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
Another quiet week, with lots seemingly going on in SA. The ADHA is very quiet for some reason. Anyone know why?
Little else is going on except the arrival of a new Star Trek series today on Netflix! (Star Trek – Discovery)– The first since 2005! Hope is lives up to expectations.
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20 September 2017
Fresh fears raised over MyHR security
IT experts have challenged assurances that an alleged theft of Medicare numbers has no bearing on the security of the My Health Record.
Monash University lecturer Robert Merkel, a specialist in software testing and fault analysis, told a parliamentary inquiry last week that he believed the most likely source of the breach was the Department of Human Services’ HPOS system, which doctors log into via the PKI or PRODA channels.
He said he was concerned that ease of access for health practitioners had taken priority over security in the design of the health IT system, leading to the breach which resulted in Medicare numbers being offered for sale on the internet.
“Without going into the details of the weaknesses, both of those systems are less secure than they should be, and in the case of PRODA, the weaknesses are a plausible means by which criminals could gain illegitimate access to Medicare details,” he said.
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DHS reissues 165 Medicare numbers after dark web scare
By Ry Crozier on Sep 15, 2017 4:23PM
Says it can narrow down entry point of hacker access.
The Department of Human Services issued new Medicare numbers to 165 people after learning some had been sold on the dark web, twice the figure previously thought to be impacted.
Deputy secretary Caroline Edwards told a Senate inquiry into the dark web scandal that the department had contacted 165 individuals and reset their numbers “in an abundance of caution”.
The action came in response to revelations in July that Medicare numbers were being sold online via the dark web for $29 per record.
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The free app every parent should download this summer
THERE’S a free app for both Apple and Android that provides practical and useful tips to keep kids safe this summer.
Amy Lyall
AUSSIE summer means one thing, spending plenty of time by the water — whether it’s at the beach, a lake or by the pool.
Kids Alive — Do The Five and the Turnbull government have launched a free app for both Apple and Android that provides practical and useful tips to keep kids safe around water.
“It’s so important for families to hear the Kids Alive — Do the Five message and to understand water safety, I urge everyone to download the FREE app now and start learning,” explained Laurie Lawrence, former Australian Swim Coach.
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Artificial intelligence won’t replace a doctor any time soon, but it can help with diagnosis
September 19, 2017 2.16pm AEST
A few technologies have been created that are at least as good as doctors at diagnosing certain types of disease. from www.shutterstock.com.au
Author Luke Oakden-Rayner
Radiologist and PhD candidate, University of Adelaide
In the next few years, you will probably have your first interaction with a medical artificial intelligence (AI) system. The same technology that powers self-driving cars, voice assistants in the home, and self-tagging photo galleries is making rapid progress in the field of health care, and the first medical AI systems are already rolling out to clinics.
Thinking now about the interactions we will have with medical AI, the benefits of the technology, and the challenges we might face will prepare you well for your first experience with a non-human health care worker.
How AI can diagnose illness
The technology behind these advances is a branch of computer science called deep learning, an elegant process that learns from examples to understand complex forms of data. Unlike previous generations of AI, these systems are able to perceive the world much like humans do, through sight and sound and the written word.
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21 September 2017
A step forward for e-health data sharing
A Sydney PHN is devising a system to pull data from GPs’ desktop software for viewing by clinicians at local hospitals and to share patients’ hospital discharge summaries with GPs.
The South Western Sydney PHN’s Project iRAD will focus initially on providing essential clinical information from common GP desktop systems to hospitals. In the second phase, the pilot project will send back data from discharge summaries uploaded to the My Health Record.
“In achieving this we will enhance a clinician’s capability to make informed decisions, reduce duplication and optimise communications between healthcare providers,” SWSPHN Chief Executive Keith McDonald said.
For the project, the PHN has engaged international IT vendor Allscripts to adapt its interoperability platform, called dbMotion Solution, to transfer and view information between primary and acute care settings.
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Spyware rampant, emails could be compromised
Cyber criminals are becoming ever more sophisticated, and security experts say they’re alarmed
Cisco has released its Midyear Cybersecurity Report for 2017, in which it warns that “our security experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the accelerating pace of change—and yes, sophistication—in the global cyber threat landscape”.
“The breadth and depth of recent ransomware attacks alone demonstrate how adept adversaries are at exploiting security gaps and vulnerabilities across devices and networks for maximum impact.”
Small and medium businesses in Australia got off relatively lightly during the May WannaCry global ransomware attack, but in the UK, pharmacies had to scramble to help patients and manage emergency medicine supplies as GP surgeries became crippled.
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OAIC, Data61 partner for data de-identification guide
New framework to help organisations de-identify data
21 September, 2017 11:18
A new guide from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is intended to help organisations effectively de-identify their data.
The guide, The De-Identification Decision-Making Framework (PDF), was adapted from the UK Anonymisation Decision-making Framework and produced in conjunction with the CSIRO’s Data61.
The changes from the UK resource primarily relate to differences between the legal frameworks of the two countries and the use of Australian examples and terminology.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) also contributed to the new framework.
“The interpretation and application of data has the potential to positively transform our lives and bring about great social and economic benefits,” Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim said in a statement.
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OAIC and Data61 offer up data de-identification framework
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and Data61 have released a guide to assist organisations to appropriately de-identify data to meet requirements such as those mandated under the Privacy Act.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and CSIRO's Data61 have published a framework that aims to assist organisations to de-identify data appropriately and put strategies in place to recover should a data breach occur.
The De-Identification Decision-Making Framework comprises 10 components under three sub-headings, with the first requiring an organisation to assess its data situation and conduct an audit. The second asks the organisation to conduct a risk and control analysis, while the last calls on those holding any form of data to determine how it would effectively manage the sharing of data.
In the foreword penned by Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim, de-identification is described as one potential solution to the problem sharing data creates, noting that when done properly, it allows data to be shared or released in ways that protect individual privacy, and which may not otherwise be permitted under privacy legislation.
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Zero Childhood Cancer program launched to help kids with aggressive cancers
Esther Han
Published: September 18 2017 - 5:00AM
In Australia, three children die from cancer each week. But doctors and researchers say they have a "game-changing" plan to drive the death rate down to zero.
The Children's Cancer Institute and the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children's Hospital announced on Monday the launch of a national clinical trial, in which scientists and doctors will work together to personalise treatments for children with the highest risk of treatment failure or relapse.
They're expecting to enrol more than 400 children with cancers such as brain tumours, sarcomas and neuroblastomas in the Zero Childhood Cancer program over the next three years.
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Why healthcare facilities are targeted for cyber attacks
By Coverforce Leed Insurance Brokers*
Friday, 15 September, 2017
Friday, 15 September, 2017
Following the WannaCry cyber attack, it has become clear just how vulnerable healthcare facilities computer systems are. The UK NHS (National Health Service) was crippled by the recent global ransomware attack.
Healthcare facilities are targeted due to the high value of their assets and the ease in which they can be compromised. According to KPMG (2015), “the healthcare industry is behind other industries in protecting its infrastructure” and its data. This means cyber attackers can easily hack into their systems at no cost and reap huge rewards from a ransom threat.
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Personalised medicine could soon cure every child diagnosed with cancer, researchers say
A NEW Australian cancer trial is set to pave the way for a cure for every child diagnosed with cancer, researchers say.
AAP September 18, 20171:50pm
SOME of Australia’s sickest children will soon get access to potentially life-saving treatments through a new personalised medicine clinical trial, part of an ambitious plan to reduce the childhood cancer death rate to zero.
Over the next three years, more than 400 children with aggressive cancers will be enrolled in the national trial, giving them access to new and tailored medical treatments.
Led by the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and Children’s Cancer Institute, the trial — launched today — will begin in Sydney with other cities set to join over the coming months.
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Don't be so quick to dismiss online GP clinics
21 September 2017
OPINION
Qoctor, an online GP clinic, has caused a stir in the medical community. Here, Dr Aifric Boylan, a GP and the clinic's CEO, tells her side of things.
The art of being a good listener has always been central to practising good medicine. From their first days in med school, students are taught that a thorough history will reveal the patient’s diagnosis in most cases, without a need for examination or tests.
But as information technology advances, and pervades all aspects of healthcare — from people Googling their symptoms, to remote diagnostics, cloud-based digital health records, and online consulting — the standard physical consultation between doctor and patient is now only one of many ways people seek answers to their health problems.
It’s relatively easy to define and understand what ‘good listening’ means in the traditional doctor-patient scenario.
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Online GP and pharmacy services “second best”
Doctor and pharmacy groups criticise websites that offer online consultations, scripts and medication delivery
Following the announcement that Qoctor – formerly known as Dr Sicknote – is now expanding its services, the RACGP has stated that the increasing prevalence of medical online services fragments care.
Qoctor is an online medical hub that offers medical certificates, specialist referrals and online consultations, and this week announced it is expanding into providing online prescriptions for STIs, contraception and erectile dysfunction, as well as an online pharmacy and medication delivery service.
RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel says patients should not be able to access prescriptions, referrals and/or medical certificates through online systems unless they are being provided by the patient’s usual GP, or a GP in the patient’s usual general practice.
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Controversial online clinic is now mailing out prescriptions
Qoctor, formerly known as Dr Sicknote, has branched out again.
Rachel Worsley
20th September 2017
An online clinic that sparked controversy by offering specialist referrals without face-to-face GP consultations has branched out again.
For $20, Qoctor, formerly known as Dr Sicknote, will now mail patients a private script for medications such as the contraceptive pill, antibiotics and sildenafil.
The clinic is also selling and dispensing private script medications, offering two repeats of Laila-35 for around $34.
Patients are required to complete an online questionnaire before one of the clinic’s GPs signs the script. To obtain the contraceptive pill, for instance, patients answer questions such as “I confirm my BMI is under 35” and “I am up to date with my pap smear”.
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Online doctor services pose a serious risk to patient safety, GPs claim
Lynne Minion | 22 Sep 2017
Australian GPs have slammed the rise in popularity of online doctor services, claiming websites offering medical certificates, specialist referrals and prescriptions fragment care and pose a serious risk to patient safety.
Online GP Qoctor has launched a pharmacy and medication delivery service, adding to its clinical offerings, but the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners claims patients should only access online services provided by their GP.
“The big risk with online services performed outside of the usual patient–doctor relationship is that they fragment care and do not provide continuous, comprehensive general practice care to patients,” RACGP President Dr Bastian Seidel said.
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Health Minister Snelling quits SA cabinet
South Australia's Health Minister Jack Snelling is standing down from cabinet and will leave parliament at the next year's state election.
Tim Dornin
Australian Associated PressSeptember 17, 20175:12pm
South Australian Health Minister Jack Snelling is quitting state cabinet and state politics to spend more time with his family, forcing Premier Jay Weatherill to fill a big hole in his ministry just six months before the state election.
Mr Snelling will step down from cabinet immediately and will not contest the March poll, saying it's time for him to "step away".
But the Liberal opposition says his departure is a massive vote of no confidence in the government and involves more than family considerations.
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New SA Health Minister Peter Malinauskas faces 'massive challenge', AMA says
September 19, 2017
A "massive challenge" awaits South Australia's new Health Minister, as the system struggles with overcrowding, according to the Australian Medical Association.
Peter Malinauskas was sworn in as minister yesterday, replacing Jack Snelling - who resigned on Sunday.
Mr Malinauskas' promotion has come at a time when doctors in Adelaide's major hospitals have reported high workloads as emergency patient numbers surge.
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SA govt puts mainframe deal up for grabs
By Justin Hendry on Sep 19, 2017 12:19PM
As HPE's current 12-year deal draws to a close.
The South Australian government has put its long-standing mainframe outsourcing deal with HPE up for grabs for the first time in over a decade.
HPE has been the primary mainframe provider for the SA public sector since signing a mainframe computing services agreement with the state government in December 2006 for a period of eight years.
The deal was subsequently extended for an additional four years in 2012 to avoid the capital cost of purchasing new mainframe and infrastructure, which brought its estimated value to $119 million.
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Ongoing health crisis is spreading to rural hospitals
ADELAIDE’S health crisis has spread with industrial action at rural hospitals as new Health Minister Peter Malinauskas confesses to being “alarmed” at what he saw at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Brad Crouch Erin Jones
The Advertiser September 19, 201711:26pm
ADELAIDE’S health crisis has spread with industrial action at rural hospitals as new Health Minister Peter Malinauskas confesses to being “alarmed” at what he witnessed on an unannounced visit to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
In another day of drama:
PRESSURE spread to the regions with industrial action by nurses over staffing levels affecting admissions at Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Mt Gambier hospitals;
BEDBLOCKS resulted in dozens of patients waiting hours for beds including 41 at the RAH – three waiting more than 24 hours;
AMBULANCES ramped at the RAH as major hospitals were treating more patients in EDs than official capacity despite a government plan to ease pressure;
EMERGENCY department doctors warned the plan which includes nurses attending some 000 calls, will “amount to nothing” unless underlying problems are addressed.
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SA government IT exec sacked, charged
Allegations CIO fabricated CV
22 September, 2017 10:58
South Australia’s Department of Premier and Cabinet has confirmed that it has ended the contract of chief information officer Veronica Theriault.
“On 19 September, I terminated Ms Veronica Theriault’s contract with immediate effect,” the department’s chief executive, Dr Don Russell, said in a statement.
Theriault has been arrested and faces charges of dishonesty, Russell said.
“Senior colleagues now believe most of Theriault’s claimed background is totally fraudulent — including fake pay slips from past jobs — and fear they have little idea of the woman’s real identity,” the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
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Shock resignation of SA Health Minister catches government and healthcare off-guard
Lynne Minion | 19 Sep 2017
Just two weeks after the opening of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, embattled South Australian Health Minister Jack Snelling has quit cabinet, announcing he will leave parliament at next year’s state election.
Snelling’s resignation was followed hours later by the announcement by Mental Health Minister Leesa Vlahos that she would be stepping down from the ministry for “personal health” reasons.
Both ministers were responsible for the state-run Oakden nursing home, where poor treatment of dementia patients led to the closing down of the facility and an anti-corruption inquiry, which is soon to deliver its report.
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Govt to launch ‘Digital Economy Strategy’
Consultation open until November
19 September, 2017 15:08
The government will release a Digital Economy Strategy early next year “to seize the benefits of digital transformation and secure Australian jobs into the future”.
The strategy will cover digital infrastructure, digital business capability, and building digital skills and inclusion, the government announced today.
A consultation paper was published this morning in a bid to attract views from industry, thought-leaders, SMEs, government and citizens.
“Australia already has areas of competitive strength, such as energy resources, and medical and mining related technologies. I believe we can also become a world leader in digital innovation which could boost the Australian economy by $140 billion to $250 billion over the next eight years,” Senator Arthur Sinodinos, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science said.
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Australia's digital economy strategy is getting a facelift
By Justin Hendry on Sep 19, 2017 3:55PM
To better harness rapid tech developments.
Australia's national digital economy strategy is set to receive a major revamp next year, with the federal government eager to maximise the potential of technology to improve the country's competitive standing.
The new strategy will replace the existing digital economy strategy, which was first released by the Department of Communications in May 2011, but has since undergone two revisions: one in June 2013, and another in May 2016.
The overhaul comes amid an ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the trade system and digital economy, including the responsiveness of Australia's trade architecture and regulatory system to the needs of the digital economy and disruptive technology.
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Gender Participation in the #FHIR Community
Posted on by Grahame Grieve
This is post #3 in my series about why to participate in the FHIR standards process.
A few weeks ago, I attended the AIIA awards night at the kind invitation of the eHealth team from CSIRO. One of the speakers was the Victorian Minister for Small Business, the Hon Philip Dalidakis. The presentation was the day after the sad passing away of another Victorian minister, Fiona Richardson, and in her memory, he made an inspired plea for us all to actively consider whether there’s anything that we can or should do to improve the gender imbalance that’s typical in IT.
HL7 – and the FHIR community – does have the gender imbalance that’s characteristic of IT communities – though it’s also a health community, and so the gender divide is not as stark as it is in some communities. But it’s not anywhere close to 50:50, and his words made me wonder whether we/I are in a position to do anything more about that.
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Heart attack rehabilitation tech to be commercialised
- 19 September 2017
- Written by Sam Varghese
Technology known as Cardihab — a method to help improve recovery after a heart attack — developed by the Australian eHealth Research Centre, has been spun off from Australia's national science and technology accelerator programme, known as ON.
The Australian eHealth Research Centre is a joint venture between the CSIRO and the Queensland Government.
Venture capital of $1.35 million was raised for the technology to be commercialised. Of this, $500,000 was from Uniseed, a venture fund operating at the Universities of Melbourne, New South Wales, Sydney, Queensland and CSIRO.
The remaining money came from an unnamed private cardiology group and existing Cardihab shareholder, Artesian Capital.
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- Updated Sep 18 2017 at 11:00 PM
CSIRO's start-up Cardihab shows its heart is now in profits
The way the CSIRO is commercialising its cardiac rehabilitation app goes to the heart of the organisation's future, according to chief executive Larry Marshall.
Cardihab, a smartphone app used for remote management of patients who have had a heart-related health scare, is the first CSIRO invention to be financially backed by universities, with Uniseed – a fund backed by University of Queensland, University Of Sydney, University of Melbourne and UNSW – contributing $500,000 to a $1.35 million fundraising that closed this week.
Crucially, however, CSIRO will not just collect royalties from the technology it spun out in 2015, which was found by a trial of 112 heart patients in Ipswich to increase completion rates of cardiac rehabilitation programs by 70 per cent.
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Cardihab Cardiac Rehab App Spun out of CSIRO eHealth Division
September 18, 2017 07:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time
BRISBANE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An Australian solution to dramatically improve recovery from a heart attack today became reality.
“Today’s investment gives us the platform on which to build the company and make a difference to the lives of millions of Australians”
Cardihab’s technology platform was developed by scientists at the Australian eHealth Research Centre (AEHRC), a joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland Government. Cardihab was spun-out from CSIRO after raising venture capital investment of $1.35 million in the new company.
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Adelaide start-up using AI to select embryos for IVF
Life Whisperer hopes its technology will improve IVF success rates globally
19 September, 2017 16:28
Candice Reed – Australia’s first baby conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) – is now in her late 30s. Since her birth in Melbourne in 1980 more than 200,000 children have been born here as a result of IVF-type treatments.
Around 13,000 babies were born in Australia from related treatments in 2014 alone – roughly one in every 22 children.
Despite those figures, and decades of research, IVF still has limited success rates, confounded by age and a multitude of other factors.
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Novartis congratulates ANDHealth 2017 winners
Sydney, September 20, 2017
Novartis would like to congratulate the following recipients of the 2017 ANDHealth Program:
· DoseMe
· Human Gas Capsule
· Perx
· Seer Medical
· SkinView
· Highly Commended – PenPal
Novartis is a proud member of ANDHealth, a national digital health initiative established by a consortium of commercial and government partners to facilitate and support the development and commercialisation of clinically validated digital health technologies across Australia.
Country President of Novartis Australia and New Zealand, Brian Gladsden, stated: “Novartis is extremely excited to be the exclusive pharmaceutical partner of ANDHealth, and look forward to working with all the 2017 cohort participants over the next year to help them develop their digital health initiatives, and in turn improve outcomes for healthcare consumers”.
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Labor condemns NBN installation success rate sitting at 90 percent
If there was a one in 10 chance your food would make you sick, you wouldn't call that a success, Stephen Jones has said.
Shadow Minister for Regional Communications Stephen Jones has hit out at claims that the National Broadband Network (NBN) is seeing a 90 percent success rate the first time equipment is due to be installed, saying the figure is not good enough.
"Can you imagine if my local fish-and-chip shop was selling hamburgers, and one out of 10 of them was creating food poisoning? Do you think that would be OK? The answer is clearly no," Jones told the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) National Conference on Thursday.
"Why should it be any different for an essential service?"
Speaking to the ABC over the weekend, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield had said NBN gets nine out of 10 connections "right the first time", and that the government and NBN are working on ways to improve this number.
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Cassini spacecraft survived longer than expected in Saturn's atmosphere
Liam Mannix
Published: September 16 2017 - 4:26PM
As Cassini started to spin and tear apart in Saturn's frozen atmosphere, it had one final gift for us.
The probe threw its thrusters into full power, burning up the last of its dwindling fuel supplies, and managed to keep its antennas pointed at Earth even as its components started to melt.
CSIRO scientists at Canberra's Deep Space Communication Complex, who were responsible for tracking and controlling Cassini's last moments using a pair of huge dishes, say the probe managed to survive nearly a minute longer than anyone had predicted.
As it melted, it sent back volumes of vital data on Saturn's atmospheric composition, from which scientists will make many new discoveries in the months and years ahead.
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Enjoy!
David.
