It Look Like Health Is In For A Real Shake Up. Here Is All You Need To Know To Appreciate They Don’t Have a Clue!

This appeared today.

Medicare plans: Health Minister Peter Dutton flags overhaul, calls for discussion on GP co-payments

February 20, 2014

Video: Peter Dutton speaks with 7.30 (7.30)

Health Minister Peter Dutton has flagged an overhaul of Medicare, suggesting Australians who can afford it should pay more for their healthcare.

Mr Dutton has used a major speech to declare he wants there to be a frank, fearless and far-reaching discussion about the health system.

He argued the system is unsustainable and he wants to "modernise and strengthen" Medicare.

He has told the ABC's 7.30 program there needs to be discussion around co-payments.

"Commonwealth and state governments contribute 92 cents in the dollar for those treated in the public system," he said.

"Therefore, one important job of the Abbott Government is to grow the opportunity for those Australians who can afford to do so to contribute to their own healthcare costs.

"If they have a means to contribute to their own healthcare, we should be embarking on a discussion about how that payment model will work.

“One important job of the Abbott Government is to grow the opportunity for those Australians who can afford to do so to contribute to their own healthcare costs. “

Peter Dutton

"I want to make sure that for argument's sake we have a discussion about you or me on reasonable incomes [and] whether we should expect to pay nothing when we go to a doctor."

There has recently been debate over a proposal to charge patients $6 to visit their general practitioner.

Lots more here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-19/peter-dutton-flags-medicare-overhaul/5270940

The video makes just riveting viewing to see just how ill formed and vague the Minister’s plan is.

On ABC Radio this morning we also had this:

Abbott flags major changes to health services

• Listen now
• Download audio

Thursday 20 February 2014 7:44AM

The Abbott Government is paving the way for major changes to health services, including a possible co-payment for GP visits.

Health Minister Peter Dutton has called for a 'fearless and far reaching debate' on health spending, which he says is 'unsustainable.'

Labor is warning this means the end of universal health care in Australia.

Guests

Dr. John Dwyer

Professor of Medicine at the University of NSW and founder of the The Australian Health Care Reform Alliance

Here is the link:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/abbott-flags-major-changes-to-health-services/5271358

Here Prof. Dwyer makes the obvious point that maybe we should reform an inefficient system to save money rather than just charge people more. The point that 29% of health costs is direct out of pocket expenses at present means we are  all paying a fair bit already.

To date all the reform  efforts (Lib and Labor) have been pretty ineffective and poorly implemented. Maybe some serious hard work towards real reform should come before asking people to pay more?

Maybe we could even have a go at getting e-Health right?

I fear we are going to see some pretty ill-considered and unwise outcomes from all this.

David.

Discussion Of Just What Will Happen In The Budget Regarding Health And Health IT Continues As Expected! Senate Enquiry Report Released Today.

This appeared a few days ago.

Senate committee to grill Abbott adviser over proposal for $6 fee to visit GPs

Date February 11, 2014

Dan Harrison

Health and Indigenous Affairs Correspondent

The former adviser to Tony Abbott who proposed a $6 fee to visit the doctor will be grilled by a Senate committee.

Terry Barnes, who worked for Mr Abbott when he was health minister in the Howard government, has been invited to appear before the Senate committee on the government's Commission of Audit next Tuesday.

Mr Barnes proposed the idea of a $6 co-payment to see a GP in a submission to the Commission of Audit made on behalf of the Australian Centre for Health Research, a private health think tank.

Mr Barnes calculates his proposal would generate $750 million in savings over four years through reducing unnecessary visits to the doctor and reducing incentives for doctors to overservice.

He has also suggested it may be necessary to introduce fees for emergency department presentations, to deter people from going to hospital with problems more appropriately treated by a GP.

Mr Barnes said he was ''more than happy'' to answer the committee's questions and hoped to appear in Canberra in person.

Lots more here:

 You will be able to get a transcript next week from here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Abbott_Governments_Commission_of_Audit/Commission_of_Audit/Public_Hearings

Also we had this appear:

Comment: Age of entitlement ends

03 Feb 2014

Treasurer Joe Hockey has decreed everyone must do the heavy lifting and Australia's "Age of Entitlement" is over, but does this only apply to those outside the palace?

While the nation's collective belt tightening must generate savings across every ministerial portfolio, including health and aged care, Hockey's stern paternalistic messaging on ABC Radio did not outline measures to ensure the parliament and politicians themselves bear some of the pain.

With the fiscally challenged sectors of the economy including health, aged care, education, farming defence and manufacturing, and Hockey's determination that providing life support for them is too expensive, long-term sustaining strategies are urgently required.

Slash and burn operations may save short term costs but they will realise long term expenses without alternative strategic pathways. In the January February edition of Hospital and AgedCare, I wrote an editorial suggesting that the fiscal challenges facing hospital and aged care would be helped if politicians and the bureauracy ensured greater value. It follows below.

In December last year, the treasurer trumped all previous blame games to reveal a $17 billion budget blowout, as he ripped off the previously applied bandaids off a wounded if not crippled economy.

Lots more here:

http://www.hospitalandagedcare.com.au/news/comment-age-of-entitlement-ends

At least some of the populous is starting to get restless with all this talk.

Hundreds rally against Medicare reforms and fees for GP visits

Many Australians will not be able to afford to see a doctor and will cost the health system more, says Tanya Plibersek

• Australian Associated Press
• theguardian.com, Saturday 15 February 2014 18.13 AEST

Hundreds of people gathered outside Sydney’s Town Hall on Saturday to protest against any moves to water down Medicare and introduce patient payments to see a bulk-billing GP.

Waving banners reading “Stop Abbott”, “Save Medicare” and “Free Universal Health Care”, the protesters called for the government to rule out any changes to Medicare.

Deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek paid tribute to the introduction of the health system, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this month.

“Before Medicare, millions of Australians used to be bankrupted,” she said.

“Medical bills were the highest cause of bankruptcy in Australia, as they still are today in the US.”

She called for the government to rule out any introduction of a GP co-payment, which would require patients to pay a suggested $6 fee for each consultation.

The rally took place just weeks after prime minister Tony Abbott dismissed as nothing more than a scare campaign claims the government was planning to introduce a fee.

Lots more here:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/15/hundreds-rally-against-medicare-reforms-and-fees-for-gp-visits

It looks like next week will be interesting with the Commission of Audit Senate Enquiry and just what regarding the health sector might be discussed.

Commission Of Audit Senate Enquiry - Interim Report.

Listened to the webcast of a good deal of the Senate Enquiry. The discussion was pretty predictable but with one or two contributions being fun to listen to. Most especially there was an ASU representative who said the process for the Commission of Audit was flawed because it reported to Government and that if the Government decided to form a Budget including some of the recommendations it was undemocratic. Given Parliament has to pass the Budget I struggled with that one!

You can read a transcript of the whole day here:

http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommsen%2Fb7627224-c545-4ff0-83ea-e4356fc92ead%2F0000%22
 
Here is the interim Committee Report - released today.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Abbott_Governments_Commission_of_Audit/Interim_Report/~/media/Committees/Senate/committee/abbott_cttee/Interim_Report/report.ashx

The report divided on political lines as expected!





We will also start to see the various organisations put in their submission for the May Budget - many of those will be asking for concessions which we can be pretty sure simply won’t happen this year!


David.

Now A Few Have Tried To Use It, We Are Discovering What A Mess The PCEHR Is! Old Saying Confirmed

There is an old saying that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. To support that view we have this that popped up today.

‘Garbled and confused’: trust in e-health dives

18th Feb 2014

Andrew Bracey

THE personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) is garbling patient information GPs upload, creating confusing and potentially misleading records, an e-health expert has warned.

The latest criticism of the billion-dollar scheme from former National Electronic Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) chief clinical lead, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, comes as the health sector awaits the release of the review ordered by Health Minister Peter Dutton late last year.

A de-identified patient record entered into the PCEHR by Dr Haikerwal, and supplied to MO, shows that the reverse chronological order of visits was jumbled up and appeared in the e-health record in random order.

For the PCEHR to be usable, particularly for complex patients with multiple comorbidities, the most recent information must be displayed first with the patient’s history listed chronologically in reverse order, Dr Haikerwal said.

“The way it is rendered into the PCEHR is like a blender. You can see in the PCEHR view it becomes a mishmash both in terms of content — alphabetical or not — and date,” he said.

“Although it is there and may be better than nothing, it is only just better than nothing.”

Information labelled ‘past’ and ‘current’ in the original patient history also became mixed up in the PCEHR.

“Depending which CIS platform you use, it is likely to render differently, but each appears to have its own quirks,” said  Dr Haikerwal.

Lots more here:

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/garbled-and-confused-trust-in-ehealth-dives

Although Dr Haikerwal goes on later to say “Flawed though it is, there is much that can be rescued from the PCEHR. But this is a pretty stark depiction of what the flaw is in the most central document in the whole system,” it is clear he has major concerns and great frustration with the way all this has and is being delivered.

What we are hearing, from a key sponsor of the idea of the PCEHR, is a clear recognition that the PCEHR has been a disastrous mess and the more it is used the more confusing (and clearly dangerous) the whole system has become.

It seems to me we are at real risk of doing some real harm to real patients sometime very soon with this system.

The clear implication is that the PCEHR - as it presently exists - should now be taken down and, if it is to continue, a total rethink is undertaken of how information is managed and displayed before it is allowed to be accessed again. To just muddle on is just absurd on the basis of what Dr Haikerwal is saying. That information of this quality is fed from vendor systems to the PCEHR and then available for display shows how poor the overall conception and implementation of both practice systems and the central hub are.

Of course a total rethink of who manages, plans, governs and leads this program - which surely can’t now be seen as the initial PCEHR - is also critically needed.

Additionally some clarity as to just what the 'new' PCEHR is for, who it is for and what it is intended to do might be a help in the re-design!

David.

Abbott Government's Commission Of Audit Hearing Today

The Hearing is on today - and has a heavy health focus.

Hearing goes until 4pm.

Go here are select the Watch Parliament tab to watch.

http://www.aph.gov.au/

Sure to be some fun!

David.

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 17th February, 2014.

Here are a few I have come across the last week or so.

Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.

General Comment

Lots of fun this week in the politics of e-Health, web sites and the PCEHR review. Sadly again no news on the PCEHR Review but it looks like Medicare Locals are due for a name change and a change in roles.

Other that these topics it seems pretty clear the Junior Health Minister still has a few questions to answer about the way she is managing her portfolio - and if ABC Insiders can be believed the issue may run for another week or so. Wonder how it will all play out.

-----

http://delimiter.com.au/2014/02/11/farce-minister-pcehr-report-dept-cant-find-copy/

Farce: Minister has PCEHR report … but Dept can’t find a copy

news The Department of Health has rejected a Freedom of Information request for a report reviewing the Federal Government’s troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records project, claiming that it does not have a copy of the document, despite the fact that Health Minister Peter Dutton announced in December that he had received it.

The project was initially funded in the 2010 Federal Budget to the tune of $466.7 million after years of health industry and technology experts calling for development and national leadership in e-health and health identifier technology to better tie together patients’ records and achieve clinical outcomes. The project is overseen by the Department of Health in coalition with the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA).

However, in July the Government revealed it had failed to meet it initial 500,000 target for adoption of the system, with only close to 400,000 Australians using the system at that point.

-----

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/health-minister-peter-dutton-backs-less-bureaucrats-more-frontline-gps/story-fnii5s3x-1226828033059

Health Minister Peter Dutton backs less bureaucrats, more frontline GPs

• Samantha Maiden
• The Sunday Telegraph
• February 16, 2014 12:00AM

LABOR’S “dud’’ Medicare Locals will be rebadged and redesigned after GPs complained that the $1.8 billion bureaucracy is failing to deliver real services to patients.

Senior government sources have revealed that a review into the system has confirmed some sites underperforming. Staff working at Medicare Locals also hate the name, complaining patients think they can claim Medicare refund there or actually see a doctor.

But the review has come with a hefty $550,000 price tag according to tender documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. Despite the contract running for just three months, it comes with a $550,000 contract for accounting services awarded to Deloitte.

Medicare Locals were established by the Rudd-Gillard government and were designed to better integrate GP and primate health care services. Unlike GP superclinics, they are not a shopfront with doctors.

-----

Pharmacy Daily 10 February 2014.

eRx now with QR codes

Doctors using medical programmes such as Medical Director, Genie, Zedmed, Practix, Totalcare and Houston can now print QR codes on patients’ scripts.

The scripts allow patients with the eRx Express smartphone app to scan the codes to submit the script online to their pharmacy, pre-ordering their medication from their local pharmacy by scheduling a pick up time and date so patients no longer need to line up at the pharmacy to get scripts filled.

The app connects to eRx’s eScripts network, which allows 15,500 GPs and 4,300 pharmacies to send prescriptions and dispensing data securely.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/537850/health_education_sectors_hungry_it_skills/

Health, education sectors hungry for IT skills

Telehealth, remote diagnosis and fast broadband driving job growth in these sectors

• Byron Connolly (CIO)
• 11 February, 2014 08:00

Employers in healthcare and education have been the hungriest for ICT skills over the past three months, according to the latest Peoplebank Salary Survey.

Both sectors have been the key driers of hiring between November and January, with health sector demand rising month-on-month from August last year.

“The sheer number of new e-health initiatives – in PCEHR, telehealth, remote diagnosis and more – make healthcare one of Australia’s strongest areas of ICT investment, alongside the education market where developments including fast broadband are fuelling innovation,” said Peoplebank, CEO Peter Acheson.

-----

http://www.zdnet.com/healthcare-and-education-sectors-hungry-for-australian-it-skills-7000026182/

Healthcare and education sectors hungry for Australian IT skills

Summary: The Peoplebank Salary Survey shows the healthcare and education sectors are fuelling growth in IT employment.

By Aimee Chanthadavong | February 11, 2014 -- 03:58 GMT (14:58 AEST)

IT employment within Australia is off to a strong start this year, thanks to the healthcare and education sectors, according to the Peoplebank Salary Survey.

The survey shows that employers in healthcare and education have been the hungriest for IT skills, particularly over the November to January period. Healthcare sector demand has been rising month on month from August 2013, peaking at 127.12 points in January, while the demand from the education sector has risen since October to 123.55 points. The points system considers May 2013 as a baseline that is set to 100.

Peoplebank CEO Peter Acheson said the healthcare and education sectors' investment in new initiatives is stimulating the demand.

-----

http://www.healthintersections.com.au/?p=1878

Question: openEHR and FHIR

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Grahame Grieve

Question from Heather Leslie:

How to get more cooperation bw FHIR resource devt & clinically verified openEHR archetypes to shared data roadmap for future?

Questions in response:

Well, my immediate question is, “what does clinically verified mean?” Is there any archetypes that are clinically verified, and how would we know? The openEHR eco-system has several different versions of most archetypes, each with different clinical stake holders involved to a variable degree. Which, if any of them, are clinical verified , and by who? And what does “verified” mean – other than that it’s being used (happily?) in practice?

I’m sure I’ll get vigorous response to these questions on the openEHR blogs – I’ll link to responses from here.

-----

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/careless-minister-fiona-nash-and-government-harmed-by-blunder-over-chief-of-staff/story-fni0fha6-1226827664163

Careless minister Fiona Nash and Government harmed by blunder over chief of staff

• LAURIE OAKES
• Herald Sun
• February 15, 2014 12:00AM

WHEN government adviser Alastair Furnival walked the plank yesterday, conflict of interest was not the real problem.

The cause of his fall from grace was a minister who treated Parliament with contempt.

Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash knew Furnival, her chief-of-staff, had been a partner with his wife, Tracey Cain, in a lobbying firm that had in the past acted for companies — specifically food companies — in areas covered by her portfolio.

She knew — or should have known — that he’d held shares in the firm Australian Public Affairs, when he took the job in her office.

Yet, under questioning by Labor Senate leader Penny Wong on Tuesday, Nash blithely asserted: “There is no connection whatsoever between my chief-of-staff and the company Australian Public Affairs.” That was simply untrue. And the Prime Minister’s office knew it was untrue because full details of Furnival’s involvement with the company had been canvassed in the vetting process before his appointment.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/538288/top_4_data_privacy_tips/?fp=16&fpid=1

Top 4 data privacy tips

Identify key data you hold about an individual and appoint a privacy officer, advises HDS CTO

• Hamish Barwick (Computerworld)
• 14 February, 2014 13:28

There is less than a month to go before the Australian Privacy Act amendments come into effect on 12 March with serious fines for companies and individuals who breach the Act.

Under the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012, Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim will be able to seek civil penalties of up to $340,000 for individuals and up to $1.7 million for companies in the case of a serious privacy breach.

Pilgrim has publicly stated that he will not be taking a “softly, softly” approach when it comes to privacy investigations.

Audits of Australian government agencies, tax file number recipients, credit reporting agencies and credit providers will be extended to include private sector companies.

These audits will determine if companies are handling personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

-----

http://www.nehta.gov.au/media-centre/news/608-better-access-to-snomed-ct-au-and-amt-resources

Better access to SNOMED CT-AU and AMT resources

Created on Wednesday, 12 February 2014

License holders accessing the National Clinical Terminology and Information Service (NCTIS) will find it quicker and easier to obtain information following the migration of the NCTIS website to the NEHTA public website. The new single entry point means stakeholders will have better access to SNOMED CT-AU and AMT resources and associated information on licensing, guides and tools.

The NCTIS is responsible for managing, developing and distributing terminology to support the eHealth requirements of the Australian healthcare community.  

SNOMED CT-AU and the AMT are available for eHealth software developers to use in their Australian products. Licensing arrangements are administered by NEHTA. Access to release files is available to those holding both of these current license agreements:

• SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement; and
• Australian National Terminology Release Licence Agreement to provide access to extensions and derivatives supplied by NEHTA.

-----

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/538085/games_help_burn_stroke_victims_get_moving/

Games help burn and stroke victims get moving

Paediatric motion analysis facility cuts the number of surgical interventions by up to 35 per cent

• Byron Connolly (Computerworld)
• 12 February, 2014 16:24

Game technology is being used to help burn and stroke patients in Queensland improve their mobility and quality of life. It has even assisted a young paraplegic man to walk again.

A research team led by Dr Robyn Grote at the new Queensland Motion Analysis Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital are introducing the technology to burns and stroke patients as well as those with acquired neurological disorders and complex mobility problems.

The Motion Analysis Centre provides a three-dimensional view of a patient, providing the most precise profile of gait and movement.

-----

http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/news/latest-news/pharmacy-health-checks-will-spark-turf-war-ama

Pharmacy health checks will spark ‘turf war’: AMA

10 February, 2014 Nick O'Donoghue

Giving the Pharmacy Guild of Australia the green light to provide in-store health checks will spark a 'turf war' with GPs, the AMA warns.

Dr Mason Stevenson, an AMA Queensland GP representative, hit out at the Guild’s pre-Budget submission, released yesterday, which called for funding for in-store screening services and health checks, to reduce the burden on GPs and lower health costs.

Speaking to the Bundaberg News Mail, Dr Stevenson hit out at the proposal, saying that pharmacists were not qualified to perform health checks or diagnose.

-----

http://www.qt.com.au/news/chemists-told-to-back-off/2164420/

Chemists told to back off

• Nicole Fuge
• 10th Feb 2014 6:00 AM
• Updated: 7:10 AM

A LEADING Sunshine Coast doctor has criticised pharmacists for "pretending to be doctors".

The attack comes in light of the Pharmacy Guild's national proposal to offer annual health checks through pharmacies to measure weight and check blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol of patients.

A Pharmacy Guild spokesman said the proposal was being assessed by the Department of Health and hoped it would be implemented this year.

The spokesman said the proposal stipulated health checks would only be carried out at pharmacies with consultancy rooms.

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http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1733556

Get Real Health Launches New Partnership to Serve Australian Healthcare Sector through Telstra

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) February 12, 2014

Get Real Health is proud to announce its new partnership with Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company, to serve the rapidly growing healthcare IT market in Australia. Telstra will be the exclusive reseller in Australia of Get Real Health’s award-winning InstantPHR™ patient engagement platform.

“Get Real Health is thrilled to be collaborating with Telstra to bring InstantPHR-powered connected care and patient engagement solutions to Australia,” said Robin Wiener, Get Real Health president and founding partner. “Telstra’s strengths in connectivity and secure data storage, combined with their vision to build an eHealth ecosystem, makes this an extremely exciting opportunity for us.”

-----

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/mobile-phone-use-safe-investigation-concludes

Mobile phone use safe, investigation concludes

12th Feb 2014

Sunalie Silva

MOBILE phone use poses no risk to health, an 11-year investigation has concluded.

UK researchers from the independent Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research program yesterday their final findings which summarised 31 individual research projects published in close to 60 published papers. 

They found no evidence that exposure to base station emissions during pregnancy increased the risk of developing cancer in early childhood and no evidence of a link between mobile phone use and increased risk of leukaemia.

-----

http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/news/latest-news/forged-scripts-an-increasing-problem

Forged scripts an increasing problem

11 February, 2014 Nick O'Donoghue

Prescription fraud is becoming an increasing problem that pharmacists must be vigilant of, Lenette Mullen, Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA branch president believes.

Following the fourteenth global alert issued by the WA Health Department in the last 12 months relating to stolen prescription pads, Ms Mullen warned that the problem was on the rise.

“We know those forging scripts are becoming more sophisticated, and the forgeries of harder to detect,” she told The West Australian.

-----

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/aussies-turn-universal-thinking-on-its-head/story-e6frg8y6-1226822005092

Aussies turn universal thinking on its head

• CHERYL JONES
• The Australian
• February 10, 2014 5:00AM

A RESEARCH team led by Australian astronomers has discovered the oldest star known, in work that will cause a stir in the international scientific community and force a rethink about the evolution of the universe.

The team, led by Australian National University scientist Stefan Keller and including Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt, used the new SkyMapper optical telescope at Siding Spring in northern NSW to detect a star 6000 light years away.

The star was a member of the second generation of stars that formed after the Big Bang that marked the birth of the cosmos 13.7 billion years ago.

-----

Enjoy!

David.

The Health Minister Mentions E-Health In Question Time - Sadly Only In Passing!

This Dorothy Dixer was asked late last week in Question Time in the House of Representatives. (Thursday 13, 2014).

Mackay Electorate: GP Superclinic

Ms LANDRY (Capricornia) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Health. I refer the minister to the Mackay GP superclinic in my electorate, which was promised more than three years ago. It is still not open and is yet to see a single patient. Will the minister update the House on how the delays to the Mackay GP superclinic have affected the provision of health services in my electorate?

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Minister for Health and Minister for Sport) (14:49): Thank you very much to the member for Capricornia, who is a great local advocate for people who need health services. When we came into government, we knew that Labor hailed the GP Super Clinics Program as one of their great successes in health, and I thought: 'Well, I should look for some examples. I should look to see the great successes of the former Minister for Health, the member for Sydney.' I was speaking to the member for Capricornia, and she happened to mention this particular instance, and I thought, 'We should get some detail.'

Do you know that, to her credit, the former health minister announced this GP superclinic on 10 August 2010? It was a $7 million commitment of taxpayers' money to this GP so-called superclinic. But the problem was that it took 643 days for the former government to put pen to paper to sign the actual funding agreement. The former health minister says that this program drove her crazy, even though it was one of her greatest achievements. Do you know that today, here we are in 2014 and we know that there has been not a patient seen, because there is no building? There are no rooms for the doctors to practise in.

An honourable member: It's a virtual clinic!

Mr DUTTON: It is a virtual clinic, as Labor would have it.

The Labor government wasted billions and billions of dollars. At a time when the Medicare levy only raises $10 billion yet the Commonwealth spends $62 billion on health; when medical services 10 years ago cost us $8.1 billion and yet today, having gone up by 124 per cent, are costing us $18 billion a year; and when we know that Alzheimer's, for argument's sake, has gone up by 170 per cent, Labor still decided to waste billions of dollars on these stupid programs when they should have been spending it on patients and the sorts of services that delivered outcomes for Australian people who deserve elective surgery and who deserve the sorts of services that they could not get under Labor.

There are many, many examples of the way in which Labor wasted money. We were elected to clean up Labor's mess. We will do it in health, and I will make sure that this government gets money back into front-line health services so that we can help the ageing in our population meet the health needs that they have in the 21st century. I will make sure that we clean up the billion-dollar mess that Labor blew on e-health. I will make sure that we clean up this superclinic program. That is because I want to make sure that we get the health needs right for the Australian people in the 21st century.

----- End Hansard Extract.

Here is the direct link.

http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2F58a73839-3036-43f5-967d-8540f8c9a3db%2F0119;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F58a73839-3036-43f5-967d-8540f8c9a3db%2F0000%22

I guess we are all left to wonder just what ‘clean up’ actually means.

Suggestions welcome.

David.

There Is A Lot More Here That Is Relevant To E-Health Than Might Initially Seem.

We had this published yesterday today.

Careless minister Fiona Nash and Government harmed by blunder over chief of staff

• LAURIE OAKES
• Herald Sun
• February 15, 2014 12:00AM

WHEN government adviser Alastair Furnival walked the plank yesterday, conflict of interest was not the real problem.

The cause of his fall from grace was a minister who treated Parliament with contempt.

Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash knew Furnival, her chief-of-staff, had been a partner with his wife, Tracey Cain, in a lobbying firm that had in the past acted for companies — specifically food companies — in areas covered by her portfolio.

She knew — or should have known — that he’d held shares in the firm Australian Public Affairs, when he took the job in her office.

Yet, under questioning by Labor Senate leader Penny Wong on Tuesday, Nash blithely asserted: “There is no connection whatsoever between my chief-of-staff and the company Australian Public Affairs.” That was simply untrue. And the Prime Minister’s office knew it was untrue because full details of Furnival’s involvement with the company had been canvassed in the vetting process before his appointment.

That process had been overseen by Tony Abbott’s chief-of-staff, Peta Credlin, and Tony Nutt, once John Howard’s shrewd political fixer. Aware of the risks of employing someone with a lobbying background, they had looked at his business affairs very carefully.

So alarm bells would have rung as soon as Nash gave her answer to Wong. Certainly, there was phone contact between Abbott’s office and Nash’s fairly soon after Senate Question Time ended.

Nash was advised to correct the record with a detailed statement.

Five hours after her original answer Nash returned to the Senate chamber to provide what she called additional information “for the sake of completeness”.

The additional information amounted to an admission that her earlier version had been false. “Prior to working for me,” she said, “Mr Furnival was APA’s chairman and, because of that previous position, he has a shareholding in the company.”

Nash had clearly misled the Senate and that guaranteed Furnival’s position would blow up into a major political controversy, especially since, over the next couple of days, she continued to obfuscate over the issue that had led to Wong’s questioning.

Wong was digging into why Furnival, acting for Nash, had ordered bureaucrats to take down a food-rating website opposed by sections of the industry, including some who had been clients of Australian Public Affairs.

Seasoned Coalition people are now portraying this as a lesson for inexperienced ministers who think they know it all. Nash was also contemptuous and careless. Furnival is the Government’s first casualty as a result.

Lots more here:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/careless-minister-fiona-nash-and-government-harmed-by-blunder-over-chief-of-staff/story-fni0fha6-1226827664163

Here is an earlier report which was followed up continually by Fairfax and the Opposition until the result we report above.

Food rating website: Fiona Nash's chief of staff married to lobbyist for junk food industry

Date February 11, 2014 - 6:15PM

Amy Corderoy

Health Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

A senior government staffer who demanded a new healthy food rating website be taken down is married to the head of a lobbying outfit that works for the junk food industry, it has been revealed.

In senate question time on Tuesday, Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash admitted that both she and her chief-of-staff, Alastair Furnival, had personally intervened to insist health department staff pull down the new “health star rating” site on the day it was launched.

Mr Furnival was previously a chairman of Australian Public Affairs, which is listed on the lobbyists' register as representing the Australian Beverages Council and Mondelez Australia, which owns the Kraft peanut butter, Cadbury and Oreo brands, among others.

In question time, Ms Nash also admitted Mr Furnival was married to the company's sole director and secretary, Tracey Cain.

Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King has demanded an explanation for the actions of Ms Nash and Mr Furnival.

Lots more here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/food-rating-website-fiona-nashs-chief-of-staff-married-to-lobbyist-for-junk-food-industry-20140211-32fs9.html

As far as one can tell the story is this.

A two year very consultative process had resulted in a web site which had the intent of helping food manufacturers voluntarily label their products with a new star system to assist consumers eat a more healthy diet. As far as I know the web site was not designed mainly for consumers - as their involvement was to come later in the year after the labels are found on some products.

Just after launch for some reason and without warning after less than a day the site was pulled down under instructions from the Assistant Health Minister. Some digging then led to the discovery of the shareholding in a food lobbying company and we have now seen the Minister’s Chief of Staff resign.

Why relevant to e-Health in Australia? Well to me it shows how deeply entwined politics is with what happens and how careful policy development and planning can be derailed by personal interests and maybe ideology (dislike of the so-called ‘nanny state’ by business interests and some conservatives).

To me the PCEHR and other components of the current e-Health effort have similarly been derailed by political interference (demanding stupidly rapid implementation, lack of proper piloting, clumsy design, horrible user interface etc.) and a the lack of quality and open governance. Having a allegedly conflicted ministerial chief of staff being able to cause a relatively un-controversial voluntary proposal to be essentially killed off is a similar example of lack of governance.

It really makes one wonder what is needed to escape the influences of politics and vested interests to get apparently reasonable things done?

On an unrelated issue I also wonder just why Senator Nash is Assistant Health Minister given a lack of apparent interest in the Health Sector?

See here for her career summary.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=e5g#personal

David.

AusHealthIT Poll Number 205 – Results – 16th February, 2014.

Does The Commonwealth Health Bureaucracy and NEHTA Have The Necessary Skills And Expertise To Deliver Major E-Health Programs and Progress?

Definitely 4% (3)

Probably 4% (3)

Probably Not 20% (15)

No Way 70% (53)

I Have No Idea 3% (2)

Total votes: 76

It seems 90% of readers are pretty sure NEHTA and DoH don’t have the skills to deliver large scale e-Health projects.

Again, many thanks to all those that voted!

David.