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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! It’s pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/make-australia-worlds-hardest-scam-target-gina-cass-gottlieb/
Make Australia ‘world’s hardest scam target’: Gina Cass-Gottlieb
Brandon
How
Reporter
20 July 2022
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb highlighted the importance of collaboration in the fight against scams and outlined the regulator’s three-pronged approach to make Australia the world’s hardest target for scammers.
In a speech to Law Council of Australia’s 2022 Consumer Law Forum in Sydney on Tuesday, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the three areas of focus for the regulator are stopping scammers from reaching consumers, educating consumers to stop scams and avoid becoming victims, and stopping funds from reaching scammers.
Ms Cass-Gottlieb also revealed that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are currently trialing an automated website takedown trial.
The regulators are working with United Kingdom-based Netcraft to remove scam websites reported to the ACCC’s Scamwatch and to ASIC. According to the ACCC chair, in the last three weeks dozens of malicious websites targeting Australians have been taken down with dozens more pending. The United Kingdom government’s National Cyber Security Centre over the last four years.
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Roundup: Monash Health sets up virtual clinic for blood pressure management and more briefs
Also, the Australian government is subsidising the cost of teleconsultation for the prescription of COVID-19 antiviral medications.
By Adam Ang
July 22, 2022 12:38 AM
Monash Health pilots virtual clinic for blood pressure management
Monash Health, a public health service in Victoria, has piloted its pharmacist-led virtual clinic for managing the blood pressure of patients with chronic diseases.
Dubbed Optimising One Medication with Patients (OOMPa), the virtual clinic sees patients for the titration and adjustment of their blood pressure medication.
Through a mobile app, pharmacists on-site can receive patients' real-time vital sign data collected through a Bluetooth-powered blood pressure cuff. With the data, pharmacists are able to adjust their medication dose online using a guideline-based protocol.
The online service, touted as the world's first, is being tried out among liver disease patients.
So far based on the trial, the virtual process has enabled pharmacists to constantly monitor for side effects and assess compliance while patients are able to see in real-time the results of taking their medication, according to Chloe McAinch, one of the clinic's lead pharmacists.
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https://digitalhealth.org.au/blog/critical-infrastructure-protection-act-now-covers-healthcare/
Critical Infrastructure Protection Act now covers healthcare
Jul 18, 2022 | Community Chats, Community of Practice, Cybersecurity, Data, Digital Health, eHealth
The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure Protection) Act 2022 came into effect on 8 April 2022.
Why is this relevant to me you ask?
Well, the amendment extends the scope of the of the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 to also apply to healthcare and the medical sector and has a set of regulatory functions under the Act such as the Risk Management Program, Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets and Mandatory Cyber Incident Reporting.
I heard that this is only relevant to hospitals and only ones with ICUs, is that correct?
The key focus of the current version of amendments is on hospitals with Intensive Care Units, however it is important for all healthcare organisations to be aware of the requirements as the original version of the Act amendments had a raft of additional considerations but got scaled down, so the scope is likely to be extended. I guess I am saying, take a bit of time out to familiarise yourself and be prepared!
OK, OK, so you have my attention, what is this all about?
Basically, from 8 April, hospitals need to register their critical infrastructure assets. You can do this at the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre (cisc.gov.au), for more info see this fact sheet CISC Factsheet – Register of Critical Infrastructure Assets 25 March 2022. Additionally, any security incident in relation to these assets needs to comply with mandatory cyber Incident reporting – see this fact sheet on the incident reporting processes CISC Factsheet – Cyber Security Incident Reporting.
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https://medinfo2023.org/about/aidh/
AIDH - MEDINFO
About AIDH
The Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH) is the peak body for digital health, representing a united and influential voice for health informatics and digital health leaders and practitioners.
The vision of the Institute is “healthier lives, digitally enabled”.
Fellows and Members of the Institute are actively involved in the national health agenda and the opportunities to advance healthcare delivered in a digital world.
The independent and not-for-profit Institute represents a broad and diverse membership of health informaticians, clinicians, researchers, healthcare managers and executives, data analysts, designers, project managers, business analysts, technologists and digital innovators.
Special digital health interest areas include precision health, genomics, virtual care, cybersecurity, clinical informatics, nursing informatics, health UX and digital public health.
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Kids’ online privacy threat
8:34PM July 21, 2022
The Coalition is urging the Labor government to implement new online privacy laws following an audit showing popular entertainment apps aimed at children were collecting and sharing personal data.
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Julian Leeser and communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson seized on an audit of 186 entertainment apps commissioned by Children and Media Australia.
The results showed that more than 100 of the apps contained risky code which allowed some companies to gather data and build profiles on children which could then “follow them for life.”
“Anthony Albanese and his government need to act now,” Mr Leeser and Ms Henderson told The Australian.
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Amazon makes $5.6b move into healthcare
Manas Mishra and Jeffrey Dastin
Jul 22, 2022 – 9.17am
New York | Amazon on Thursday (Friday AEST) agreed to buy primary care provider One Medical for $3.9 billion ($5.6 billion), expanding the e-commerce giant’s virtual healthcare and adding brick-and-mortar doctors’ offices for the first time.
The acquisition is the latest attempt by Amazon to become a leading player in the healthcare industry, from becoming an online pharmacy to providing telehealth services. One Medical offers a subscription-based model where users can pay a monthly fee to have access to doctors.
“We think healthcare is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention,” said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services.
The online retailer first piloted virtual care visits for its own staff in Seattle in 2019 before offering services to other employers under the Amazon Care brand. It likewise bought online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, underpinning a prescription delivery and price-comparison site it later launched.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/health-agencys-27-million-global-switch-exit-running-late/
Health agency’s $27 million Global Switch exit running late
Joseph
Brookes
Senior Reporter
21 July 2022
The Australian Digital Health Agency’s mandated move out of a Chinese owned data centre cost more than $27 million and is running late, missing the government’s deadline for a new data sovereignty scheme this month.
The health agency this week confirmed it was yet to finish decommissioning its hardware in the Global Switch Ultimo (GSU) facility in Sydney, but completed its migration of sensitive data earlier this month, around a week after the deadline.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) is one of four agencies which agreed to exit the GSU by the end of last month under a Home Affairs Affairs-led $115 million ‘securing sovereign data’ project, after missing an original self-imposed 2020 deadline.
The other members of the group – the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) – have all left the facility, meeting the latest June 30 deadline.
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Wednesday, 20 July 2022 12:14
Making Australia the world’s hardest target for scams: ACCC
The financial and emotional devastation caused by scams every year in Australia can be reduced if government, consumer groups and the private sector work together to make Australia a much harder target for scammers, according to ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
The chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - Australia’s competition watchdog - said this would require a three-pronged approach when delivering a speech to the Law Council of Australia’s 2022 Consumer Law Forum in Sydney on Tuesday night.
“First, we need to stop scammers reaching consumers by disrupting the means by which they contact would-be victims – whether through phone calls, SMS, email, social media,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
“Second, we need to better educate consumers so that if a scam contact makes it through to them, they are able to recognise it as a scam. Scammers are increasingly sophisticated and cunning in the ways they trick consumers and businesses, so this is a key challenge to address.
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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/article/the-hospital-of-the-future-1184154340
The hospital of the future
By Amy Sarcevic
Monday, 27 June, 2022
If you close your eyes and picture the hospital of the future, a few images may spring to mind. Robots wandering the hallways and checking patient vitals. Machines dishing out medications, or performing complex surgeries.
While these would not be foolish ideals to aim for, the Chief Executive of Health Infrastructure, Rebecca Wark, believes sometimes it is the simpler innovations that make the largest difference to patient experience.
“There is something to be said for simplicity when planning for future hospitals,” Wark said.
“Sweeping innovations that drastically alter clinical practice are important, but so are the more basic technology upgrades that make a big difference to patients and their families feeling comfortable — like better Wi-Fi connections, so that visitors stay by bedsides for longer.”
Wark’s aspirations for yet-to-be-invented healthcare technologies are of a similar ilk: simple tools that support people through the hospital system, or minimise clinician involvement.
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https://theconversation.com/6-steps-to-making-a-covid-plan-before-you-get-sick-187158
6 steps to making a COVID plan, before you get sick
Published: July 19, 2022 12.34pm AEST
Author
- Oliver Frank Disclosure statement
With COVID cases, hospital admissions and deaths resurging, every Australian needs to know what they can do to reduce their risk of becoming seriously unwell.
Last week, Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler advised Australians who are at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell with COVID to consult their GPs and make a plan for what they will do if they are infected.
But what should you ask your GP? And what information can you provide them with to ensure you have a COVID plan in place and can access the right treatment when you need it?
Antivirals for mild cases
Two oral COVID treatments are available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for use at home by people who have been diagnosed with mild COVID illness and who are at elevated risk of becoming seriously ill: Lagevrio and Paxlovid.
To reduce the risk of progression to severe disease and hospitalisation, these treatments must be started as soon as possible, within five days of when symptoms start.
Nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid) is the more effective of these two treatments but it can have complex interactions with many common medicines.
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Tuesday, 19 July 2022 08:32
TikTok admits Australian user data can be accessible, posing security and privacy concerns
Australian user data on TikTok can be accessed by the social media platform's employees, warns Shadow cybersecurity minister James Patterson.
Patterson wrote in a tweet last 4 July 2022 that he sent a letter to TikTok Australia following revelations in the US that user data is accessible in mainland China.
"Australian TikTok users deserve to know whether their private information is equally exposed," he wrote.
Almost a week after on 13 July 2022, TikTok Australia replied to Patterson's inquiry and admitted that Australian user data is also accessible in mainland China.
However, it said: "There are strict protocols in place to protect Australian user data. Australian user data is stored in Singapore and the US. Our security teams minimise the number of people who have access to data and limit it only to people who need that access to do their jobs. We have policies and procedures that limit our employees' internal access to Australian user data wherever they're based, based on need."
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Wartime CEO: Mark Zuckerberg’s ruthlessness is what Facebook needs now
By Parmy Olson
July 19, 2022 — 7.40am
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai sent a surprising memo to his staff this week: “Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days,” he wrote, according to tech news site The Verge.
Not only did his message underscore the increasingly challenging outlook for tech firms, it marked a shift to a tougher tone from the tech industry that is poised only to intensify in the weeks ahead. Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s own warning to employees last month was even darker: “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” he said in one of his weekly Q&As with staff. The Facebook founder added that he was pushing for more aggressive goals. “Some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you,” he added, “and that self-selection is okay with me.”
It’s a little jarring to hear a tech CEO turn up the heat in a way that echoes Jack Welch’s rank-and-yank approach to culling low performers. Tech companies, after all, have generally operated like employee nirvanas, paying high salaries and offering lavish perks from catered meals and free concerts, to on-site massage and egg freezing.
But the sharper tone is necessary. Tech has entered an unfamiliar era of uncertainty, marked by tumbling shares and hiring slowdowns — challenges that would have been shocking even a year ago. To make matters worse, social media firms like Google’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are also facing heightened regulatory scrutiny while trying to refashion their products on the fly to fend off competition from ByteDance’s TikTok.
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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/opinion/ahpras-made-serious-mistake-trying-silence-dr-david-berger
AHPRA's made a serious mistake in trying to silence Dr David Berger
Dr Miller is an anaesthetist in Perth and president of AMA WA.
15th July 2022
Dr David Berger has been told to pull his head in by the Medical Board of Australia who wants him to undergo a re-education course "in relation to behaving professionally and courteously to colleagues and other practitioners".
His offence, according to the board, was his passionate Tweets, sometimes containing the odd expletive, critiquing public health measures, dopey commentators and the politics of the pandemic.
This was the end result of an anonymous notification — or at least one where the 'name withheld from the registrant' — made to AHPRA
Doctors’ freedom to speak out on fundamental issues on public health, patient safety, ethical medical care should be sacrosanct.
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Distinguished professor says time Australia makes waves about gravity
6:53PM July 17, 2022
A Canberra professor has become the first Australian to join a prestigious international group studying the forces of gravity – which included names like the late Stephen Hawking – and has called on Australia to establish its own gravitational wave detector to be part of the next generation of scientific discovery.
Australian National University Distinguished Professor Susan Scott has dedicated her life to the study of gravitational waves rippling through space time, indicating phenomenon like the collision of black holes, with her work altering understanding of the deepest parts of the universe.
In recognition of her contribution, Professor Scott was elected as a Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. She is the first Australian to be chosen for the elite group, which was founded by colleagues of Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of general relativity in 1915.
The society connects researchers, organises conferences and publishes world-leading research.
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Health leaders face persistent barriers to effective data use: report
Philips Australia & New Zealand
Wednesday, 13 July, 2022
While many healthcare leaders trust the insights data delivers, they continue to face perennial barriers to effective data usage that stop them from fully using data and predictive analytics, according to a new report by Royal Philips.
The global health technology provider has released its Australian Future Health Index (FHI) 2022 report: ‘Healthcare hits reset: Priorities shift as healthcare leaders navigate a changed world’.
Now in its seventh year, the report is based on insights from 3000 respondents across 15 countries, including Australia, and explores how healthcare leaders are harnessing the power of data and digital technology as they look to address their key challenges coming out of the pandemic.
“The results of the 2022 report continue to show that Australian healthcare leaders believe digital technologies can solve some of the most pressing issues currently challenging our health system,” said Matt Moran, Managing Director of Philips Australia & New Zealand.
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Retailers would be breaking new laws governing facial recognition
John Davidson Columnist
Jul 15, 2022 – 5.02pm
The former human rights commissioner says that what Bunnings and Kmart are doing with facial recognition technology should be against the law “if it’s not already”.
The retailers are being investigated by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for potential breaches of Australia’s existing Privacy Act.
The retailers did not appear to be obtaining sufficient consent from customers to meet the standards of the upcoming model law, said Edward Santow, the former human rights commissioner and a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, who specialises in artificial intelligence.
UTS is drafting a model law with the participation of the federal government, due for release in September. If that law were adopted, what Bunnings and Kmart are doing would be illegal, Professor Santow told AFR Weekend.
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David.
