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
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Quite a lively week at the ADHA with another senior executive baling out. Apart from the Acting CEO there does not seem to be much of the Kelsey regime left. It has to be said that since Tim left it really has been exit central!
Otherwise it seems that WA is making a ‘courageous decision and Qld has stepped up on e-prescribing!
Enjoy the read!
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WA government commits AU$8m to build an electronic medical record system
Touting it will deliver 'patient-centric' healthcare across the state.
By Aimee Chanthadavong | August 7, 2020 -- 06:30 GMT (16:30 AEST) | Topic: Innovation
Getty Images/iStockphoto
The government of Western Australian has said it will commit AU$8 million to begin planning for a state-wide electronic medical record (EMR) system.
Once developed, the system will enable clinicians to view information such as patient notes, assessments, medical histories, and diagnostic test results in one place. It will also mean that patients no longer need to wait for medical records to be transferred between clinicians.
"The development of an electronic medical record system will enable information to be available across the full continuum of care -- not only promoting safety and quality but also saving lives," Western Australia Minister for Health Roger Cook said.
"It is wonderful to see the advancements being made in health as we progress on our digital journey, and planning for an electronic medical record system is a key component of this."
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Thursday, 06 August 2020 15:36
Australian Government launches new $1.67b cyber security strategy
The Australian Government is investing $1.67 billion in its 2020 cyber security strategy which it says will protect and strengthen the security and resilience of Australia’s critical infrastructure, and ensure law enforcement agencies have the powers and technical capabilities to detect, target, investigate and disrupt cyber crime – including on the dark Web.
The Morrison Government announced on Thursday that it would invest $1.67 billion 2020 in the new cyber security strategy, which it says is the largest ever Australian Government financial commitment to cyber security – and “builds on the strong foundations established by its predecessor” as well as building “new cyber security and law enforcement capabilities, to protect the essential services upon which we all depend, assist businesses to protect themselves and raise the community’s understanding of how to be secure online”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government's role was to keep Australian’s safe, and "it is important now, more than ever to protect Australians online from those who seek to do us harm”.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-finally-unveils-australias-new-cyber-security-strategy-551358
Govt finally unveils Australia's new cyber security strategy
By Justin Hendry on Aug 6, 2020 1:22PM
Places focus on critical infrastructure.
The federal government has finally unveiled its delayed cyber security strategy but left much of the detail to forthcoming legislation that is yet to be put before parliament.
The 52-page strategy [pdf], released on Thursday, will see $1.67 billion invested in a number of already-known initiatives aimed at enhancing Australia's cyber security over the next decade.
Much of the funding is from the previously announced $1.35 billion cyber enhanced situational awareness and response package.
The strategy’s key elements include proposed laws and an “enhanced regulatory framework” to secure critical infrastructure, deemed the “best way to protect Australians at scale”.
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Federal Police given new powers in $1.66 billion cyber security package
By Anthony Galloway
August 5, 2020 — 10.30pm
The Australian Federal Police will be given powerful new cyber tools to break into the networks of online paedophiles and terrorists using computer servers on the "dark web".
The new capability will allow the AFP to penetrate the computer networks of criminals operating domestically for the first time. The agency will be given $88 million to bolster its cyber capabilities under a $1.66 billion cyber security package to be unveiled on Thursday.
Releasing the nation's new four-year cyber security strategy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say the new powers are needed to "track criminals in the darkest corners of the internet to protect our families and children".
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said families and businesses were spending more time online and the country needed to make it safer.
"Paedophiles are targeting kids online in chat groups," Mr Dutton said.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/afp-used-anti-encryption-laws-three-times-in-2019-20-551370
AFP used anti-encryption laws three times in 2019-20
By Justin Hendry on Aug 6, 2020 3:50PM
But all were cooperative requests.
The Australian Federal Police used the government’s controversial anti-encryption laws three times last financial year to seek voluntary assistance from service providers when investigating serious crimes.
The data is contained in the force’s submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security review of the Assistance and Access Act, which was rushed through parliament at the end of 2018.
Under the legislation, law enforcement and national security agencies can effectively force service providers to “enable access” to a particular service, device or piece of software using a technical assistance notice (TAN) or technical capability notice (TCN).
A TAN can be used when the provider already has technical means to provide access to law enforcement, while a TCP can be used where the means does not exist and has to be built by the service provider.
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4D Medical float set to sizzle, as funds pile in
Yolanda Redrup Reporter
Aug 6, 2020 – 4.17pm
In the eight years since former Monash University professor Andreas Fouras founded soon-to-be listed lung imaging medical technology company 4D Medical, he has put everything on the line to get his business to where it is today.
When the company floats on the ASX on Friday with a market capitalisation of $193 million and an issue price of 73¢ per share, it will vindicate the decision by Dr Fouras and his family to sell their house, put all their savings into the business, give up their lives in Australia and move to the US.
"It's honestly surreal ... I was originally the inventor and for me the challenge was to prove the technology worked," Dr Fouras, the company's chief executive, told The Australian Financial Review.
"I realised there was no one else that could take it and make a difference with it. It was a chance to touch millions of lives and genuinely make a difference and that's a bigger opportunity than many inventors dream of."
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/woolworths-trials-voluntary-contact-tracing-at-12-supermarkets-551255
Woolworths trials voluntary contact tracing at 12 supermarkets
By Ry Crozier on Aug 4, 2020 1:23PM
Also expands pre-booking app use.
Woolworths is trialling voluntary contact tracing at 11 supermarkets in Victoria and one in NSW using QR codes that customers scan with their smartphones upon entry.
The trial, which Woolworths is calling the QR code contact tracing initiative, means customers can scan a QR code at the entrance to check in and register their contact details.
Woolworths said that all details entered by customers “will be encrypted, securely stored and only used to let customers know about a confirmed case in the store or to notify relevant health authorities and their nominated agencies for the purpose of contact tracing.”
“While checking in and sharing contact details will be voluntary for our customers, we encourage shoppers to make use of it in our trial stores,” Woolworths Supermarkets general manager for Victoria Andrew Hall said in a statement.
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'Incredibly distressing': Minister intervenes over patient death and bungled records
By Carrie Fellner
August 7, 2020 — 12.02am
Bungled medical records given to the family of a man who died following treatment in a western NSW hospital mistakenly contained confidential notes belonging to another patient, listed the wrong surgeon and were missing a key blood report.
These mistakes come amid revelations a ministerial review team investigating the patient's death interviewed his family the day before their reporting deadline and were then denied requests for more time to "adequately investigate" concerns raised at the meeting.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has now intervened after the Herald put questions to his office this week asking for an explanation of the pressing time constraints that prevented the review team’s deadline from being extended.
The patient’s family say Mr Hazzard telephoned on Tuesday evening and reassured them directly he would look into their concerns.
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https://opengovasia.com/australian-digital-health-agency-launches-new-elearning-course/
Australian Digital Health Agency launches new eLearning course
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) announced the launch of a new education resource aimed at helping clinical radiologists and other members of an individual’s healthcare team to develop a comprehensive understanding of My Health Record and how to navigate the system.
The ADHA is working with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) to launch the My Health Record Continuing Professional Development (CPD) modules for clinical radiologists and imaging practices.
The need
According to the latest statistics from January 2020 by ADHA, 43% of pathology and diagnostic imaging practices are connected to my Health Record.
Over 2019 the Agency’s focus was on GPs and pharmacists as primary healthcare providers and to date, 90% are registered and over 70% are now actively using My Health Record.
The Agency is working closely with other key healthcare provider groups such as clinical radiologists, to increase the use of My Health Record so that both consumers and healthcare providers can view this important health information.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/australias-national-health-cio-to-exit-551406
Australia's national health CIO to exit
By Justin Hendry on Aug 7, 2020 12:05PM
Resigns to join not-for-profit.
Australia’s national health chief information officer Ronan O’Connor has resigned after more than three years at the Australian Digital Health Agency.
O’Connor, who joined the agency responsible for the country’s My Health Record system and other national digital health systems in January 2017, will leave the top job on October 16.
His departure was first reported by Pulse+IT.
A spokesperson told iTnews that O’Connor has been appointed vice president, analytics international at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Former ADHA chief Tim Kelsey, who resigned last December, has also joined the not-for-profit organisation to become senior vice president, analytics international.
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https://www.themandarin.com.au/136960-senior-digital-health-bureaucrat-resigns-to-join-former-boss/
Senior digital health bureaucrat resigns to join former boss
Friday August 7, 2020
Another senior public servant has resigned from the Australian Digital Health Agency.
National health chief information officer Ronan O’Connor has left the agency to take on a role at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society — the same not-for-profit organisation that Tim Kelsey joined after departing his role as ADHA CEO late last year.
Kelsey and O’Connor worked together at the United Kingdom’s National Health Service before they were appointed to the ADHA in 2016 and 2017, respectively. At their new workplace, O’Connor will take on the role of vice president, analytics international, while Kelsey is senior vice president, analytics international, according to iTnews.
O’Connor reportedly hopes to move back to the UK in 2021.
At the ADHA, O’Connor led the implementation of the opt-out model for the My Health Record system. Australians previously had to opt-in to receive an electronic health record, which left the system experiencing extremely low engagement rates. ADHA statistics show that there were 22.77 million My Health Records in existence at June 2020.
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InterSystems Launches TrakCare® 2020 Enabling Rapid Response & Flexible Care
TrakCare® 2020 (T2020) provides rapid response and flexible capabilities to address diverse healthcare challenges around the globe, informed by clinical users worldwide
SYDNEY, Australia, August 6, 2020 - InterSystems, a creative data technology provider dedicated to helping customers solve the most critical scalability, interoperability, and speed problems, has announced the availability of the latest version of its TrakCare® Electronic Medical Record System; T2020.
The new version of TrakCare® was released on schedule during the pandemic, driven by InterSystems’ commitment to delivering solutions that address the rapidly evolving needs of healthcare organisations. The timing of the release enabled InterSystems to integrate COVID functionality into the new version, underpinned by the knowledge and expertise the company has gained learning from the challenges and requirements of its customers around the world. InterSystems has also made several COVID-19 enhancements available for free to users of earlier versions.
T2020 delivers an enhanced user experience, informed by clinical users from around the world to get right to the heart of improved clinician workflows. The intuitive and responsive mobile interface that scales across different devices, has been developed to reflect the platforms people already use in their personal lives, driving user adoption, reducing training time and accelerating processes to save clinicians time.
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Alcidion appointed to UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Communications Procurement Framework
Mobile clinical communications improve clinician and patient experience
Melbourne, Australia –
A new multi-million pound framework that will help the NHS ‘purge the pager’
provides NHS trusts in the UK with a means to quickly and easily procure
Alcidion’s Smartpage messaging system without tendering.
NHSX has awarded Alcidion a place on its £3 million Clinical Communications
Procurement Framework, a new procurement vehicle to help the NHS phase out
pagers by the end of next year.
Smartpage allows instant two-way messaging between busy professionals providing
them with read receipts and guaranteed delivery between all care team members,
as well as the ability to share images and assign tasks. Healthcare providers
using the system are also given organisation wide oversight in real time.
Lynette Ousby, UK general manager for Alcidion, said: “NHSX has shown a
commitment through this framework to accelerate the spread of modern
technologies in the health service that can help healthcare professionals
communicate effectively during the busiest of times.
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Start-up behind Theranos-like machine comes to Australia
Yolanda Redrup Reporter
Aug 5, 2020 – 11.00pm
An Israeli medical technology company trying to do what controversial defunct Silicon Valley start-up Theranos tried and failed to achieve is expanding to Australia with a $99 million capital raise ($US71 million).
Sight Diagnostics is applying artificial intelligence and machine vision technology to blood tests and has already received approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration and US Food and Drug Administration for its Complete Blood Count (CBC, or full blood count) analyser OLO.
OLO provides lab-grade results with two drops of blood from a person's finger in less than 10 minutes.
Founder and chief executive Yossi Pollak started the business in 2010, after previously working as an AI algorithm developer for self-driving car systems maker Mobileye, which was acquired by Intel for $US15.3 billion in 2017, and also working for Toyota and General Motors.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/app-review-screen-stopwatch-controlling-screen-time
App Review: Screen StopWatch - controlling screen time
A helpful way for patients, parents (and you) to monitor screen time
7th August 2020
The technology giants have all targeted healthcare recently: Apple with its AF-detecting smart watch; Facebook with its health screening reminders.
They won’t be sending sales reps to your clinic, but try finding even one patient who’s not been influenced by the marketing reach of Big Tech.
The latest pitch patients will be receiving is from Google — a ‘digital wellbeing’ app called Screen Stopwatch, dedicated to haranguing Android customers for overusing their smartphone in a bid to assuage people’s, and especially parents’, fears about excessive screen time.
Screen Stopwatch is simply a new lock screen that displays, in giant numbers, how many hours you’ve spent on your phone today.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/regis-healthcare-loses-data-in-maze-ransomware-infection-551183
Regis Healthcare loses data in Maze ransomware infection
By Ry Crozier on Aug 3, 2020 11:25AM
Prompts ACSC warning on broader campaign targeting aged care.
ASX-listed aged care provider Regis Healthcare has lost data to an overseas-based attacker that has also starting leaking it, prompting an industry-wide warning by federal cyber security authorities.
The company said today that it had “been targeted in a cyber attack by an overseas third party” that had “copied some data from [its] IT system and released certain personal data publicly.”
iTnews was able to confirm the cause of the incident as a Maze ransomware infection.
The Australian Financial Review reported that residential care and accommodation agreements for one care facility were among documents leaked.
“[We are] contacting parties whose personal data has been publicly released,” Regis Healthcare said in a statement.
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https://itwire.com/security/australian-aged-care-provider-regis-hit-by-windows-maze-ransomware.html
Tuesday, 04 August 2020 05:42
Australian aged care provider Regis hit by Windows Maze ransomware
Publicly-listed aged care provider Regis Healthcare has been hit by a gang using the Windows Maze ransomware, the company says in a note to the Australian Stock Exchange.
The company has not apparently agreed to pay the ransom demanded by the attackers because they have put up data stolen during the incident on the Maze website on the dark Web.
Of itself, Regis says it was established nearly 30 years ago, and provides services to more than 7000 older Australians through 65 residential aged care homes, six home care services, five day therapy centres and six retirement villages.
In its note to the ASX, Regis said it had been targeted by a foreign actor. "The company promptly implemented its back-up and business continuity systems and the incident did not affect delivery of resident care or services. The incident is not materially impacting Regis Healthcare’s day-to-day operations," the note, issued in the name of chief financial officer Rick Rostolis, said.
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Tuesday, 04 August 2020 11:33
Australia bucks trend as global broadband speeds plunge with COVID-19 lockdown
Global broadband speeds have dropped significantly during COVID 19 lockdown periods, according to a new report which reveals that Australia bucked the global trend with a small rise in measured speed of +5.38% during its lockdown period.
The report published by UK broadband comparison site Cable.co.uk - which analysed data from the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) - found that Australia and New Zealand experienced a combined average drop in measured Internet speeds of -12.05% - but this was due to New Zealand alone.
In fact the report reveals that New Zealand experienced a drop of -17.88% compared to Australia’s small rise of +5.38% during its lockdown period.
The global report covered over 364 million broadband speed tests provided by M-Lab led by a teams based at Code for Science & Society, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Google and Princeton University’s PlanetLab - to compare average Internet speeds in the 114 countries during and outside of their most stringent COVID-19 lockdown periods.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/massive-messaging-storm-takes-out-telstras-dns-infrastructure-551146
'Massive messaging storm' takes out Telstra's DNS infrastructure
By Ry Crozier on Aug 2, 2020 12:40PM
Walks back on earlier claims of denial-of-service attack.
A "massive messaging storm" overwhelmed a portion of Telstra's domain name server infrastructure for several hours on Sunday, causing widespread internet problems for mostly east coast customers.
The problems started at around 10.30am AEST and were resolved by about 2.30pm.
Telstra initially said in a statement on Twitter that some of its DNS infrastructure was targeted by a “cyber attack, known as a denial of service (DoS)”.
“We're blocking the malicious traffic attacking some of our services,” it said in a separate statement just after midday AEST.
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Telstra says massive outage was not malicious
James Fernyhough and Natasha Gillezeau
Aug 2, 2020 – 5.12pm
Telstra says a major home internet outage in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra on Sunday was not malicious, after initially reporting it as a cyber attack.
The telco addressed the issue on Twitter on Sunday morning, saying Domain Name Servers (DNS) used to route traffic online were experiencing a cyber attack known as a "Denial of Service (DoS)". It insisted customers' data was not at risk.
"We're blocking the malicious traffic attacking some of our services. We are confident we have blocked all of this malicious traffic and are working to get you back up and running again. Thanks for sticking with us," Telstra tweeted on Sunday morning.
But on Sunday afternoon it announced it had fixed the problem, saying it was not malicious after all.
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Telstra backtracks on claim network was hit by cyber attack
By Angus Thompson, Ben Grubb and Josh Dye
Updated August 2, 2020 — 3.53pmfirst published at 11.44am
Telstra has backtracked from claims it was the victim of a cyber attack after thousands of people across Australia reported outages on Sunday.
The telecommunications provider tweeted that it was looking into an issue impacting home internet connections, including those on the national broadband network (NBN). There were also reports from Telstra users that the internet connectivity of phones was also affected.
"We've identified the issue and are working on it," the telco said on social media. "Some of our Domain Name Servers (DNS) used to route your traffic online are experiencing a cyber attack, known as a Denial of Service (DoS). Your info isn't at risk. We're doing all we can to get you back online."
A Telstra spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the company was blocking the "malicious traffic" trying to attack its services and, as a result, that was having an impact on its NBN services.
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Telstra to extend 5G footprint despite takeup concerns
By Supratim Adhikari and Zoe Samios
August 3, 2020 — 12.00am
Telstra is planning to deliver 5G services across 75 per cent of the population by June next year in a bid to build a decisive lead over its rivals and encourage more consumers to make the jump to the new technology.
Telstra boss Andrew Penn told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the telco's decision in March to bring forward $500 million of capital expenditure, originally planned for the second half of fiscal 2021, has already helped it offer 5G services to more Australians.
"This investment means we have been able to accelerate our roll out of 5G, while injecting much needed investment into the Australian economy at this time."
Telstra’s 5G is already rolling out in 53 cities and regional towns across Australia and Mr Penn said that more than 10 million Australians now "live, work or pass through" the telco's 5G network footprint on a daily basis.
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'Natural radiation event' knocks NBN Sky Muster satellite offline
By Ry Crozier on Aug 5, 2020 1:41PM
Causes all-day nationwide outage.
NBN Co suffered a large-scale outage of its Sky Muster satellite internet service on Wednesday that impacted "most" of its network.
The problems started at about 9.30am AEST and were resolved by around 4.30pm.
“The NBN satellite network experienced a loss of connectivity impacting approximately 60,000 users nationwide, that are connected to satellite 1A only,” NBN Co said in an advisory notice.
“Customers may have experienced a loss of service or be unable to reattach to the NBN satellite network.”
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https://itwire.com/climate/nbn-satellite-outage-caused-by-extreme-weather-event.html
Wednesday, 05 August 2020 17:20
NBN satellite outage caused by extreme weather event
The NBN Co's Sky Muster satellite was hit by an outage today due to an extreme weather event, with services not available from about 10.30am till 4pm.
Replying to a tweet, the NBN Co said: "We’re currently experiencing an issue with one of our satellites. Just before 9.30am AEDT, we suspect the satellite experienced a natural radiation event – similar to an extreme weather event – and went into self-preservation mode to avoid being damaged.
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NBN cost blowout means it is poor value for money
By Paul Budde | 5 August 2020, 9:00am | 8 comments
The Government must act to make the NBN commercially viable, writes Paul Budde.
As with any large-scale project, you need a long-term vision on the investment that you are going to make. Once that vision is agreed upon, solid strategies need to be developed. Next is a careful design to ensure that what you have designed will work in practice.
Only then are you going to start with the execution process.
This was, by and large, the process that was launched in the mid-2000s when the country started to consider its broadband future.
In all, some 400 people across the country were involved in the various workgroups that collaborated with the government to develop a vision, the strategies, and a broad design of what became the NBN. This was a solid process and had broad community and industry support.
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NBN Co shows distribution of Sky Muster premises within 25km of Adelaide GPO
By Ry Crozier on Aug 4, 2020 12:04PM
Adds 574 premises to footprint in final seven months of build.
NBN Co has provided for the first time the distribution of premises within 25km of the Adelaide GPO that are mapped to receive a Sky Muster satellite service.
A fresh batch of numbers [pdf] released under freedom of information (FoI) also shows that NBN Co added 574 premises within 25km of the GPO to the Sky Muster footprint between mid-November last year and July 1 this year, a 24 percent increase.
However, it’s the detailed distribution of premises across the radius - at 5km increments - that is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this data release.
As iTnews has previously reported, there has long been interest in the number of metro - and metropolitan fringe - premises that NBN Co put into the Sky Muster footprint because the cost to serve them with other access technologies was considered too high.
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NBN Co shows distribution of Sky Muster premises within 25km of Adelaide GPO
By Ry Crozier on Aug 4, 2020 12:04PM
Adds 574 premises to footprint in final seven months of build.
NBN Co has provided for the first time the distribution of premises within 25km of the Adelaide GPO that are mapped to receive a Sky Muster satellite service.
A fresh batch of numbers [pdf] released under freedom of information (FoI) also shows that NBN Co added 574 premises within 25km of the GPO to the Sky Muster footprint between mid-November last year and July 1 this year, a 24 percent increase.
However, it’s the detailed distribution of premises across the radius - at 5km increments - that is perhaps the most interesting aspect of this data release.
As iTnews has previously reported, there has long been interest in the number of metro - and metropolitan fringe - premises that NBN Co put into the Sky Muster footprint because the cost to serve them with other access technologies was considered too high.
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SpaceX brings NASA astronauts home safe in milestone test flight
Justin Bachman and Dana Hull
Aug 3, 2020 – 6.40am
NASA completed a triumphant return to US space travel as SpaceX's Dragon capsule plopped into the Gulf of Mexico with two astronauts, successfully concluding the company's first crewed test flight to the International Space Station.
The spacecraft splashed down about 2.48pm Eastern time on Sunday (4.48am on Monday AEST) near Pensacola, Florida. A SpaceX vessel hoisted the vehicle carrying Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley onto its deck less than an hour after their arrival. The hatch opened at 3.59pm and the astronauts emerged a short time later.
"Welcome home," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a tweet.
The return of Behnken and Hurley capped the first mission in which US astronauts flew to the station on an American spacecraft since NASA's shuttle program ended in 2011. The highly anticipated flight also provided an inspiration for a nation grappling with a pandemic, civil unrest and a tattered economy. The astronauts launched for the space station on May 30 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket made by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies.
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Enjoy!
David.
