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 shortened week after Easter with not much really happening until you look a little more closely and see the first Australian 5G network use and increasing private e-Health activity and some sadness with technology use.
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- Updated Apr 6 2018 at 11:00 PM
Australia's e-health push lifts start-up Tyde
When serial entrepreneur Dean McEvoy looks for new investment opportunities he searches for someone who is in love with solving a problem. And that is what he found with Tyde creator Romain Bonjean.
French-born Bonjean and his co-founders Shamus Cooper and Sudeep Gohil (both are Tyde advisers) launched the health business two years ago. Tyde is the first consumer-focused app for the federal government's My Health Record platform that is being rolled out by the Australian Digital Health Agency.
It's a single point to access and manage records, appointments and prescriptions that has real-time treatment adherence data, and that allows multiple users to interact in real time. Users can join the entire family's health records together.
"We got a great team in health informatics," says the 40-year-old Bonjean. "It is quite a complex activity to get the right architecture, connect properly, and the security and safety and privacy measures put in place are second to none. It makes banking and stock broking look like child's play next to it.
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Parents are snubbing their infants in favour of digital devices according to leading WA paediatrician
EXCLUSIVE, Katie Hampson | The West Australian Wednesday, 4 April 2018 4:00AM
Babies are missing keydevelopmental milestones because their parents are glued to digital devices at times when they should be interacting with their infants, a leading WA paediatrician says.
Joondalup Health Campus paediatrics head Desiree Silva said the $26 million Origins Project was investigating the impact of electronics on a child’s health as part of a decade-long study of how a child’s environment influenced their risk of chronic health problems.
“Social interaction from an early age is changing and we are finding that some babies at six weeks of age are not smiling ... and smiling at six weeks old is a key milestone,” Professor Silva said.
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Is playing too much PlayStation really a disease?
6 April 2018
TECH TALK
There are probably a handful of GPs working today who finished medical school before the launch of Space Invaders in 1978.
Since that time, video games have become so ubiquitous that in January the WHO prepared a draft proposal for entering “gaming disorder” in its International Classification of Diseases.
But several dozen experts, including some from Australia, have pushed back against the classification in a paper published in the Journal of Behavioural Addictions.
Their arguments basically fall into three parts. First, there’s no genuine agreement on what a gaming disorder is. Does it involve gambling games? Violent games? Is it just internet addiction that happens to involve online games?
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https://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/computer-prescribing-error-turns-uneventful-procedure-fatal
Computer prescribing error turns 'uneventful' procedure fatal
An anaesthetist accidentally used the wrong patient file
4th April 2018
A father of two died in hospital following a routine knee reconstruction because his anaesthetist accidentally entered fentanyl into the wrong computer file, the NSW Coroner’s Court has found.
Paul Lau, 54, died from multiple drug toxicity after being mistakenly prescribed fentanyl intended for another more complex surgical patient at Sydney’s Macquarie University Hospital in June 2015.
The most likely explanation for the prescribing error was that the anaesthetist, Dr Orison Kim, left Mr Lau’s file open on a computer and then returned to theatre, the inquest heard.
He’d been using the hospital’s new electronic prescribing system, TrakCare, and came back to the computer at a later time to enter medication for another patient. However, he accidentally prescribed a fentanyl patch and patient-controlled analgesia for Mr Lau, whose file was still open.
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Electronic prescribing error in month-old EHR responsible for death of NSW man, State Coroner finds
Lynne Minion | 06 Apr 2018
An anaesthetist’s accidental misuse of a month-old electronic medical record at Macquarie University Hospital in 2015 was responsible for the death of a 54-year-old man following routine knee surgery, the NSW State Coroner has found.
Six hours after an uneventful knee reconstruction, Paul Lau died after being administered medication meant for another patient, Acting State Coroner Magistrate Teresa O’Sullivan said in her findings.
The February inquest heard from eight witnesses on the events leading up to Lau’s death in the early hours of June 19, despite attempts to resuscitate him.
According to the Coroner, the hospital’s recently implemented InterSystems TrakCare electronic system, which had gone live on May 2, had been used by anaesthetist Dr Orison Kim to prescribe Lau’s drugs.
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Clinical robots trialled on Waikato wards
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Posted by: Kim Mundell
Posted by: Kim Mundell
eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth
Telepresence robot technology means doctors can virtually meet with patients in other locations for face-to-face consultations, improving the care experience for the consumer.
Waikato District Health Board is trialling the use of clinical robots within its hospitals.
Robots Dougie and Daphne allow Waikato DHB specialists to roam the wards of Waikato and Thames Hospitals from wherever they are based, giving them virtual access to patients elsewhere.
The DHB is trialling the clinical robots for six months and hopes they can help specialists to intervene earlier to improve patient care in rural areas. They are the first of their kind in New Zealand.
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Technology: rewards for public health stunning
Authored by Jane Burns
I AM from a generation that knows the world without computers, a Luddite who makes a distinction between the “offline” versus “online” world and real friends versus virtual friends.
Technology has fundamentally changed how we interact and transact. As a tool, it gives us choice, convenience and control. It affects every aspect of life and gives people autonomy to choose how they buy their books, shoes or real estate (Amazon, shoesofprey, realestate.com). I no longer need cash or a credit card to make a transaction (PayPal, squarepay). Technology changes the way we communicate and consume information (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). We expect customised and curated entertainment (Spotify, Netflix), and, increasingly, “biometrics” are changing our behaviour (fitbit and Apple watch). This is no longer a “brave new world” or the “digital frontier” – it simply is the world in which we live.
In the context of everyday life, Australians are prolific users of technology. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports 13.7 million internet subscribers at the end of June 2017 – a 2.1% increase from December 2016. Sensis reports that 79% of Australians use social media, 59% of them daily. While the younger generation accesses Instagram and Snapchat, Facebook is still the most popular global network with over 2.13 billion monthly active users for December 2017, spending 20 minutes online per visit.
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New DHS citizen experience chief: automation will lead to more ‘human’ services
By Stephen Easton • 05/04/2018
The Department of Human Services has a new “chief citizen experience officer” who hopes digital transformation can bring relief to both disgruntled clients and frazzled frontline staff, but the government continues to send mixed messages about its priorities in the portfolio.
Mukul Agrawal, who moved into the challenging role from AMP in November, spoke about his hope that simple forms of artificial intelligence can make dealing with Medicare or Centrelink a quicker, easier and more personalised experience, at the Australian Information Industry Association’s recent conference on the future of work.
The department hopes digital assistants that can help customers directly as well as act as decision-support tools for frontline staff will be game-changing technology.
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The virtual assistant that could help Australians with e-health records
By Justin Hendry on Apr 5, 2018 6:20AM
ADHA moves to create bot ahead of opt-out period.
Australia’s e-health record operator has begun investigating whether a virtual assistant could help answer questions about the personal e-health record that will shortly be created for every Australian under the opt-out My Health Record scheme.
iTnews can reveal the Australian Digital Health Agency is in the early stages of developing the virtual assistant to help users navigate the My Health Record website.
It comes ahead of an opt-out period for My Health Record, which is expected to see increased traffic to the standalone portal the ADHA has built to allow citizens to opt out.
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Seniors take charge of their own health
Wednesday, 4 April 2018
Older Australians are being urged to consider their ongoing health and the benefits of having a My Health Record during NSW Seniors Festival which is launching across NSW from 4-15 April.
Older Australians are being urged to consider their ongoing health and the benefits of having a My Health Record during NSW Seniors Festival which is launching across NSW from 4-15 April.
My Health Record is an individual’s safe and secure digital health information, easily accessible by healthcare providers involved in your care including GPs, pharmacists and hospitals. All Australians will have a My Health Record by the end of 2018 unless they choose not to.
Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Tim Kelsey said the expansion of My Health Record nationally this year will deliver a system that provides universal functionality, clear and concise content and, critically, a safe and secure clinical health service for all Australians.
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Call for Medicare to catch up, as the momentum of telehealth uptake grows
Lynne Minion | 04 Apr 2018
A telehealth system developed by the CSIRO’s Data 61 is fast-tracking the uptake of video consultations in Australia, with the platform now connecting 20,000 Australians with their healthcare practitioners.
Through partnerships with Health Team Australia, HealthKit and Ramsay Healthcare, Coviu is breaking down healthcare access problems in rural and regional Australia, improving the at-home management of chronic conditions, and providing the healthcare system with cost savings.
Such is its momentum, Coviu has grown its base of paying users by 470 per cent in the last year and has been commercialised in China.
Accessed through web browsers, a mobile app or integrated into practice management software, the emerging start-up was developed by Data61 in consultation with healthcare providers to tailor the platform to their needs.
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DHS trial targets design weaknesses in digital services
By Ry Crozier on Apr 6, 2018 6:30AM
Focuses on production use.
The Department of Human Services plans to incorporate ‘voice of customer analytics’ into its digital services to pinpoint design weaknesses that have made it into production.
Head of enterprise architecture Garrett McDonald told IBM’s Think 2018 conference that the department was trialling IBM’s Tealeaf software “over the coming months”.
Tealeaf is used to track customer behaviours in web and mobile channels, and particularly identify areas of friction in the way they are laid out. IBM bought Tealeaf in 2012.
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Denham Sadler
April 3, 2018
Health bungles data release
Policy
A new report by the government’s privacy authority has found that the Department of Health breached the Privacy Act a number of times as part of a bungled release of medical data in 2016, but the department will not face any sanctions or punishment.
The report, completed by Australian Information Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim prior to his retirement last week, found the department’s processes for assessing risks around releasing health data was “inadequate”, and that the office broke privacy laws in publishing the information.
But the department has escaped any sanctions, instead entering into an enforceable undertaking that requires it to “review and enhance its data governance and release processes” with oversight from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
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NSW Guild renews call for real time monitoring
Concerns that drug companies are using codeine upschedule to market stronger painkillers reveal an urgent need for real-time recording, says Guild
Pharmaceutical companies have come under fire for allegedly using a crackdown on codeine sales as an opportunity to market stronger painkillers to doctors, according to a Fairfax investigation.
One of the main concerns about the codeine upschedule was that doctors could end up prescribing even stronger medication to pain sufferers.
This may be coming to fruition, as some doctors are saying this is now happening through advertising sent to GPs.
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Question: Where’s the Fax Number?
Posted on by Grahame Grieve
Question:
Where Can I found Fax number in PID Segment?
Answer:
If you look at a standard display of the fields in the PID segment (this one, or this one), there’s no fax number, just home and work phone numbers … in spite of the healthcare system being obsessed with faxing. So where is it? (and, while we’re at it, there’s no field for email either…)
Well, HL7 finally did something about this in v2.7, in 2011:
PID-40 Patient Telecommunication Information (XTN)
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CBA cites Facebook scandal in push for slower data-sharing
By Clancy Yeates
2 April 2018 — 12:15am
Commonwealth Bank has pointed to Facebook's data privacy scandal as it urged the federal government to slow down a plan to introduce a data-sharing regime in financial services.
In a move that could have far-reaching effects on banks and their customers, Treasurer Scott Morrison last year ordered a review into "open banking", a system allowing consumers to securely share their financial data in order to get a better deal.
The review, by King & Wood Mallesons partner Scott Farrell, was delivered in February, with Mr Morrison declaring at the time open banking would "revolutionise" the industry.
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Microsoft looks to fix multi-cloud mess with Azure Australia Central
The tech giant now boasts four Azure regions in Australia, with its latest, Azure Australia Central, allowing organisations to collocate legacy and modern applications.
Microsoft has announced the go-live of two new regions in Australia targeted towards government, financial services, and critical national infrastructure clients in Australia and New Zealand that are making the move to multi-cloud.
The new offering, Azure Australia Central, has been designed for mission-critical workloads, and comes after Microsoft achieved official accreditation from the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) in June, allowing the company to offer 50 services on the ASD Certified Cloud Services List across Azure and Office 365.
Offered out of Canberra Data Centres (CDC), the two new Azure cloud regions will allow for the storing of unclassified and protected-level data.
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NBN Co boss Bill Morrow to step down
- The Australian
- 9:51AM April 4, 2018
Supratim Adhikari
NBN Co boss Bill Morrow is stepping down two years before the $50 billion National Broadband Network is fully rolled out.
Mr Morrow will leave at the end of this year, ending a five-year tenure at NBN Co.
The NBN is scheduled to be fully rolled out by 2020 and Mr Morrow said NBN Co was now in a good place for him to hand over the reins.
NBN Co chairman Ziggy Switkowski said Mr Morrow will leave behind an invaluable legacy at NBN Co.
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Spin lasts only for a season: Morrow's NBN Co lesson
- 04 April 2018
- Written by Sam Varghese
When Bill Morrow took over as head of the NBN Co, the company tasked with building the national broadband network, he was fully aware with what he had to contend.
The Coalition Government had come to office with a changed policy, going from the all-fibre Labor model, to what was called a multi-technology mix with fibre-to-the-node taking pride of place.
The prime minister at the time, Tony Abbott, had handed the job to Malcolm Turnbull with the directive to "kill the NBN". Turnbull picked the technologies, with HFC being pushed as the saviour of the rollout.
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https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/635772/accc-report-calls-government-get-ready-split-up-nbn/
ACCC report calls for government to get ready to split up NBN
Government needs to get ready for disaggregation of NBN, ACCC says
05 April, 2018 11:25
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) final report into the state of the nation’s communications market has called for the government to plan for the future disaggregation of the NBN into competing networks.
The ACCC has previously endorsed the potential break-up of NBN into separate entities, as has a major government-commissioned review of the National Broadband Network rollout.
Fresh from its victory in the 2013 federal election, the Coalition government commissioned a panel of experts led by Michael Vertigan to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the NBN rollout.
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