citizens with a unique number to link all medical information contained in disparate databases.

-----

http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/article/patient-doctor-confidentiality-needs-review/520302.aspx

Patient-doctor confidentiality needs review

13 July 2010 | by Nick O'Donoghue

Privacy laws need to be changed to allow doctors to discuss a patient’s genetic disorders with family members who may be affected, a medico-legal expert says.

Following a presentation last night, Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne and member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee, Loane Skene, told Pharmacy eNews there was a need for legislation to acknowledge the benefits e-health records could give doctors treating patients by providing information on other blood relatives

“In future we should take a more familial approach to health care, particularly acknowledge that a lot of information in the future will be genetic and whenever you have genetic information it has implications not only for you, but also for your close blood relatives.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352972/sa_health_chief_bans_ipads_among_staff/?eid=-255

SA Health chief bans iPads among staff

Issues a moratorium on purchases until IT team can assess the device

• Renai LeMay (CIO)
• 13 July, 2010 13:25

The chief executive of South Australia's health department issued a sternly worded letter to all staff in late May warning them off corporate purchases of Apple's flagship iPad device until the department's IT team could properly assess the device.

The letter - under the name of SA Health CEO Tony Sherbon - states that SA Health is issuing a moratorium on the purchase of iPads for an initial period of two months.

Sherbon told staff that while the potential use of the iPad within SA Health might be significant, the department needed to fully assess the device before it was implemented - with concerns around the security of patient information being one potential issue.

-----

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/nehta-puts-finishing-touches-to-health-identifier-plan/story-e6frgakx-1225890944023

Nehta puts finishing touches to health identifier plan

• Fran Foo
• From: The Australian
• July 13, 2010 12:00AM

NEHTA and the federal Department of Health and Ageing are finalising procurement for businesses to help develop Australia's e-health system.

Implementation partners, including IT companies, will be able to participate in the process in a few key areas, National E-health Transition Authority chief Peter Fleming said.

"We will be looking for implementation partners in the private sector that will work with us as we go through the journey of implementing the unique healthcare identifier program, then the packages such as discharge referral and then the electronic health record," Mr Fleming said.

He declined to go into detail about the tenders, but said "those things are being fleshed out a little bit further with DoHA".

-----

http://www.nehta.gov.au/media-centre/nehta-news/663-mh

Dr Mukesh Haikerwal named as one of 50 Australians currently most influential on General Practice in Australia

12 July 2010. Australia’s leading independent medical publication Australian Doctor has named Dr Mukesh Haikerwal as one of 50 Australians currently most influential on General Practice in Australia.

Viewed by many of his colleagues as a ‘young elder statesman’ Dr Haikerwal has been recognised for his work in various public roles, including that of commissioner on the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, and for his determination to get back to fulfilling his various public roles after being assaulted in 2008. Dr Haikerwal is currently the National Clinical Lead for NEHTA and is playing a pivotal role in e-health reform in Australia.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352969/queensland_health_bungle_lesson_shared_services/?eid=-6787

Queensland Health bungle a lesson on shared services

Failed project shows need for proper governance structures before starting a project, Ovum says

• Tim Lohman (Computerworld)
• 13 July, 2010 13:00

Queensland Health’s well publicised payroll blunder should serve as a sage lesson to private and public sector organisations on the dangers of shared IT service implementations, according to Ovum.

According to the analyst house’s public sector research director, Kevin Noonan, the failure of Queensland Health’s SAP-based payroll system suggested that the proper application, rather than a lack of IT tools and methodologies, was at the heart of the project’s woes.

“Shared services is certainly the flavour of the moment across Australian governments,” Noonan said in a research statement. “This is a sensible step given the significant potential savings in management and infrastructure costs, as well as the extra benefits in delivering coordinated services across agencies.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352971/queensland_whole-of-government_existential_crisis/?eid=-6787

Queensland's whole-of-government existential crisis

IT procurement navel gazing as CorpTech gets overhauled

• Tim Lohman (Computerworld)
• 13 July, 2010 13:03

The Queensland Government will abandon its one-size-fits-all approach to payroll across government following the bungling of Queensland Health’s SAP-based payroll roll out.

The fiasco has also seen the Government set to overhaul whole-of-government IT provider, CorpTech, in a bid to have it better match agency needs.

"We want larger agencies with complex payroll requirements to be able to use the payroll system which suits them," Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, said in a statement on the new approach to public sector IT.

"At the same time, smaller agencies should have the ability to cluster with similar agencies and utilise the one payroll system."

-----

http://www.misaustralia.com/viewer.aspx?EDP://1278976277786&section=news&xmlSource=/news/feed.xml&title=Qld+Health+payroll+bungle+contaminates+super

Qld Health payroll bungle contaminates super

Julian Bajkowski

Fallout from Queensland Health's $100 million botched SAP payroll software upgrade has spread to contaminate the superannuation holdings and salary sacrifice schemes of government employees, the state's nurses union has warned

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/353100/isoft_uk_e-health_woes_lead_downward_revenue_revision/?eid=-180

iSoft UK e-health woes lead to downward revenue revision

ASX-listed e-health provider hit by overhaul of UK health system IT program

• Trevor Clarke (Computerworld)
• 14 July, 2010 09:02

ASX-listed e-health provider iSoft (ASX: ISF) has revised its revenue forecast down by another $10 million, following a halving of its share price last month.

As reported by Computerworld Australia iSoft on 2 June revised its revenues down for the full 2010 fiscal year by as much as $30 million following a confluence of market events.

At the time the company said its revenue for fiscal 2010 would now be in the range of $440 to $455 million while EBITDA was likely to be in the range of $45 to $60 million.

-----

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/20100714-isoft-makes-yet-another-profit-downgrade-fuels-speculation-of-private-equity-bid.html

iSoft makes yet another profit downgrade, fuels speculation of private equity bid

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 10:34

Patrick Stafford

Troubled software maker iSoft has announced yet another profit downgrade, the second since June, with the company reportedly letting go about 600 staff.

The announcement comes after reports were published suggesting a number of private equity firms are eyeing the company, as its market value has plummeted to just $170 million from a peak of about $1.5 billion.

In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, chief executive Gary Cohen said the current estimate for the 2010 year is revenue of about $430 million, with EBITDA of approximately $40 million before "exceptional and one-off items".

This comes after a profit downgrade was made in early June, with the company then announcing an expected revenue level of $440-445 million, a decline from a previous downgrade to $500-520 million.

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http://www.zdnet.com.au/more-executive-changes-at-isoft-339304547.htm

More executive changes at iSoft

By Josh Taylor, ZDNet.com.au on July 15th, 2010

Following the departure of iSoft Australia and New Zealand managing director Denis Tebbutt last month, the company has today confirmed two more of its Australian executive team have left the company.

iSoft confirmed to ZDNet Australia that the company's ANZ operations director Rein de Vries and client engagement director Peter Hong had both left the company.

iSoft's head of brand and communications Sally Durant said that the departures were "part of a planned restructure that is part of the repositioning of the ANZ business for more focused growth".

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http://www.zdnet.com.au/telstra-and-nehta-get-it-right-for-gps-339304473.htm

Telstra and NEHTA get it right for GPs

By Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet.com.au on July 13th, 2010

With very little fanfare, Telstra last week announced its involvement in one of the more sensible initiatives I've heard about this year.

It will provide software-as-a-service medical systems via its T-Suite platform to the members of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Currently there isn't any specialist medical software on T-Suite, but Telstra, the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) and the college plan to work with GPs and vendors to work that out.

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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/353100/isoft_uk_e-health_woes_lead_downward_revenue_revision/?eid=-6787

iSoft UK e-health woes lead to downward revenue revision

ASX-listed e-health provider hit by overhaul of UK health system IT program

• Trevor Clarke (Computerworld)
• 14 July, 2010 09:02

ASX-listed e-health provider iSoft (ASX: ISF) has revised its revenue forecast down by another $10 million, following a halving of its share price last month.

As reported by Computerworld Australia iSoft on 2 June revised its revenues down for the full 2010 fiscal year by as much as $30 million following a confluence of market events.

At the time the company said its revenue for fiscal 2010 would now be in the range of $440 to $455 million while EBITDA was likely to be in the range of $45 to $60 million.

In February the company reported a full fiscal 2010 outlook of $470 million and an EBITDA of $113 million. The company reported that it was on track to meet those targets in March.

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http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/63289/iSOFT_Group_Limited_%28ASX:ISF%29_Corporate_Results_Forecasts_For_The_Financial_Year_2010.html

iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) Corporate Results Forecasts For The Financial Year 2010

Sydney, July 13, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) today announced that whilst the audit of its financial results for FY10 is still underway, the current estimate of the outcome for the year is revenue of approximately A$430 million and EBITDA of approximately A$40 million before exceptional and one-off items.

Following the delays associated with the rollout of Lorenzo under its NPfiT contract, it is now expected that the development work on Lorenzo will continue until September 2012. This has led to an accounting adjustment of the revenue recognized to 30 June 2010 of A$4.1 million. This adjustment does not have any cash flow impact. The additional time required for delivery will mean that the revenue recognition of milestones, which are a fixed amount, under the percentage of completion method, will now be extended over a further 12 months. However, the additional time and cost to develop Lorenzo is expected to be supported by monthly revenue receipts during the development period.

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http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/63285/iSOFT_Group_Limited_%28ASX:ISF%29_Wins_New_Customers_In_Germany_In_Deals_Worth_A58M.html

iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) Wins New Customers In Germany In Deals Worth A$5.8M

Sydney, July 12, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) has won contracts with five new customers in Germany in the past month totaling EUR3.9 million (A$5.8 million).

Both Stadtklinik Frankenthal and Rudolf Virchow hospital at Glauchau will switch to iSOFT's ClinicCentre solution by January 2011. ClinicCentre will serve as a central hub ensuring the availability of accurate patient and clinical information across the hospitals.

The 335-bed Rudolf Virchow is also taking iSOFT's BusinessCentre application for financial accounting and a third-party pharmacy solution. The seamless integration of these applications was a key factor in the decision.
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http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=CD3B599D-1A64-6A71-CE708FD7B9AAE2CE

NHS £13bn IT programme to be overhauled

Leo King
13.07.2010 kl 18:54 | Computerworld UK

The troubled £12.7 billion (US$19.1 billion) NHS National Programme for IT is set to be overhauled, after the Department of Health said it would slash spending on consultants for centralised programmes, and promised an "information revolution".

The troubled £12.7 billion (US$19.1 billion) NHS National Programme for IT is set to be overhauled, after the Department of Health said it would slash spending on consultants for centralised programmes, and promised an "information revolution".

The NHS, which is attempting to cut £20 billion from overall costs, will use a "more plural system of IT and other suppliers", the Department said in a white paper today. Chief executive David Nicholson will make an announcement in the next month.

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http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/child-porn-filter-move-hits-snag-20100712-107w3.html

Child porn filter move hits snag

ARI SHARP

July 13, 2010

HOPES that a voluntary filter of child pornography will become industry standard across all internet service providers have been dealt a blow, with significant mid-sized carrier Internode declaring yesterday that it will not participate.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy late last week announced the government would hold off on its filter proposal until a year-long review of refused classification rules had been completed.

At the same time the government said three internet service providers - Telstra, Optus and Primus, which between them represent about 70 per cent of Australian internet connections - would voluntarily block child abuse content, with the prospect that others might follow.

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Enjoy!

David.