This Is Really Amazing Stuff. Seriously Complex Monitoring of Key Physiological Levels Externally!

The following appeared a few days ago.

Wireless Device Can Cut Heart Failure-Related Hospitalizations

Doctors able to track fluid pressure in lungs, make medication adjustments, study shows

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that a wireless implanted device monitors fluid build-up in the lungs of heart failure patients and alerts doctors when intervention is needed.

As a result, the device reduces hospitalizations and improves quality of life for these patients, they added.

"It is the build-up of fluid pressure in the lungs that causes symptoms such a shortness of breath and leads to fluid leaking into the lung, which is the major cause of hospitalization in heart failure patients," explained study author Dr. William T. Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

By monitoring the fluid pressure in the lungs, the doctor can adjust the patient's medication to bring the pressure levels down and keep the patient out of the hospital, he noted.

"This promises to revolutionize the way we manage patients who have moderate or severe heart failure," Abraham said. "Prior to this, the tools that we could use to evaluate how heart failure patients were doing were not very revealing and so we have failed to keep patients out of the hospital."

The report is published in the Feb. 9 online edition of The Lancet.

For the study, Abraham's group randomly assigned 550 patients with moderately severe heart failure to have the device implanted or not, in addition to standard medical care.

The device is placed in the pulmonary artery in the lung using a catheter, so the procedure is minimally invasive, Abraham added.

During the first six months, 83 patients with devices were hospitalized for heart failure-related problems, compared with 120 patients who did not have the device, the researchers found. That's a 30 percent reduction in hospitalizations, they noted.

Over the entire 15 months of follow-up, those with the device had a 39 percent reduction in hospitalizations, compared with those who didn't, Abraham's team found.

......

More information

For more information on heart failure, visit the American Heart Association.

SOURCES: William T. Abraham, M.D., director, division of cardiovascular medicine, and professor, internal medicine, physiology and cell biology, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., spokesman, American Heart Association, and professor, cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; Feb. 9, 2011, The Lancet, online

More here:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649765.html

As someone who used to slip Pulmonary Artery Catheters into critically ill patients, in another life, to hear of this technology just leaves me amazed.

Given the difficulty and complexity just a decade or two ago of measuring such physiological parameter (and the risks that were attached) this is technology at the bleeding edge I reckon!

Really sounds like it actually works to make a difference to patients too! Technology really delivering for patients!

Amazing!

David.

Frost And Sullivan Researches Australian Health IT.

The following new research has just been announced.

Healthcare Information Technology Market in Australia

Posted on: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:39:41 EST

Symbols: FRSU

Dublin, Feb 11, 2011 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) --

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/65a1b5/healthcare_informa) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Healthcare Information Technology Market in Australia" to their offering.

This Market Engineering research service has been developed to address the dynamics of healthcare information technology in Australia. The market is divided into two sub segments including administrative and clinical healthcare IT. This research service presents the key findings of Australian healthcare information technology market. It provides insight and forecast of market size. This research service also discusses market trends, market drivers, market restraints, technology trends and Australian government initiatives. The study completes with a section on IT ranking, covering 6 main parameters

Research Overview

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled Healthcare Information Technology Market in Australia covers the Australian healthcare information technology market, examining drivers and restraints for growth, technology developments, government initiatives, as well as demand and geographical trends. It also offers an analysis of the competitive situation, key strategic recommendations, and future outlook. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the following markets: patient related, financial, resource management, and clinical.

Market Overview

Encouraging Government Policies Help the Australian Healthcare IT Market Grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10.3 Percent

Bolstered by strong government backing in the form of supportive policies and initiatives, healthcare IT adoption in Australia will continue to post a double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The government is committed to the development of applications and technologies needed to deliver the best e-health systems that can improve infrastructure, interoperability, and the electronic health records (EHR) segment. For example, local governments have various e-health programs such as Healthelink while the central government has created the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) to address e-health standards and infrastructural requirements, says the analyst of this research. Furthermore, there are other strong commitments by the central government, such as the deployment of a national broadband network, which will help enhance connectivity between patients, healthcare providers, and the government.

The rapidly aging population and higher incidence of chronic diseases have placed increasing demands on healthcare services, spawning a need for higher investments in core clinical applications. Furthermore, hospitals in Australia are eager to hike healthcare IT usage to achieve higher efficiency and enhance patient safety and care, which will, in turn, result in higher profitability. Market participants offer various applications and technologies that enable healthcare providers to conduct comprehensive examinations and avoid misdiagnosis, notes the analyst. The concentration of population in the metros has caused a scarcity of healthcare providers and infrastructure in the rural areas, which has prompted the government to encourage the use of telemedicine. This favorable environment has fostered active competition in the market, attracting a healthy mix of both local and foreign participants. While the multinationals have intensive industry and market expertise, small and medium Australian companies can leverage their flexibility and ability to provide customized products and services to make the most of the vast market opportunities.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

- Patient related

- Financial

- Resource management

- Clinical

Key Topics Covered:

- 1. Executive Summary

- 2. Research Objective and Methodology

- 3. Healthcare Industry Overview

- 4. Healthcare IT Market Overview

- 5. Australian Healthcare IT Standards and Regulatory Framework

- 6. Australian Healthcare Budget

- 7. Market Engineering Measurements

- 8. Market Dynamics

- 9. Market Analysis

- 10. Strategic Recommendations

- 11. Appendix Country-wise IT Ranking and Analysis

- 12. Decision Support Database

- 13. About Frost & Sullivan

For more information visit

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/press-release/frsu_-research-and-markets-healthcare-information-technology-market-in-australia-1485695.html

The report costs $10,000 or so, so I reckon I can live without it.

Describing the utterly failed NSW HealtheLink project as evidence of government commitment does make me wonder just how much the information contained in this report can be relied upon.

I guess I will never know!

I would be curious to know just how close other readers think the Market Overview is to reality!

David.

Now Here Is a Must Not Miss Free Information Session on Australian E-Health!

The following announcement popped into my inbox a day or so ago.

Sydney: AIIA NSW Healthcare Briefing - "The NEHTA Call to Business"

When:

8:00am - 9:30am, Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Where:

Telstra Experience Centre,

Level 4, 400 George Street

Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia

Cost:

Free of Charge: FREE!

AIIA NSW Healthcare Briefing - "The NEHTA Call to Business"

As the pace of e-health reform gathers momentum, this is a valuable opportunity to explore the latest opportunities emerging out of Australia’s national e-health investment.

To kick off our year of AIIA Healthcare Briefings, we will be joined by Lisa Smith, who has taken on a challenging new role as Head of Implementation for NEHTA.

Lisa’s appointment marks significant progress in Australia’s e-Health agenda as community and political focus moves beyond planning and design to the establishment of ground-breaking ehealth projects.

* Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about NEHTA’s staged approach to implementation and how this will help fast-track the journey towards a Personally-Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).

* Find out more about the concept behind Wave 1 and Wave 2 project sites and how the vendor panel is assisting the procurement process.

* Hear about the current status of Healthcare Identifiers and their significance as a foundation for PCEHR design.

* Discover how the private sector can help and get involved!

Our briefing moderator, Andrew James will lead our discussions on what companies need to be doing to be business ready to take advantage of the e-health developments.

Please come along to listen, ask questions, and make suggestions.

AIIA is supporting NEHTA in the introduction of better ways of electronically collecting and securely exchanging health information in Australian healthcare.

-----

The invitation is found here:

http://www.aiia.com.au/event_details.aspx?ID=746a8340-0230-e011-a034-005056b90019

Go to the website to register. Sounds like a fun one to attend.

I wonder whether any actual clarity on this list of important issues will emerge. Certainly those who can attend should to, at the very least, ask a few hard questions!

The slides and transcripts should hopefully turn up pretty quickly on the NEHTA web site!

David.

A Short Review of How Kaiser Permanente Got The Largest Private EHR System in the World Implemented.

Kaiser Permanente, a large Health Maintenance Organisation in the US, based largely in California has installed the largest integrated e-Health system, covering both hospitals and ambulatory care, in the US. They support over 8 million patients - almost ½ the size of Australia!

The following is valuable reading and proof it really can be done!

Lessons Learned From The Largest Civilian EHR System

Implementation can costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it's critical to make wise decisions.

By Phil Fasano, InformationWeek
Jan. 29, 2011
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229200032

Implementation of electronic health records continues across the nation as healthcare providers position themselves to take advantage of the federal government's incentive payment program, which begins this year and can yield tens of thousands of dollars to those that demonstrate "meaningful use." But implementation itself, from the acquisition of equipment, software, and services to training and utilization, can cost providers hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it's nonetheless critical to make wise choices.

In choosing and deploying an EHR system, continually remind yourself of what it is you're supposed to bring to your practice: connectivity and better coordination among care teams; improved quality and patient safety; efficiency and reduced care costs. As you make system choices, ask how these goals can be advanced--or hampered--through specific EHR capabilities.

Kaiser Permanente is proud to have implemented the largest civilian EHR system in the world, KP HealthConnect, developed with Epic Systems and incorporating a number of third-party applications. It securely connects 8.6 million Kaiser Permanente patients (the company calls them "members") to their healthcare teams, their personal health information, and the latest medical knowledge.

Following are some of the valuable lessons we've learned through this ongoing journey, lessons that I hope will provide insight for your own process.

A Team Effort

We created a partnership between clinical and IT staff from the outset to make sure the EHR system would work not only on the technology side, but also in real-time application by front-line clinicians. We never treated the implementation of KP HealthConnect as an IT endeavor; we approached it as a quality initiative supported by the highest level of the organization.

Our physicians and other caregivers were instrumental in this journey from the beginning, and the system was built to facilitate and enhance doctor-patient interaction, not replace it.

We also examined our care delivery workflows and care practices to ensure that the move from paper to electronic processes would be a smooth one. This due diligence helped to expedite the rate at which our doctors embraced EHRs. Still, we needed to evolve our approach as we learned how significantly an EHR changes operational workflow.

For the first time, all eight of our regions were operating on a common technology platform. A change of this magnitude required significant IT infrastructure upgrades, as well as a level of collaboration across all of Kaiser Permanente's regions and assets that had not been required previously.

The collaboration of IT staff and clinicians is also important when selecting vendors and products. By sharing as much information as possible about requirements and workflows, you can ensure that system choices match both infrastructure and the needs of caregivers.

Putting paper records into an electronic system isn't enough. Real-time healthcare requires an always-on technology infrastructure that is highly secure and supports interoperability--with the wide range of equipment and applications used within your organization, as well as with external providers with which you must share information.

The full article is at the URL above.

Phil Fasano is the executive VP and CIO at Kaiser Permanente. Write to us at iwletters@techweb.com.

All one can do is congratulate them for sticking with it, given the huge expensive false start they had a number of years ago before this success!

David.

I Wonder What This Says About the Australian E-Health System Providers?

A major contract for the Australian Defence Force’s e-Health was announce a few days ago.

Software group provides healthier outlook for military

Published on Thu Feb 10 12:59:30 GMT 2011

HEALTHCARE software group EMIS has won a major contract to monitor and help improve the health of Australia’s armed forces.

The Leeds-based group, founded by two North Yorkshire GPs in 1987, yesterday revealed it has been appointed by global technology giant CSC to supply a new electronic health information system for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Under a five-year contract, CSC Australia use EMIS’s clinical software to deliver a health records system covering all personnel in the ADF, called the Joint e-Health Data and Information (JeHDI) system.

The new system, which will be based on EMIS’s clinical software – will create a detailed electronic health record for each ADF serviceman and woman, featuring data from recruitment to discharge.

EMIS, originally called Egton Medical Information Systems, said JeDHI will support better and more efficient healthcare, and also allow the ADF to map health trends across its three armed forces.

EMIS chief executive Sean Riddell said: “As well as being the UK market leader in primary care systems, EMIS is also highly experienced at providing military healthcare solutions and our systems are already widely deployed across the world.

“This prestigious contract further extends EMIS’ international reach and reinforces our credentials as a world-class provider of e-health information systems.

“We are delighted to partner with CSC Australia on this project and look forward to working together to make a positive difference to the care of thousands of Australian servicemen and women around the globe.”

More here:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/business-news/software_group_provides_healthier_outlook_for_military_1_3066115

It is hard to understand just why a system from the UK would be selected for the ADF.

While I have no problem with EMIS being selected but the fact does rather beg the question about what is going on locally that this gap cannot be filled by an Australian developed system.

It would be interesting to read the evaluation report and to know which Australian providers submitted a tender.

David.

What Is Currently Being Said About What the PCEHR Actually Is? It is Fantastic is the Real Sense of That Word!

I thought it would be useful to provide a summary of what PCEHR Tenderers are being told about what the PCEHR is and what it is intended to do.

This is directly from the Infrastructure Partner Tender released today.

2 PCEHR PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

2.1 Release 1 Outcomes

2.1.1 In executing its responsibilities under the Contract for the provision of Services specified in this RFT pack, the National Infrastructure Partner will work towards an outcome that aligns with the Government’s commitment to eHealth, as defined by the Minister for Health and Ageing on 11 May 2010:

Australians will be able to check their medical history online through the introduction of personally controlled electronic health records, which will boost patient safety, improve health care delivery, and cut waste and duplication.

The $466.7 million investment over the next two years will revolutionise the delivery of healthcare in Australia. The national e-Health records system will be a key building block of the National Health and Hospitals Network.

This funding will establish a secure system of personally controlled electronic health records that will provide:

· Summaries of patients’ health information – including medications and immunisations and medical test results;

· Secure access for patients and health care providers to their e-Health records via the internet regardless of their physical location;

· Rigorous Governance and oversight to maintain privacy; and

· Health care providers with the national standards, planning and core national infrastructure required to use the national e-Health records system.

A personally controlled electronic heath record will have two key elements:

· a health summary view including conditions, medications, allergies, and vaccinations; and

· an indexed summary of specific healthcare events.

Implementation of personally controlled electronic health records

Personally controlled electronic health records will build on the foundation laid by the introduction of the Individual Health Care Identifiers later this year. Under this, every Australian will be given a 16-digit electronic health number, which will only store a patient’s name, address and date-of-birth. No clinical information will be stored on the number, which is separate to an electronic health record.

Implementation will initially target key groups in the community likely to receive the most immediate benefit, including those suffering from chronic and complex conditions, older Australians, Indigenous Australians and mothers and newborn children.

This investment includes funding for the first two years of the individual electronic health record business case developed in consultation with all states and territories and the National Electronic Health Transition Authority (NEHTA).

Subject to progress in rolling out the core e-Health infrastructure, the Government may consider future investments, as necessary, to expand on the range of functions delivered under an electronic health record system.

Reforms to take health system into 21st century

A national e-Health records system was identified as a national priority by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and the draft National Primary Health Care Strategy. It was also supported by the National Preventative Health Strategy.

The Government’s reform plans in primary, acute, aged and community care also require a modern e-Health infrastructure. It is a key foundation stone in building a health system for the 21st century.

A personally controlled electronic health record will not be mandatory to receive health care. For those Australians who do choose to opt in, they will be able to register online to establish a personally controlled e-Health record from 2012-13.

2.1.2 The following table specifies the key outcomes and capabilities to be delivered for Release 1 of the PCEHR Program.

Table 1: Key Outcomes and Capabilities for Release 1 of PCEHR Program

Outcome Area

PCEHR Core Infrastructure

Capability

Consumer Portal

Provider Portal

Indexing and Search Service

Outcome Area

Strengthen Consumer Participation

An appropriate system and interface for accessing Personal Health Records is finalised and ready for implementation.

Capability

Portal for Consumers to access their own health information, manage who has visibility of their PCEHR and view an access audit trail.

Outcome Area

Better Assessment and Treatment Selection

Capability

Pathology report summary information available via PCEHR indexed GP summaries.

Radiology report summary information available via PCEHR indexed GP summaries.

Outcome Area

Safer Medication Management

Capability

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme information indexed by PCEHR.

Prescription provider information (e.g. GP Prescriptions) indexed by PCEHR Program.

Outcome Area

Improved Continuity of Care

Capability

Discharge summaries electronically sent from participating hospitals to GPs.

Discharge summary indexed by PCEHR Program.

Referrals from GP to Specialists.

Referral indexed by PCEHR Program.

Outcome Area

Enhanced Coordination of Care

Capability

PCEHR populated with initial static health summary view using readily available information (e.g. Medical Benefits Scheme and immunisation).

PCEHR information is available for download to local GP system upon request.

Outcome Area

Health System Intelligence

Capability

Reporting and evaluation framework.

----- End Extract (Note I have left out the level of requirement for each area as most of it is mandatory)

It seems to me that this set of capabilities are utterly ‘pie in the sky’. Given the tender does not close till March 22, 2011 and evaluation has to take a couple of months, to have 12 months to deliver this range of capabilities is just not realistic.

Of course just how all those in GP land, all the pathology and radiology services and all the hospitalsare going to be lined up to record electronically and provide the required information to populate the PCEHR is an utterly unanswerable and clearly impractical question which is not based on any reality.

I feel this is all part of an enormous and very expensive hoax on the public at large!

David.

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 14 February, 2011.

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 subscription payment.

General Comment:

The most important news this week for the whole health sector will be how the Council of Australian Government Meeting on Sunday has played out. See recent blog for comment.

http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2011/02/at-least-partial-deal-has-been-done-at.html

No mention of e-Health I could spot.

There is a good conversation on the PCEHR found here:

http://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2011/02/draft-person-controlled-electronic.html#comments

The bottom line to me is that we are all being messed around by the secrecy surrounding just what the PCEHR actually is and how it related to all that has gone before - here and elsewhere!

-----

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/e-health-project-costs-rise-by-millions/story-fn4htb9o-1226004579907

E-health project costs rise by millions

• Karen Dearne
• From: Australian IT
• February 11, 2011 5:32PM

THE cost of three lead e-health implementations has risen by $2 million to $14.5m before the projects have even begun.

During the 2010 election campaign, Health Minister Nicola Roxon committed $12.5m to hand-picked GP divisions – GP Partners in Brisbane, GP Access in the NSW Hunter Valley and Melbourne East – to act as lead sites for the government’s $467m personally controlled e-health record program.

Health department documents show each site received $4.83m in grant funding on February 2, bringing the total to $14.5m. The projects are due for completion by June 30 2012, when a PCEHR is supposed to be available for every Australian who wants one.

-----

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/gps-urged-to-be-wary-of-medicine-bought-online

GPs urged to be wary of medicine bought online

10th Feb 2011

Caroline Brettingham-Moore

GPs have been advised to be wary of counterfeit medicines purchased over the Internet as part of the TGA’s latest initiative to reduce the sale and consumption of illegitimate medicines in Australia.

The initiative includes a new reporting function that went live on the watchdog’s website earlier this week. The online reporting portal allows consumers and health professionals to submit information relating to possible breaches of the TGA’s act.

According to figures released by the TGA, the watchdog has received 146 reports of counterfeit medical products over the last 12 months, with the majority of reports relating to lifestyle medications imported by individuals from unknown Internet sites.

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http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/ipad/health-tech-setback-as-ipad-halted-20110209-1an3d.html

Health tech setback as iPad halted

Julia Medew

February 10, 2011

HOSPITAL staff will have to continue queueing for computers in Victorian hospitals after the new Coalition government dumped a trial of 500 Apple iPads, which it was hoped would improve internet access this year.

In July last year, the former Brumby government said it had allocated $500,000 for 500 iPads to be given to graduate doctors and nurses in January to help them use the internet as they move around hospitals.

But when The Age asked the new government about the trial this week, a spokesman for Health Minister David Davis said the Brumby government had made no budget-level commitment to the program, leaving a ''black hole''. The spokesman said ''core wireless infrastructure'' required for the mobile iPads was also missing from the former government's plan.

-----

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1102/S00042/dunedin-hospital-pilot-uncovers-serious-prescribing-errors.htm

Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors

Wednesday, 9 February 2011, 3:07 pm

Press Release: Pharmacy Guild

MEDIA RELEASE

9 February 2011

Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors

The electronic prescribing pilot involving two wards at Dunedin Hospital may be extended across the entire hospital, and to Wakari Hospital, after the pilot exposed inadequate prescribing and administration practices.

In yesterday’s Otago Daily Times it was reported that from a sample of 100 paper charts, the pilot uncovered 2,623 instances of harm or near misses from medication errors last year - most of which were unreported or unrecognised.

“The Guild has always asserted that there is a serious prescription error problem in primary health care,” says Annabel Young, Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand Chief Executive. “This is both a patient safety issue and a cost issue for health care.

------

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/376049/csc_takes_prime_role_multi-million_dollar_ehealth_defence_deal/

CSC takes prime role in multi-million dollar eHealth Defence deal

Defence is investing more than $55.7 million into its Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI) system

• Julia Talevski (ARN)
• 09 February, 2011 12:56

CSC has been selected as the prime system integrator with the Department of Defence to develop and implement a multi-million dollar eHealth system for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Called the Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI) system, it has also been developed inconjunction with Defence and IT services company, Oakton.

The JeHDI system will provide an eHealth record for all personnel, and also give the Department of Defence the ability to map health-related trends of the ADF and derive financial reports on its healthcare costs.

-----

http://www.techworld.com.au/article/376036/defence_signs_five-year_e-health_deal_csc/

Defence signs five-year e-health deal with CSC

Undertakes e-health records project

• Georgina Swan (Computerworld)
• 09 February, 2011 12:18

The Australian Department of Defence has has signed a five-year information technology contract with CSC to develop and implement an electronic health information system for the Australian Defence Force.

The system, dubbed as Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI), will be one of the first comprehensive e-health records projects in Australia, according to CSC Australia president, Gavin Larkings.

“This project is an important example of a modernised health system optimising the use of e-health technologies to provide the right healthcare at the right time in the right place,” he said in a statement. “JeHDI is a significant project for Defence and we foresee it as a showcase for Australia's e-health evolution."

-----

http://delimiter.com.au/2011/02/09/csc-core-to-55-7m-defence-ehealth-project/

CSC core to $55.7m Defence eHealth project

The Department of Defence this morning unveiled plans to build a $55.7 million electronic health system to maintain records about armed forces personnel, commissioning IT services companies CSC and Oakton to assist it with the work.

The project has been named the “Joint eHealth Data and Information” (JeHDI) system and will deploy a military specific, primary care solution known as EMIS into the Defence Information Environment.

In a statement, Defence said it was spending more than $55 million to develop and deliver the JeHDI, which is predicted to be completed by 2014. Gaving Larkings, president of CSC in Australia, said JeHDI was a significant project for Defence and would support the modernisation of the whole organisation.

“This project is an important example of a modernised health system optimising the use of eHealth technologies, to provide the right healthcare at the right time in the right place,” he said.

-----

http://www.zdnet.com.au/defence-touts-55m-e-health-system-339309075.htm

Defence touts $55m e-health system

By Luke Hopewell, ZDNet.com.au on February 9th, 2011

Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel has officially kick started work on a new multimillion-dollar, web-based e-health records management platform.

Announced by Minister for Veterans' Affairs Warren Snowdon in Canberra this morning, the Joint e-Health Data and Information system (JeHDI) will hold an ADF member's e-health record, containing medical information from recruitment right through to discharge and is, according to the minister, set to improve the quality of healthcare provided to ADF personnel.

"JeHDI is a web-based system which can be accessed wherever internet is available, while still maintaining confidentiality and data integrity, JeHDI will simplify record management and provide immediate access to patients' medical records and other healthcare information," Snowdon said.

-----

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/business-news/software_group_provides_healthier_outlook_for_military_1_3066115

Software group provides healthier outlook for military

Published on Thu Feb 10 12:59:30 GMT 2011

HEALTHCARE software group EMIS has won a major contract to monitor and help improve the health of Australia’s armed forces.

The Leeds-based group, founded by two North Yorkshire GPs in 1987, yesterday revealed it has been appointed by global technology giant CSC to supply a new electronic health information system for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Under a five-year contract, CSC Australia use EMIS’s clinical software to deliver a health records system covering all personnel in the ADF, called the Joint e-Health Data and Information (JeHDI) system.

The new system, which will be based on EMIS’s clinical software – will create a detailed electronic health record for each ADF serviceman and woman, featuring data from recruitment to discharge.

-----

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/registration-bungle-stops-nurses-working/story-e6frg8y6-1226004019491

Registration bungle stops nurses working

• Sue Dunlevy
• From: The Australian
• February 12, 2011 12:00AM

NURSE graduates due to start their first day on the job were turned away at the hospital door this week because the new national health registration agency failed to process their registration on time.

The Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency confirmed it was unable to register more than 10 NSW nurse graduates before they started their first nursing job.

Nurse graduate Penny Foy says she saw four nurses turned away from her new workplace, Gosford Hospital. "We know of 20 that were not registered at the end of last week," she says.

Foy tells Weekend Health her registration arrived a week ago Tuesday, but only after she phoned the agency twice a day and asked opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton to intervene on her behalf.

A spokeswoman for AHPRA says up to 60 NSW nurses turned up at the agency's office on Friday because their registration hadn't come through and agency staff had worked through the weekend to get most of them registered.

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http://idm.net.au/article/008225-dca-secures-nt-messaging-tender

DCA secures NT messaging tender

02.09.11

The Northern Territory department of Health and Families has awarded DCA the tender to provide a territory-wide infrastructure to support secure exchange of health records based on the NEHTA Secure Message Delivery (SMD) specification.

The infrastructure will enable existing software products residing in hospital, community health and aboriginal medical centres to send and receive secure messages amongst each other using a common protocol. The project is a collaboration between DCA, NTDHF, NEHTA, and the major existing software vendors Ascribe and Communicare.

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http://www.techworld.com.au/article/376040/toughbooks_take_precedence_sydney_adventist_hospital_cio/

Toughbooks take precedence at Sydney Adventist Hospital: CIO

Paperless environment a long-term strategy

• Hamish Barwick (CIO)
• 09 February, 2011 11:42

The Sydney Adventist Hospital has made the decision to adopt the Panasonic Toughbook H1 Health mobile clinical assistant for its pharmacists, after literally weighing up the benefits of the device.

The hospital’s CIO, Chris Williams, told CIO Australia that after weighing up the large amounts of documents each pharmacist had to lug around compared to the weight of the Toughbook H1, the hospital decided to purchase eight of the device for its pharmacy.

In addition, other benefits of the device include pharmacists being able to continually update discharge notes and modify them as a doctor prescribes drugs, and patients will receive printed, instead of hand written, prescriptions when they leave the private hospital.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/victorian-department-of-human-services-extends-reach-of-the-cloud/story-e6frgakx-1226001684516

Victorian Department of Human Services extends reach of the cloud

• Jennifer Foreshew
• From: The Australian
• February 08, 2011 12:00AM

THE Victorian Department of Human Services is planning to put more sensitive systems into the cloud after a US enterprise software service provider began using a local data centre.

Oracle has set up a dedicated CRM On Demand package at its new Sydney Data Centre for the department's 350 users accessing the Victorian Bush Fire Recovery case management system, which supports Black Saturday victims.

The department took possession of the Oracle software in February 2009, when it was run out of Oracle's data centre in Austin, Texas.

CRM On Demand went live at the Sydney data centre in October last year.

Plans for establishing the centre were revealed in September, including a deal with hosting company HarbourMSP.

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http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/acute-care/6629/isoft_wins_double_kiosk_deal

ISoft wins double kiosk deal

10 February 2011 Sarah Bruce

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust have signed a contract for iSoft’s patient check-in kiosks in a deal worth £275,000.

West Hertfordshire is taking eight of the Savience kiosks for its outpatient departments at Watford General, Hemel Hempstead, and St Albans City hospitals.

The trust, which deals with 374,000 outpatient appointments a year, has signed for a fully managed service over five years, which includes six plasma screens and audio equipment for patient calling.

North Cumbria has ordered two kiosks initially, for the West Cumberland Hospital at Whitehaven, under a proof-of-concept project.

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http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/acute-care/6626/two_trusts_use_isoft_pathology_tool

Two trusts use iSoft pathology tool

9 February 2011 Lyn Whitfield

ISoft has announced the first UK sales of its CorVu laboratory management reporting tool.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust and St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust have both taken the system, which iSoft has been able to introduce to the UK because of a partnership with US based developers Rocket Software.

The two companies formed a strategic partnership in 2009 to develop Business Intelligence and strategic management applications across iSoft’s portfolio.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust will use CorVu to analyse department statistics to improve its turnaround times for pathology tests at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/no-budget-for-huge-health-e-record-development-task/story-e6frgakx-1226001776601

No budget for huge health e-record development task

• Karen Dearne
• From: The Australian
• February 08, 2011 12:00AM

SOFTWARE vendors face 10-15 staff years of development work to meet the complex requirements of the $467 million e-health record program, but there's no plan to pay for it.

Health Communication Network chief executive John Frost said the federal government was spending "obscenely large" sums on the personally controlled e-health record, including $38.5m over the next six months on the National E-Health Transition Authority (Nehta).

"That money, frankly, will be spent on consultants," he said. "The government has allocated $12.5m for the three lead implementation sites, $55m for second-wave sites, and $467m for just the first phase" of the personalised e-health record program.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/health-record-identifier-held-up-because-of-safety-concerns/story-e6frgakx-1226001760208

Health record identifier held up because of safety concerns

• Karen Dearne
• From: The Australian
• February 08, 2011 12:00AM

THE Health Department has banned the use of the $90 million Healthcare Identifier service in any live environment due to concerns over the system's safety.

The service, operated by Medicare, was declared live by Health Minister Nicola Roxon in July, but has been sitting idle while software interface specifications, licensing arrangements and compliance issues are thrashed out.

Last week, the department prohibited use of the service until all concerns were resolved.

Despite the fanfare over meeting Ms Roxon's deadline for the start of the service -- Medicare issued every Australian with a 16-digit unique number on July 1-- fears have grown of the potential for mis-identification of patients and mis-matching of medical records.

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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/375689/clear_it_vision_ahead_mater_health_services/?eid=-255&uid=25465

Clear IT vision ahead for Mater Health Services

Application development leads to department integration

• Hamish Barwick (CIO)
• 07 February, 2011 12:28

Doubling the rate of eye tissue donations is just one of many positive outcomes for Mater Health Services following the introduction of a new application development platform, InterSystems Ensemble.

Since implementation in March 2010 by the Brisbane-based health provider, a total of 15 applications have been developed including data quality checking, discharge summaries, outpatient appointments and test results acknowledgment, with work for a general practitioner (GP) portal in development.

Ensemble also provides message translation for Healthcare Seven (HL7), an health industry standard which supports structured messages containing complex clinical and administrative data. More than 100,000 HL7 messages are generated by Mater Health Service’s systems daily.

One of the major new apps to be created on the new platform is an eye tissue donation system monitors HL7 messages captured by the electronic patient record from Mater’s patient administration system. After a potential eye donor dies and the death is registered in the system, it generates an email which is converted into an SMS message and sent to Queensland Health which lets the tissue banks know of an incoming donation.

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http://www.cfoworld.com.au/news/533868/global-health-secures-e-health-contract/

Global Health secures e-health contract

18:29, 7th February 2011

By Dylan Bushell-Embling (CFO World)

Australian e-health solutions provider Global Health (ASX:GLH) has revealed it has secured a contract to deploy two of its suites at 40 youth mental health centres.

National youth mental health foundation headspace will deploy Global Health's MasterCare Clinician platform and ReferralNet Secure Messaging suite across its centres nationwide.

The foundation has 30 centres across Australia, with another 10 due to be opened in the second half of 2011.

Under the terms of the deal, Global Health will update the MHAGIC mental health case management system it had previously provided for headspace with the shared electronic medical records provided through MasterCare, while implementing some specific customisations.

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Enjoy!

David.

AusHealthIT Poll Number 57 – Results – 14 February, 2011.

The question was:

On Balance Has NEHTA Been A Good or Bad Thing For E-Health In Australia?

The answers were as follows:

A Very Good Thing

- 9 (21%)

Slightly Better than Neutral

- 5 (11%)

Neutral

- 3 (7%)

Slightly Worse Than Neutral

- 5 (11%)

A Very Bad Thing

- 20 (47%)

Well that is seems pretty clear with 58% suggesting a bad thing and 32% saying NEHTA is a good thing!

Votes : 42

Again, many thanks to those that voted!

David.