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
A really interesting week with a major step for patient information sharing between a GP practice and a patient.
Elsewhere we have the ongoing consequences of various leaks and stuff-ups with the DHS etc.
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News / 9 June 2017
MediTracker connects your GP medial record held at this practice to your mobile device.
After hours, in an emergency, or even on holidays, MediTracker makes you and the people you care about safer.
Download the MediTracker app now for an annual fee of $5.99. Please visit meditracker.com.au for further information.
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- Updated Sep 11 2017 at 1:47 PM
Under chief executive David Thodey, Telstra thought electronic health services could help turn itself from a bureaucratic ex-monopoly into a smart and nimble software provider.
Instead, Telstra's start-up health division suffered many of the problems of its parent: infighting, slow decision making and gold-plated spending.
Four years after getting a dynamic CEO, Telstra Health loses money, is trying to coordinate more than a dozen businesses with different cultures, objectives and tech systems, and was forced to write off $77 million from an acquisition binge that made some entrepreneurs rich and cost Telstra shareholders $240 million.
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Nicholas Stuart
Published: September 13 2017 - 12:15AM
Wow! Facial recognition – what a blast! At 3am Wednesday, we'll discover – officially – that Apple's new iPhone will recognise its owner and automatically unlock itself at a glance.
Put this way, it sounds terrific, just like an adorable pet that always comes whenever it's called. Naturally, Apple expects users to happily hand over their facial specifications. After all, it's so much easier than a fingerprint.
Put this way, the change appears incremental – just one more step into a wonderful, connected future. In many ways, that's all it is – as long as the user is in control.
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Details nine challenges.
NSW Health will shortly invite industry to tackle some of its biggest clinical and business challenges using a new channel to pitch innovative solutions.
The department is preparing to create an innovation portal that provides a space to share challenges where it considers there to be fertile ground for lateral thinking and innovation from its industry and academic partners.
“The idea really is to articulate to the industry the issues that are the most pertinent and most significant for NSW Health at this point in time,” chief executive and CIO of eHealth NSW Zoran Bolevich told an AIIA forum in Sydney yesterday.
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Government funds pilot of Cyber-Nexus ‘anti-hacking’ devices
Victoria’s Western Health will trial 400 Cyber-Nexus ‘anti-hacking’ devices at its hospitals, as part of what the state government said will be a world-first pilot.
Western Health manages Footscray Hospital, Sunshine Hospital, Williamstown Hospital and Sunbury Day Hospital, as well as a number of community-based health services.
The Cyber-Nexus is developed by Israeli company Bio-Nexus and is designed to securely connect medical equipment to hospital networks. Bio-Nexus says the device can reduce the risk posed by medical systems that rely on out-of-date software or unencrypted communication.
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Lynne Minion | 14 Sep 2017
A cutting-edge cybersecurity device designed to protect medical equipment from being controlled or knocked offline by hackers will be trialled in Victoria in a world-first pilot.
Melbourne’s Western Health will connect 400 of the Cyber-Nexus anti-hacking gadgets developed by Israeli firm Bio-Nexus to vulnerable medical devices to protect the IT infrastructure from infiltration and safeguard patient safety.
The six-month trial will secure medical equipment such as heart rate monitors and intravenous pumps, the state’s Minister for Health Jill Hennessy said.
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Authored by Nicole MacKee
SURGEONS and breast device manufacturers are being urged to provide data to the Australian Breast Device Registry, in light of growing evidence of a causal link between some breast implants and a rare type of lymphoma.
Writing in the MJA, experts have called on the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand to require their members to provide data to the registry as a condition of membership.
The call comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) was the first regulatory authority in the world to confirm the likelihood of a causal link between breast implants and breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) in December of 2016. The TGA confirmed that 53 cases of BIA-ALCL had occurred in Australia between 2007 and 2017, including three deaths in Australia and one in New Zealand. The cases occurred 3–14 years after implantation, with a median interval of 8 years.
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12 September 2017
ANALYSIS
The site is well-intentioned but more misleading than helpful, argues urological surgeon Dr Henry Woo.
GP Dr Richard Zhu is reported to be on a mission to “expose” the out of pocket expenses associated with initial consultations to see specialists in Australia. He has created a website called SeekMedi in his “battle for greater fee transparency”.
His creation of this “one-person army” is with good intent but in its current form is more misleading than helpful. If the website is about transparency, then it needs to practice what is preached. My concerns are as follows:
1. The website should state its funding (even though we know from news reports that he personally funds it) and as to how the data is collected. We also know from media reports that he personally telephones specialist practices and following discussions with their secretaries will record the cost of initial consultations into an Excel spreadsheet - this methodology should be also be recorded for transparency.
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12 September 2017
COMMENT
Seekmedi.com has been created to make life easier for the public, patients and especially my hardworking, underpaid GP colleagues.
The reason I created Seekmedi.com is simple: patients, and ultimately the general public, wish to see transparency around specialist fees.
There is no freedom of choice if the price of a service is unknown and, more importantly, without anything to compare it with.
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Lynne Minion | 15 Sep 2017
GPs are expanding their services into pathology testing and telehealth consultations, with the RACGP calling for Medicare to subsidise the new tech approaches or Australian healthcare will linger in the “dark ages”.
In a submission to the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce, the RACGP has called for the funding of telehealth consultations conducted by doctors both in and outside of consulting rooms, and at residential aged care facilities. Point of care testing should also be added to the MBS to provide rebates for pathology services conducted at general practices, including tests on blood, urine, faeces and sperm.
“As the world modernises, failure to make changes such as those suggested in our submission will leave Australia’s health system in the dark ages,” RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel told Healthcare IT News Australia.
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The Australian Government has announced major initiatives in home care services and improved access to the My Aged Care system, as it releases the report of the Legislated Review of Aged Care 2017.
Page last updated: 14 September 2017
Joint Media Release
The Hon. Greg Hunt MP
Minister for Health
Minister for Sport
The Hon. Ken Wyatt AM, MP
Minister for Aged Care
Minister for Indigenous Health
14 September 2017
The Turnbull Government has announced major initiatives in home care services and improved access to the My Aged Care system, as it releases the report of the Legislated Review of Aged Care 2017.
An additional 6,000 home care packages will be made available to support more older Australians with higher care needs to remain living in the comfort of their own homes.
At the same time, support for aged care consumers will be streamlined through a $20 million investment in the My Aged Care information system, to improve public access, especially for rural, regional and remote clients.
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Medical practitioner groups fear "disproportionate" government response to scandal
A doctor has warned against health systems becoming like the ‘Cone of Silence’ from ’60s spy comedy series Get Smart, as the government considers its response to the darkweb marketplace ‘Medicare Machine’ scandal.
Dr Rob Hosking, representing the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, told a senate committee hearing today that information security at clinics was adequate, and that too much security could reduce the efficiency of systems like My Health Record.
“We are concerned that this breach will lead to the imposition of tighter security practices by the government which will reduce the day to day functionality required to run an efficient health system,” Hosking told the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee this morning.
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Details from Medicare offered on auction site came from a ‘bad person doing a bad thing’, Senate inquiry hears
Friday 15 September 2017 17.58 AEST Last modified on Friday 15 September 2017 17.59 AEST
Medicare details sold on the darknet were not obtained through hacking but by a “bad person doing a bad thing from a legitimate channel,” a Senate inquiry has heard.
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The federal government is being urged not to overreact to the sale of Medicare numbers on the dark web.
Source: AAP
Doctors are urging the federal government not to overreact to the sale of personal Medicare details on the dark web.
Australian Medical Association vice president Tony Bartone has warned a Senate inquiry into the breach against responding by imposing "unnecessary administrative barriers" to the detriment of patients.
"The AMA wants to ensure any response from the government to safeguard information is proportional to the risk and does not increase the administrative burden on practitioners or practices," Dr Bartone told senators on Friday.
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- The Australian
- 8:03PM September 15, 2017
Rachel Baxendale
As many as 165 people may have had their Medicare number obtained by people selling the information on the “dark web”.
The Department of Human Services told a Senate inquiry this afternoon it had contacted 165 people “who might conceivably have been affected” after a journalist revealed in July that he had been able to buy his own Medicare number online for $30.
DHS deputy secretary Caroline Edwards said the records of those contacted had been carefully checked and there was no evidence of any inappropriate Medicare claiming activity.
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New digital transformation AI research shows that “four out of five companies implementing AI have created new jobs as a result of AI technology".
Consulting, tech and outsourcing gurus Capgemini have released the findings of its “Turning AI into concrete value: the successful implementers’ toolkit”, which shows that organisations deploying artificial intelligence are creating jobs and increasing sales.
The detailed, 28-page report, which can be freely downloaded here, is a “study of nearly 1000 organisations with revenues of more than $500 million that are implementing artificial intelligence, either as a pilot or at scale".
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- Updated Sep 11 2017 at 11:00 AM
More Australians will soon be able to afford to have their genome mapped, thanks to a plan by health information company Genome.One to make its service available at specialised GP clinics across the country.
Genome sequencing identifies and maps all of a person's genes and is thought to help identify future health problems, meaning healthcare can focus more on preventing disease, rather than treating it.
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Tom McIlroy
Published: September 13 2017 - 10:45AM
The Turnbull government has admitted it issued robo-debt recovery notices to 20,000 welfare recipients who were later found to owe less or even nothing.
Documents tabled in Parliament by Human Services Minister Alan Tudge showed the use of automated data matching processes by Centrelink and the Department of Human Services resulted in 19,980 debt notices being issued, all of which were either reduced or rescinded.
Data to March 31 showed a total of 12,524 people had their robo-debt demands reduced to a smaller amount, while a further 7456 people were found to have no legitimate debt.
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The Department of Human Services had already been forced to correct almost 20,000 notices issued under Centrelink's automated debt-recovery system robo-debt by March, Australia's Labor party has claimed.
According to Australia's Labor party, it has received written confirmation from Minister of Human Services Alan Tudge that the Centrelink robo-debt fiasco had resulted in approximately 19,980 incorrectly calculated debts as of the end of March.
Centrelink's automated debt recovery system, dubbed "robo-debt", had erroneously sent letters demanding repayment from welfare recipients using an automated income averaging data-matching tool.
"In an answer to a question in writing filed by Labor MP Steve Georganas, the minister for Human Services revealed that as at 31 March, 20,000 income support recipients who had been contacted as part of the failed robo-debt debacle had their debts corrected or quashed altogether," Shadow Minister for Human Services Linda Burney and Georganas said in a joint statement on Tuesday afternoon.
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A themed edition of The Lancet, published today, marks the 20th anniversary of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, and presents the findings for 2016.
Over the years, you will have seen much of the output of this study, which is the world’s largest scientific collaboration on population health, currently including data from more than 130 countries and territories.
The study tracks life expectancy and mortality, causes of death, overall disease burden, years lived with disability and risk factors that lead to health loss, allowing global and national health bodies to focus their efforts in the right directions.
But it can’t track data that is not collected.
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The Australian Government will fund three medical breakthroughs to help people with severe disabilities walk again and support thousands of Australians facing crippling chronic back pain.
Page last updated: 11 September 2017
Joint Media Release
The Hon. Greg Hunt MP
Minister for Health
Minister for Sport
Senator the Hon. Arthur Sinodinos
Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science
11 September 2017
The Turnbull Government will fund three medical breakthroughs to help people with severe disabilities walk again and support thousands of Australians facing crippling chronic back pain.
A total of $13.3 million will be invested into high potential Australian innovations from the $500 million Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) – a key initiative of the Turnbull Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda.
BTF fund manager, BioScience Managers, will invest:
- $5 million in Rex Bionics to develop a hands-free robotic device to help people with severe disability to walk, exercise and rehabilitate;
- $3.3 million to Saluda Medical for neuromodulation technologies for people suffering from chronic back pain and other debilitating conditions;
- $5 million to CHARM Informatics for data aggregation and commercialisation services for makers of ‘smart’ medical devices.
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The government is investing AU$13.3 million into three companies building solutions for people living with disabilities and chronic back pain.
The Australian government has announced that it is investing AU$13.3 million into medical technologies to help people living with severe mobility issues and chronic back pain.
The AU$500 million Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) will invest AU$5 million into Rex Bionics for the development of a hands-free robotic device to assist in rehabilitation; AU$5 million into Charm Informatics for data aggregation and commercialisation services for smart medical device manufacturers; and AU$3.3 million into Saluda Medical for the development of neuromodulation technologies to help sufferers of chronic back pain.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said funds from the BTF -- a co-investment venture capital program in which government dollars are matched by private equity -- provides a bridge between the lab and patients.
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MAESTrO Database healthcare IT secures agreement with Russia
CEO of MAESTrO Database, Michael Wonder, has today announced that the ROSMEDEX, the HTA agency of the Russian Government’s Department of Health, has signed a ground-breaking subscription agreement for access to the world-leading MAESTrO Database.
“We are really excited to have the ROSMEDEX on board with MAESTrO. It demonstrates that they’re committed to making progress in the field of healthcare and that they can see the enormous benefits our database provides in streamlining the process of bringing new healthcare technologies and treatments to the market,” says Mr Wonder.
One of the largest databases of its kind globally, MAESTrO is the world’s most trusted source of information on regulatory and reimbursement information for new healthcare technologies. The database takes all of the data currently available and converts it into a user-friendly, searchable application, which can be configured to filter entries across multiple fields and develop outcome metrics.
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Lucy Battersby
Published: September 11 2017 - 8:06PM
Australia might be getting access to 5G data speeds sooner than expected with the communications regulator fast-tracking preparations to auction the necessary spectrum off to mobile network operators.
Speeding up the long process may bring forward revenue for the government, but also the capital expenditure costs for mobile network operators like Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and TPG.
Spectrum auctions have reaped at least $3.5 billion since 2013, including world-record prices spent on lower frequencies, which are more valuable to Australian operators because they carry signals further and with better penetration.
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The disastrous rollout of Australia’s NBN is a national tragedy, according to new research by one of the country’s most respected engineers.
Professor Rodney Tucker, of Melbourne University, argues that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s fateful decision as Communications Minister to opt for Fibre to the Node (FTTN), has been an extremely costly disaster.
While the rest of the world is opting for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), Australia is embracing an obsolete technology.
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Cassini: 20-Year Saturn Mission Nears Grand Finale
After 20 years in space, a vintage probe called Cassini is entering its last waltz with Saturn with a series of rhythmical manoeuvres to explore one of the most dazzling planetary features in the cosmos — Saturn’s vast icy rings.
The NASA spacecraft has been swooping back and forth at 123,000 kilometres an hour through the narrow gap between Saturn’s rings and the planet’s cloudy surface before making a suicide plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere on September 15.
Mission managers programmed Cassini’s destruction to avoid contaminating any of Saturn’s moons that might be hospitable to life.
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Enjoy!
David.
