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
-----
Really a quiet week with most of the news flowing from own goals scored by the ADHA in trying to obfuscate the public regarding the #myHealthRecord.
Otherwise a few confused and misleading releases from companies that should know better.
The is too much Fake Digital Health news around right now! Sad though it is to report the Federal Government is competing with the ADHA for gratuitous falsity and deception!
-----
Cyber scare shuts down hospital IT systems in rural north-east
By Melissa Cunningham and Benjamin Preiss
October 23, 2019 — 5.42pm
A number of rural health services in the state’s north-east were forced to shut down their IT systems due to a malware virus.
The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Wednesday a virus was detected in handful of desktop computers at two health services in the Hume region and staff forced to turn of IT systems for a short period to isolate it.
A spokesman for the department refused to confirm where the infected computers were located, but it is understood IT systems at three rural health services were momentarily shut down as a precaution.
He stressed, however, patient care was not affected and IT systems were fully operational again by early Wednesday afternoon.
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-health-rmit-crc-aim-algorithms-at-deteriorating-health-532759
Telstra Health, RMIT, CRC aim algorithms at deteriorating health
Want to reduce emergency hospitalisations.
Telstra Health, RMIT and the Digital Health CRC will spend $1 million developing clinical decision support software to predict deteriorating health of people receiving aged care.
The software will ultimately form part of Telstra Health’s residential aged care software suite, and is expected to be created over the next two years.
The three organisations said in a statement that they hope to “reduce emergency hospitalisations and allow more time for end of life plans”.
“Emergency hospitalisations are not only stressful for aged care residents and their families, but they also place significant additional demand on hospitals,” Digital Health CRC CEO Dr Victor Pantano said.
-----
MEDIA RELEASE
22 October, 2019
Predictive analytics to keep more aged care residents out of Emergency
New software to analyse the clinical data of aged care residents for signs of deteriorating health could reduce emergency hospitalisations and allow more time for end of life plans.
The clinical decision support software is being developed as part of Telstra Health’s residential aged care software suite, over the next two years, in a $1 million partnership announced today by RMIT University, Telstra Health and the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre.
Significantly, it will mark the introduction of clinical decision support software to predict deterioration, which is already used in acute care settings, into aged care.
Dr Victor Pantano, CEO of the Digital Health CRC, said the project had enormous potential to keep more aged care residents out of avoidable emergency care, as well as to provide earlier indications when residents are approaching end of life.
-----
Bankers scan buyers for Affinity's MedicalDirector
Oct 20, 2019 — 8.59pm
Pan-Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners has been talking to investment bankers about the future of its Australian medical practice software company MedicalDirector as it gets ready to consider exit options.
Street Talk understands Affinity's operatives have given a handful of bulge bracket investment banks an update in recent weeks to explain what it had done to the business during the past three years and where it was headed.
Affinity Equity Partners bought MedicalDirector for $155 million in 2016.
While sources said there were no formal mandates up for grabs – yet – Affinity was also keen to test bankers' ideas on potential exit options, sale strategies and even valuation.
-----
MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 21st October 2019
MEDICALDIRECTOR LAUNCHING IN UK HEALTHCARE MARKET AFTER NHS DIGITAL CONTRACT AWARD
Leading healthcare software company MedicalDirector, has today announced its upcoming entry in the United Kingdom (UK) after being notified by the technology unit of the UK’s national healthcare provider, the National Health Service (NHS), that MedicalDirector is to be awarded a contract to provide its cloud software to General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK.
MedicalDirector will participate in a £484 million UK government investment program to upgrade GP practice software and clinical health record technology through its GP IT Futures program. The GP IT Futures program is a critical enabler for the NHS Long Term Plan, which includes £4.5 billion of new investment to transform patient care in general practice and deliver an NHS which is fit for the future.
MedicalDirector was awarded the contract given its cloud software’s unique capabilities to deliver next generation software to GPs and patients in the UK. MedicalDirector is the first cloud-native market participant to be awarded a contract to provide its software services in the UK, and one of only three new entrants in the UK over the last twelve years capable of providing core primary care clinical systems to the NHS.
-----
Jefferies readies Affinity's MedicalDirector for buyers
Oct 22, 2019 — 9.51am
Investment bank Jefferies Australia is helping private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners as it tests buyer appetite for medical practice management software company MedicalDirector.
It is understood the sale process is at a very early stage, however Jefferies has started contacting trade and other potential buyers to introduce the company.
Sources said Jefferies had been tasked with identifying a wide universe of global buyers and would be roadshowing the company offshore.
-----
Australia's St. Stephen's Hospital earns HIMSS Davies Award for device integration, patient safety
Its care innovations have helped nurses spend 3,000 more hours at the bedside – enabling leading a 58% improvement in care efficiency and a 19% reduction in HAIs.
By Mike Miliard
October 22, 2019 01:57 PM
Hervey Bay, Queensland-based St. Stephen's Hospital is the most recent winner of a HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence.
WHY IT MATTERS
The hospital, which is part of UnitingCare Queensland, has been recognized for its use of connected technology to boost patient safety and improve quality outcomes.
The hospital, which is part of UnitingCare Queensland, has been recognized for its use of connected technology to boost patient safety and improve quality outcomes.
On its path to digitization, St. Stephen's staff kept patients wellbeing top-of-mind, according to HIMSS, and its electronic health record deployment was also designed with close input from frontline clinical end-users, informed by Australia National Standards and UnitingCare Queensland best practices.
IT staff at the hospital worked to quickly identify and resolve technical issues to keep the project on schedule and aligned with those principals.
The hospital's EHR was just the beginning, of course – itl then developed scalable technology to enable seamless connection of medical devices at the point of care and within the workflow, enabling real-time patient monitoring and decision support tools.
-----
Medicare Easyclaim payments put back to market
Government tells banks to recoup costs from doctors.
The outsourcing of Medicare payments processing might be politically dead in the water, but banks will soon get to fight over the remains of a Howard era payments modernisation push, with a tender to provide the popular Medicare Easyclaim now in the market.
Services Australia, formerly known as the Department of Human Services, on Wednesday called its latest beauty pageant for suppliers to keep the eftpos-based facility alive, as major institutions become increasing wary of high complexity, low margin deals offered by Canberra.
Under the latest deal offered to banks and payment services providers, institutions will not be able to charge the government for processing electronic and digital Medicare claim refunds but will instead have to pass the costs through to healthcare service providers like doctors.
-----
8 in 10 practices opt for new PIP
College representatives say the extra funding from the Quality Improvement incentive is a major reason for their support
25th October 2019
Nearly all eligible practices have signed up for the new Quality Improvement practice incentive, the RACGP’s GP19 annual conference has heard.
Quality Improvement (QI) is the latest addition to the Practice Incentives Program (PIP).
It involves practices sending de-identified patient data to primary health networks (PHNs), using automated data extraction tools embedded in their clinical software.
Just a day ahead of the QI PIP starting on 1 August this year, a group of GPs, including former AMA president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, wrote an open letter warning that the scheme placed patients’ privacy at risk and exposed doctors to medicolegal challenges.
-----
https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/supporting-people-with-chronic-pain-to-access-services
Supporting people with chronic pain to access services
A new online directory was launched today to provide people living with chronic pain—and their health practitioners—with a comprehensive list of available services to help manage their conditions.
Date published: 23 October 2019
A new online directory was launched today to provide people living with chronic pain - and their health practitioners - a comprehensive list of available services to help manage their conditions.
The National Pain Services Directory was developed by Painaustralia and supported by the Morrison Government.
The new directory will make it easier for people to access more than 200 pain treatment services, and ensure they are able to receive treatment that is appropriate and effective for their needs.
-----
https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/475428/Cyber-testing-of-600-health-websites-reveals-vulnerabilities.htm
Cyber testing of 600 health websites reveals vulnerabilities
Thursday, 24 October 2019
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
Three district health boards had websites with the same potential vulnerabilities as those exploited in the Tū Ora Compass Primary Health Organisation cyber-attack, a national website security scan has revealed.
The Ministry of Health says immediate action has been taken by the affected DHBs to mitigate the risk.
It has chosen not to name the DHBs because none of these websites contained, or provided immediate access to, confidential health information relating to patients.
-----
Artificial intelligence to ‘humanise medicine’
Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Artificial intelligence could contribute more than $700 million of value and savings to the New Zealand health system annually by 2026 and help to manage 20 per cent of unmet clinical need, a new report says.
The AI Forum of New Zealand’s latest report AI for health in New Zealand/Hauora i te atamai iahiko says, “AI will bring tremendous benefits through increased effectiveness and productivity as well as cost reduction”.
Scaling international analysis to New Zealand shows that AI could help to manage unmet clinical need by saving 20 per cent of nurse time and allowing doctors to see more patients, thereby increasing the effective workforce size.
“The use of AI could help to humanise medicine, by facilitating clinician presence and enabling more time for patient contact. This has been demonstrated to reduce hospitalisations and readmissions,” it says.
-----
Facial recognition plan to get safeguards
· Australian Associated Press
The Morrison government has been told to revisit its plan to allow government agencies, banks and phone companies to use facial recognition technology to identify Australians.
The powerful bipartisan Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has recommended further safeguards be added to the legislation.
That comes after a review of the proposal heard concerns about its potential implications for Australians' privacy.
"Some participants raised with the committee a need to ensure appropriate governance and accountability, and protection of the individual's right to privacy," committee chair and Liberal MP Andrew Hastie told parliament on Thursday.
-----
Labour, Liberal MPs reject bill allowing government to share facial images
Liberal and Labor MPs have rejected a government bill that would allow the Department of Home Affairs to create and maintain facilities to share facial images and other identity information between government agencies and some private businesses.
The powerful Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, chaired by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, has called for the Identity-matching Services Bill to be redrafted and built around privacy and transparency and be subject to robust safeguards.
The origins of the bill came from the need to combat growing incidences of identity crime, which Mr Hastie said had devastating impacts on individuals and the economy.
The Council of Australian Governments agreed in October 2017 to implement a framework for national identity-matching services.
-----
Govt told to rewrite facial recognition bills
Lacking detail and privacy protections.
Proposed laws to allow the federal government’s planned facial biometrics matching scheme have been rejected by the bipartisan Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
In a blow to the government's controversial plans to expand the use of facial recognition to curb identity crime, the powerful committee on Thursday said [pdf] that the Identity-matching Services Bill 2019 (ISM) should be redrafted to address privacy and transparency concerns.
The decision comes almost 18 months after the bill was first introduced and referred to the committee, though it was prolonged when the 2018 bill lapsed ahead of the May 2019 election.
The bill was intended to pave the way for the creation of a national facial biometrics matching database first agreed to by federal, state and territory leaders in October 2017.
-----
Thursday, 24 October 2019 12:28
Parliamentary panel rejects surveillance bills, calls for changes
The bipartisan Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has rejected both an identity-matching bill and a passports amendment bill in their current form.
The panel, headed by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, recommended that both bills be redrafted to offer additional protections for citizens.
In its report, the panel said it backed the concerns of those who had made submissions arguing that protections for individual rights should be more clearly outlined.
The bills are officially known as the Identity-matching Services Bill 2019 and the Australian Passports Amendment (Identity-matching Services) Bill 2019.
-----
Facial recognition bill knocked back
Oct 24, 2019 — 10.55am
The Morrison government has been rebuffed on a key national security measure, with its own backbench MPs joining Labor to call for a rewrite of expanded facial recognition laws which critics warn could lead to mass surveillance in Australia.
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, chair of Parliament's joint intelligence committee, surprised colleagues on Thursday by recommending the Coalition rewrite legislation allowing for the sharing of biometric information between federal and state governments.
Liberal and Labor MPs on the influential committee said tougher safeguards were needed for the scheme, designed to automate storage and exchange of biometric and identity data, including from passports and drivers licences.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton committed to working with the committee to fully legislate the plan, originally proposed under Malcolm Turnbull with broad support from state premiers.
-----
Dutton pushes on with facial recognition
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is still pushing for facial recognition laws, despite a bipartisan committee telling him to go back to the drawing board.
Daniel McCulloch
Australian Associated Press October 25, 20198:21am
Peter Dutton is pushing on with controversial plans for facial recognition after suffering a major setback in federal parliament.
The home affairs minister wants government agencies, banks and phone companies to use the technology.
Critics have warned it could lead to a mass surveillance scheme.
------
Why the Coalition blinked on the facial recognition database
Oct 25, 2019 — 4.20pm
The usual names were all there: ASIO, Home Affairs, civil liberties campaigners, even telco Optus.
But just as many responses to a review of laws extending the use of facial recognition technology for law enforcement also came from everyday Australians, not usually heard from in the corridors of power.
Connie Crawford emailed from her iPhone: "I Do Not Consent."
Sue-Ellen Middleton wrote to object strongly. "This goes against my civil liberties and privacy. I do not consent."
-----
Cyber hacking nation’s identity withheld: spy agency
Australia’s cyber spy agency knows “with a very high level of confidence” which nation hacked the federal parliament and the Australian National University, but says the government chose not to name the country after considering the economic costs of doing so.
The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre told Senate Estimates it was more than 90 per cent certain which nation state was behind the attacks. But ACSC head Rachel Noble said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was the main agency responsible for advising the government on whether to call out the perpetrator.
“The policy actually belongs to the Department of Foreign Affairs,” she said.
“From an Australian Cyber Security Centre perspective, we’re the government techies.
-----
Parliament hack report to stay secret
The Speaker and Senate President will soon update politicians on a cyber attack on the parliamentary and political party computer networks.
Katina Curtis, AAP Senior Political Writer
Australian Associated Press October 21, 201911:43am
A final report on the hacking of parliament's computer network is unlikely to be released publicly, even in a redacted form.
Senate President Scott Ryan told a parliamentary committee on Monday he would be giving an update shortly on the February cyber attack, which also hit the networks of the Liberal, Labor and National parties.
He described that as a "plain-language briefing" rather than the full security report.
-----
Tuesday, 22 October 2019 06:45
Parliament breach was first national cyber crisis: ASD report
The breach of the Australian Parliament network, announced in February, was the country's first national cyber crisis, according to the annual report of the Australian Signals Directorate for 2018-19 which was released recently.
The year saw 2164 incidents of different levels of significance, the report says, adding that the Parliament breach "saw the ACSC [Australian Cyber Security Centre] operate at a heightened state of activity to provide advice and assistance to Australia's major political parties and government agencies after they were targeted by a sophisticated state-sponsored actor".
Since July 2018, the ASD has become a statutory agency under the Department of Defence and the ACSC operates as part of the ASD.
Forty percent of the other incidents reported were low-level malicious attacks, including "targeted reconnaissance, phishing emails and non-sensitive data loss". About a quarter of these incidents were reported to the ACSC by the public.
-----
Parliament hack report too torrid for public release
As ASD labels attack "first national cyber crisis".
The federal government is unlikely to release even a redacted version of the final report on the state-sponsored cyber attack against the parliamentary computing network earlier this year.
Senate President Scott Ryan told a senate estimates hearing on Monday that the “very interesting” report on the February security breach had been received last week.
After reading the “rather technical” report for the first time on Friday, he is now awaiting a “plain language briefing” from cyber security experts before providing an update to the Senate.
“I am awaiting what I will call a layperson's briefing on the report that I read last week,” he said
-----
Parliament hack prompted mass govt cyber security uplift
ASD steps in to uplift 25 agencies.
Twenty-five government agencies had their cyber posture uplifted following the state-sponsored cyber attack against Parliament House in February, the Australian Signals Directorate has revealed.
In its first annual report since becoming a statutory agency, the agency said the “first national cyber crisis” spurred the Australian Cyber Security Centre to improve cyber resiliency across government.
“The cyber campaign against departments, agencies and political parties ... demonstrated hostile actors' capacity and intent to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in the Australian Government's internet-facing networks,” the 2018-19 annual report states.
-----
Thousands of Optus mobile numbers mistakenly published in White Pages
By Rachel Eddie
October 25, 2019 — 3.51pm
Tens of thousands of Optus customers have had their mobile phone numbers and addresses mistakenly published online.
Optus has told nearly 50,000 customers that their name, address, mobile and home phone numbers were wrongly published in the White Pages, run by Sensis, against the customers' wishes.
The data breach was discovered by Optus during a routine audit of 10 million customers.
The letter Optus sent to affected customers.
About 40,000 of those people were new customers whose details were already breached, according to Optus.
-----
MyHealth opt-in and opt-out rates level
Finbar O'Mallon
Nearly as many people are opting back into the government's digitised national health record system as are opting out.
Australians were given the chance to opt out of the creation of a My Health record after privacy concerns were raised about the government, and potentially third parties, accessing their medical history.
Health department representatives told a Senate estimates committee that 23,528 Australians have cancelled their My Health record since February 22 this year.
But 22,129 have opted back in since that date.
-----
NSW Health bolts cloud telephony onto ServiceNow transformation
Deploys to service desk, shared services environments in eight weeks.
NSW Health has shifted its IT service desk and shared services contact centres onto a new cloud-based contact centre platform as part of a broader digital transformation.
eHealth NSW project director Gary Rubie told the recent AWS Public Sector Summit in Canberra that Health shifted off an on-premises Avaya platform hosted across the two NSW GovDC data centres to Amazon Connect over an eight-week period, finishing in June.
Connect is now active in handling calls to the eHealth NSW-operated statewide service desk, as well as three shared services centres operated by HealthShare NSW.
-----
Digital mental health project wins industry grant for new trial
21 October 2019
Not just an app: mental healthcare digital disruption
The Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt MP highlights mental health as Australia's greatest challenge as the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre and Bupa launch an ambitious digital health care trial through the InnoWell platform.
Professor Ian Hickie and the Youth Mental Health and Technology Team at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre will lead a youth-focused technology-driven health services research project, Best Care, First Time.
Launched today at the Brain and Mind Centre, supported by the Bupa Health Foundation, the project aims to provide better coordination of care to improve the lives of young people.
-----
Australia’s Digital Mental Health Project is All Set for New Trials After Winning Grant
Michelle MOctober 24, 2019
Mental health is one of the fastest-growing health challenges all over the world. Recently the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt MP shares mental health to be Australia’s biggest problem. That is why the Brain and Mind Centre (University of Sydney) and Bupa are to launch a digital mental health project via InnoWell platform.
Patients to receive an accessible healthcare
This new project called Best Care, First Time is led by Professor Ian Hickie and the Youth Mental Health and Technology Team from the Brain and Mind Centre. It is a youth-focused technological avenue that primarily relies on research for its efficacy.
This project is launched today at the Brain and Mind Centre, in collaboration with Bupa Health Foundation. This digital mental health project targets patients to receive better coordination of healthcare facilities.
-----
CSL drops Dutch group Pharming from stolen data suit
Oct 24, 2019 — 6.41pm
Blood products giant CSL has dropped rival Dutch firm Pharming Group NV from a lawsuit against a former staffer whom it has accused of stealing highly sensitive data.
The $113.8 billion biotech's subsidiary, CSL Behring, filed a lawsuit in the US courts against Dr Joseph Chiao accusing him of deliberately downloading trade secrets that the company believed he intended to pass on to his new employer, Pharming Healthcare.
According to the statement on Thursday by European-listed Pharming, it's dismissal from the case did not involve any fault, liability, or penalties and the temporary court injunction against Pharming is now terminated.
CSL gained some of what it was seeking in the lawsuit with the sacking of Dr Chiao from Pharming, which said it "will continue to work through the issues central to CSL’s claims against Dr Chiao."
-----
Banks prepare to issue myGov compatible digital identities
Framework completed as online fraud counter attack builds.
Everyday Australians will be able to use their mobile and internet banking credentials to sign into government services online under a bold new digital identity push that could quickly leapfrog state and federal efforts.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has confirmed that the first version of a quietly orchestrated framework for a new federated identity credential known as “TrustID” has been completed, and will interoperate with a similar scheme being run by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).
The new banking identity credential is a major victory for payments regulators because it overcomes decades of internecine squabbling between major institutions amid fears a successful first mover would extract a big competitive advantage.
-----
Sky’s the limit for medical supply drone deliveries
· The Wall Street Journal
United Parcel Service is striking a series of drone-delivery agreements with healthcare groups as it develops new technology pitched to the growing medical market.
The plans included expanding the use of drones to deliver cargo such as medical samples and supplies on hospital campuses in Utah and elsewhere, and an agreement with CVS Health to evaluate the use of drones for home delivery of prescriptions and other products, UPS said.
The agreements are the first UPS has announced since the package delivery giant won US regulatory approval to operate commercial drone flights through the company’s Flight Forward subsidiary. The nod from the Federal Aviation Administration paves the way for UPS to scale up operations as it competes with FedEx, Amazon.com and others vying to develop drone delivery in the US.
-----
Friday, 18 October 2019 10:49
Anti-cancer drug wins scientists PM's innovation award
Four scientists from the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research have won the Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation, one of the seven awards given each year as part of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science.
Professor David Huang, Professor Andrew Roberts, Professor Guillaume Lessene and Associate Professor Peter Czabotar were recognised for their roles in inventing and developing venetoclax, an effective breakthrough anti-cancer drug.
The Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year went to Associate Professor Laura Mackay of the University of Melbourne, for identifying new immune cells that provide critical immune protection against infection and cancer.
-----
Wednesday, 23 October 2019 11:17
Gartner predicts AI will enable employment of more people with disabilities
The number of people with disabilities who are employed will triply by 2023 because artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies will reduce barriers to access, the technology research firm Gartner has predicted as part of its forecast for IT organisations and users in 2020 and beyond.
“Technology is changing the notion of what it means to be human,” said Daryl Plummer, distinguished vice-president and Gartner Fellow.
“As workers and citizens see technology as an enhancement of their abilities, the human condition changes as well. CIOs in end-user organisations must understand the effects of the change and reset expectations for what technology means.”
-----
Human Services takes aim at infosec compliance battle
More revisions means more risk decisions.
The fast pace of revisions to the government’s information security manual (ISM) is putting pressure on departments to pick and choose what to comply with, says Department of Human Affairs CISO Narelle Devine.
Speaking at RSA Conference Unplugged in Sydney earlier this month, Devine highlighted Human Services’ challenge on where to “snapshot” infosec compliance, given the fast-moving goalposts.
“The ISM used to change once a year,” Devine said.
“It used to have an annual review and we used to go, 'Right, now we have to work to this level'.
-----
Australia joins global summit on digital health
Digital health interventions are fundamentally changing the way healthcare is delivered across the world, and Australia is one of the countries on the cutting edge of health tech.
The Australian Digital Health Agency joined digital health leaders from 18 countries and territories, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Hong Kong SAR recently, for the fifth Global Digital Health Partnership Summit (GDHP).
As reported, they gathered to collaborate and share their experiences as well as to improve the implementation of digital health services.
Focus on digital healthcare
GDHP Chair and Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Ms Preeti Sudan described the fifth summit of the Global Digital Health Partnership as a path-breaking event that highlighted advances and experiences around the world, particularly the importance of patient-centered health care.
-----
HIMSS, ADHA to Organize Australia Digital Health Summit Focusing on Interoperability
By Larry Mccarty on October 21, 2019 10:59 AM EDT
HIMSS is joining hands with the Australia Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to host the upcoming HIMSS Australia Digital Health Summit (ADHS) from 20-21 November this year, taking place in Sydney, Australia. The conference is expected to deliver together representatives from ADHA, public, and private healthcare chiefs from Australia, as well as from the APAC region.
The central theme of the Summit is “Interoperability and Connected Care”, which is mainly relevant to the implementation of My Health Record (MHR) within the nation, an online, digital summary of 1’s key health information. ADHA has been progressively improving the MHR, such as joining hands with software vendors to transfer information safely across different software products and enhancing its clinical workflow abilities.
Hal Wolf, CEO and President of HIMSS, Tim Kelsey, CEO of ADHA and Professor Mary Foley, Managing Director of Telstra Health will amass for a CXO hearth chat at the Summit on the topic of connected care – what it means in the context of Australia, its most recent developments in the healthcare sector and a number of the challenges in creating a single view of the patient for higher connected care.
Note: This is an amazingly fake-news like report!
-----
Tech wholesaler claims ‘hassle-free’ NBN alternative offer for RSPs
Brisbane-based telecommunications and technology company 2SG is now offering what it says is a “hassle-free NBN alternative” for retail service providers with a new plug-and-play solution to access the Optus Home Wireless Broadband.
2SG says its latest product will give end-users a “reliable, easy and portable alternative to the NBN” delivering 500GB of 4G cellular broadband at comparable prices.
“We believe this product to be a direct replacement for customers within access technologies limited to remaining ADSL and fixed wireless, as well as customers inadequately serviced by FTTN connections,” 2SG General Manager Reza Lohrasb said.
“We have here a viable option for renters and users who need a reliable internet connection on the go.
“We believe this product to be a direct replacement for customers within access technologies limited to remaining ADSL and fixed wireless, as well as customers inadequately serviced by FTTN connections,” 2SG General Manager Reza Lohrasb said.
“We have here a viable option for renters and users who need a reliable internet connection on the go.
-----
Thursday, 24 October 2019 00:17
Fixed-line phone connections in decline: ACMA
There is a continuing decline in household landline telephones, according to a new report from the telecommunications regulator ACMA revealing that for the first time more than half of Australian adults rely solely on their mobile for making and receiving voice calls at home.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority report showing the trend in decline of landline phones follows a report by comparison website Finder last week which found that several thousand Australians are using mobiles and only have a home phone because it came with their Internet service.
The ACMA report, released on Wednesday, looked over the last five years at what kind of technology - mobile, internet or both - Australians are using to communicate at home, and found that for making calls Australians keep moving away from their fixed-line phone - with an ever-increasing number of adults now using a mobile, and less have a home landline.
But according to the report, even though Australians are using more mobile data, the number using only a mobile connection for the internet at home has dropped.
-----
The myth making around the NBN is finally exposed
Telstra's bullying prompted government step in to build broadband. Then the Coalition made a mess of that too.
Oct 23, 2019 — 4.02pm
In business as in politics, the truth will always out. We caught a glimpse of this at last week’s Telstra annual general meeting when board chairman John Mullen offered a rare “mea culpa” for his company's intransigence during the tender process for the National Broadband Network more than a decade ago.
This stonewalling by Telstra was so obscene that then treasury secretary Ken Henry’s panel of experts persuaded my cabinet to recommend building a full-fibre NBN ourselves and recouping the money later through a public float.
As well as delaying the rollout of essential nation-building infrastructure, we now know from Mullen that Telstra’s mistake has halved the dividend to its shareholders and will cost the national carrier about $3.4 billion each year by 2022.
As punishment for his candour, Mullen has endured a firestorm of criticism from the likes of former Liberal minister Nick Minchin and right-wing media commentators. Minchin’s shrill response says much more about him than it does about the essential facts of the case.
-----
NBN Co now insists $200m not cut from wireless budget
Reverses its own position.
NBN Co has backtracked on its own claim that it redirected $200 million in capital expenditure from fixed wireless to other parts of the build, now saying the money will still be spent on wireless upgrades.
iTnews reported yesterday that NBN Co outlayed $200 million less than expected on its fixed wireless network in FY19, after the size of the footprint shrunk by 91,380 premises.
An NBN Co spokesperson told iTnews that the lower capital expenditure (capex) was “a result of more accurate modelling of the actual number of premises that need to be made ready to connect in fixed wireless areas.”
The spokesperson went on to say that the money saved by not deploying fixed wireless to non-existent premises would be ploughed into the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) networks instead, where capex requirements have increased by a combined $700 million over the forward projections.
-----
ACCC inquiry into NBN access pricing: discussion paper
14 Oct 2019
This public inquiry concerns the wholesale charges that access seekers pay to use the NBN to supply residential grade services. It is focused on the price-related terms for the supply of a basic speed broadband access product on the NBN, as well as service transfer and reversal charges, that would support a smooth transition to the NBN during the ongoing network rollout.
We have decided to commence the inquiry because of concerns that NBN Co’s wholesale pricing has resulted in inefficient and unfair outcomes for consumers who have no need for the higher speeds that the NBN makes possible. These concerns stem from NBN Co’s wholesale pricing changes in late 2018, and the subsequent withdrawal of basic speed retail plans that have left these consumers at risk of being unable to obtain an NBN service at a similar price and quality of their ADSL service. These consumers are nonetheless required to migrate to the NBN in order to keep their home service active.
We have been expressing these concerns for some time, with NBN Co recently announcing new pricing for basic speed access products to take effect in October and November of this year. As a consequence, we are now looking to test through this public inquiry whether NBN Co’s announced pricing initiatives will address our concerns. We are also taking the opportunity to test whether the principles we have adopted to assess NBN Co product and pricing developments remains fit for purpose.
-----
NBN Co redirects $200m wireless capex into HFC, FTTC
After 91,000 phantom premises cut from rollout.
NBN Co has revealed the discovery of 91,380 non-existent premises in the fixed wireless rollout freed $200m in planned capex, which was diverted to other parts of the network.
iTnews reported last week that NBN Co removed 130,449 non-existent premises from its fixed wireless and satellite footprints, after more accurate data showed they did not exist.
While the reduction in premises did not appear to have a material impact on NBN Co’s projections in the recent corporate plan, it did cause some changes in the company’s planned capital expenditure.
-----
Vocus releases 'proof' NBN is bypassing retailers
Oct 21, 2019 — 12.00am
Telecoms firm Vocus has released a document it claims proves NBN Co is violating its wholesale-only mandate by directly contacting end users of its business products.
The evidence takes the form of a letter from NBN Co to an unnamed end business customer in which it makes a monetary offer to provide that customer with "Enterprise Ethernet", its high-speed fibre product for large businesses.
In the letter, seen by The Australian Financial Review, NBN Co offers to build fibre to the unnamed business' sites for a set fee, in an agreement that extends for three years after the roll-out is complete.
"Under the indicative proposal set out below, NBN proposes that you would be eligible for a $[redacted] upfront construction charge for the NBN component of the technology change at the build sites, provided that you pay any shortfall charge," the letter reads.
-----
We deserve better broadband
Coverage remains patchy, its economics are challenged, and rival technologies look attractive. Its time to sit with NBN and work out a solution.
John Mullen
Oct 21, 2019 — 12.00am
The coverage following my speech to shareholders at Telstra’s annual general meeting last Tuesday shows there remain entrenched and passionately held views about the creation of the national broadband network 10 years ago.
Although it was disappointing, I fully expected that many would see my comments as Telstra whingeing about loss of revenues and the fact that it is no longer the dominant incumbent. I also expected the calls of hypocrisy, given Telstra’s historical position as the monopoly provider.
However, Telstra today is a very different company from its monopoly days and if past events mean that Telstra is not allowed to express an opinion, then one is excluding the country's largest provider of critical communications infrastructure from engaging in constructive debate about our collective futures.
-----
Enjoy!
David.
