Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Monday, November 14, 2022

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 14 November, 2022.

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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It is clear the big news is the Medicare breach and the implications. It has become mainstream news to say the least!

A few other fun bits as well!

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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/09/victorians-covid-contact-tracing-data-sent-to-authority-for-potential-use-by-palantir

Victorians’ Covid contact tracing data sent for potential use by data mining platform

Exclusive: Australian data security experts described the July 2020 move involving controversial Palantir platform as ‘dubious’ and ‘outrageous’

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey

Wed 9 Nov 2022 01.00 AEDT Last modified on Wed 9 Nov 2022 08.35 AEDT

Under pressure to control spiralling Covid cases in July 2020, the Victorian government sent contact tracing data to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission in the hope a controversial data mining platform might help identify the source of mystery cases.

Data security experts described the move as “dubious” and “outrageous”.

The platform, Palantir, was founded by US tech billionaire Peter Thiel, one of former US president Donald Trump’s biggest donors in 2016. It has previously attracted criticism over its use by the US military, immigration agencies and spy agencies, and its application in predictive policing systems.

A Victoria department of health spokesperson confirmed that in July 2020 the department investigated using the Palantir platform for a new contact tracing tool.

Palantir, the all-seeing US tech company, could soon have the data of millions of NHS patients. My response? Yikes!

Arwa Mahdawi

“A sample set of de-identified mobility data was used to investigate whether the program could achieve what was required, with strict conditions in place about its use, accessibility and destruction,” the spokesperson said.

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https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/medibank-won-t-pay-ransom-as-breach-hits-9-7-million-20221107-p5bw2d

Medibank won’t pay ransom as breach hits 9.7m

Ayesha de Kretser Senior Reporter

Nov 7, 2022 – 9.17am

Medibank says it won’t pay a ransom to hackers who stole the data of as many as 9.7 million Australians and has warned past and present customers they may get a call from the criminals or see their data online.

Australia’s biggest health insurer confirmed the hack had accessed the name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address for around 9.7 million current and former customers and some of their authorised representatives.

It said about 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million AHM customers and around 1.8 million international customers were involved, but only international students were likely to have had their primary identity documents also breached because they are not kept on file for residents.

“Customers should remain vigilant as the criminal may publish customer data online or attempt to contact customers directly,” the company said in a statement.

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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/medibank-will-not-pay-cyber-ransom/news-story/b545c92063942f0e8e5a19b8d4caa871

Medibank will not pay cyber ransom after 10m customers compromised

David Swan and Sarah Ison

7:52AM November 7, 2022

Medibank will not pay any ransom demand for the data theft that affected nearly 10 million of its current and former customers, and will commission an external review into the massive breach.

The insurance giant’s CEO David Koczkar says no ransom payment has been made to the criminal, a position consistent with the federal government’s advice to not pay cyber ransoms.

“Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts we believe there is only a limited chance paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published,” Mr Koczkar said in a statement on Monday morning.

“In fact, paying could have the opposite effect and encourage the criminal to directly extort our customers, and there is a strong chance that paying puts more people in harm’s way by making Australia a bigger target.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/medibank-says-it-wont-pay-ransom-587458

Medibank says it won't pay ransom

By Richard Chirgwin on Nov 7, 2022 9:48AM

Details what customer data was accessed in breach.

Medibank has published a granular analysis of what data was impacted and for which customers as a result of last month's cyber attack, and says it won't pay a ransom to the attackers.

In a statement to the ASX, Medibank said that for around 9.7 million customers (5.1 million Medibank customers, 2.8 million ahm customers and 1.8 million international customers), the attackers accessed name, date of birth, address, phone number, and email address.

Medicare numbers, but not expiry dates, were accessed for ahm customers.

Medibank said it doesn’t collect primary identity documents for Australian residents “except in exceptional circumstances”, so Medibank and ahm customers did not have those exposed.

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https://itwire.com/business-it-news/security/medibank-now-says-data-of-9-7m-current,-former-customers-accessed.html

Monday, 07 November 2022 09:38

Medibank now says data of 9.7m current, former customers accessed

By Sam Varghese

Medical insurer Medibank Group has increased its estimate of the number of customers who could be affected by the theft of data from its networks, saying the attacker(s) accessed data of some 9.7 million current and former subscribers.

In a statement issued to the ASX on Monday, the company said the attacker(s) had "accessed the name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address for around 9.7 million current and former customers and some of their authorised representatives. This figure represents around 5.1 million Medibank customers, around 2.8 million ahm customers and around 1.8 million international customers".

When it first announced its systems had been breached, Medibank said there was no indication of any sensitive data having leaked. Later, it said the data stolen was limited to ahm and international students. Even later, it said data of all its 3.9 million customers could have been taken.

And finally, on 27 October, the company said patient information from My Home Hospital, a joint venture between Calvary and Medibank implemented on behalf of Wellbeing SA and the South Australian Government, had also been accessed by the attacker(s).

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https://itwire.com/business-it-news/security/ransomware-group-threatens-to-post-medibank-data-on-dark-web.html

Tuesday, 08 November 2022 05:34

Ransomware group threatens to post Medibank data on dark web

By Sam Varghese

The operator of a ransomware blog, which hosts a copy of the site formerly used by the REvil gang, claims that data from Australia's Medibank Group will be posted on the dark web in 24 hours.

Exactly when the post was made is unknown, but it comes soon after the company, on Monday, made a big deal about announcing that it would not pay a ransom to the attacker(s) who had hit its systems. It was later updated to include a screenshot of ABC satirist Mark Humphries who recently published a video about Medibank's woes.

The company announced to the ASX that the number of current and former customers affected by the attack could be as many as 9.7 million.

Chief executive David Koczkar said Medibank would not pay any ransom because there was little chance that it "would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published".

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https://www.afr.com/technology/medibank-hackers-start-posting-stolen-data-20221109-p5bwoa

Medibank hackers start posting stolen data

Max Mason and Ayesha de Kretser

Updated Nov 9, 2022 – 8.09am, first published at 6.52am

Russia-linked criminals have made good on their promise to post on the dark web allegedly stolen Medibank data, including sensitive health information, after the insurer ruled out paying a ransom.

Russia-backed cybercriminal group REvil started posting client data stolen from Australia’s largest health insurer just after midnight. It appears they are slowly dumping the data, rather than all at once. The post is on a dark web blog which requires a specialist tor web browser to access.

On Monday, Medibank was forced to admit 9.7 million Australians have had their data stolen, including people who could be in significant danger if their information was misused.

Hundreds of names, addresses, birthdates and Medicare details were being posted under “good-list” and “naughty-list” on a blog belonging to the group. The information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, nationality and email address.

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https://itwire.com/business-it-news/security/ransomware-group-keeps-its-word,-posts-medibank-data-on-dark-web.html

Wednesday, 09 November 2022 05:00

Ransomware group keeps its word, posts Medibank data on dark web

By Sam Varghese

A ransomware group that on Tuesday threatened to post data stolen from medical insurer Medibank Group on the dark web has kept its word and released a small sample of what it claims is the data it appropriated.

The operator of this group, that hosts a copy of the site formerly used by the REvil gang, said the data was stored "in not very understandable format (tables dumps) we'll take some time to sort it out and we posting (sic) a small part of the data, in 'human readable format (sample in json file )' also we post all raw data.

"We'll continue posting data partially, need some time to do it pretty." The attacker also said the negotiation process was detailed within the leaked data.

"We'll continue posting data partially, including confluence, source codes, list of stuff and some files obtained from medi filesystem from different hosts."

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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/medibank-hacker-posts-stolen-data/news-story/d9692eaf4d13f985e7560e86c9d7d27c

Medibank hacker posts data of drug addicts, HIV positive customers

David Swan

Sarah Ison

November 9, 2022

Medibank customers with drug addictions and some who have tested positive for HIV are among those to have had their data leaked in the first tranche of sensitive personal information dumped by Russian hackers on Wednesday.

The data, posted in an unencrypted file named ‘naughty-list’ on the dark web for anyone to download, includes details for around 100 patients including if they had been treated for drug use, alcohol abuse anxiety, cannabis dependence or opioid addictions.

A so-called ‘good-list’ has also been posted, containing customer information including names and home addresses, birth dates and Medicare details.

The ransomware group has posted the details of hundreds of Australian customers so far after it gave Medibank 24 hours on Tuesday to pay a cyber ransom, which the company said it wouldn’t.

“Looking back that data is stored not very understandable format (table dumps) we’ll take some time to sort it out,” they wrote in a post on the dark web at around 1am AEDT on Wednesday.

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https://www.afr.com/technology/unsw-phd-graduates-medtech-start-up-wins-funds-from-blackbird-20221109-p5bwru

UNSW PhD graduates’ medtech start-up wins funds from Blackbird

Yolanda RedrupReporter

Nov 11, 2022 – 5.00am

Australians at risk of developing vascular disease could be diagnosed earlier thanks to a new imaging technology being developed by a local start-up that is hoping to follow in the footsteps of companies like 4DMedical and Pro Medicus.

Medical imaging company Vexev is developing simple to use, low-cost, ultrasound-based 3D imaging hardware and software, designed to be used by imaging labs and diabetes clinics to assess the blood flow in veins and arteries to identify vascular diseases earlier.

Despite not yet having a revenue-generating product, the imaging tech start-up has scored an $8.5 million cash injection from San Francisco based deep-tech investor Neotribe Ventures, alongside existing local investor Blackbird Ventures. Deep tech investors favour projects that typically combine science and engineering, with longer time horizons for development.

The funding is expected to support the company through to a commercial launch.

The start-up was founded by Dr John Carroll and Dr Eamonn Colley in 2018 following four years studying blood flow dynamics in depth as part of their PhDs at the University of New South Wales. Through this, they worked closely with patients suffering from diseases such as peripheral artery disease and deep vein thrombosis.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/st-vincents-health-australia-re-architects-incident-data-system-587448

St Vincent's Health Australia re-architects incident data system

By Ry Crozier on Nov 7, 2022 6:30AM

St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA) has set up a new enterprise-wide system to record, manage, and analyse data about incidents involving patients, clients, and residents across their hospitals, aged care facilities, and services nationwide.

Manager of clinical governance informatics, Edel Murray, told the iTnews Podcast that the application, called SVHA Riskman, replaced five previous instances of a system formerly known as just ‘Riskman’.

“Historically, St. Vincent's was divided into different divisions, and each of those divisions had a different instance of Riskman, depending on what they were using it for. When we came together as a larger, broader organisation, we wanted to be able to look at safety and quality data right across the organisation, and to share learnings,” Murray explained.

“If one particular area was performing really well, then what were they doing that might be different to another area of the organisation? We just could not do that with the five different instances.”

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https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/622583/NZ-Health-Terminology-Service-to-launch-at-Digital-Health-Week.htm

NZ Health Terminology Service to launch at Digital Health Week

Tuesday, 8 November 2022  

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The NZ Health Terminology Service is being launched at Digital Health Week this December, eventually providing access to all standard code sets, including those underpinning the new NZ International Patient Summary (NZIPS).

Alastair Kenworthy, chief standards advisor for data and digital at Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, will launch it during a NZ Health Terminology Service Connectathon in Rotorua on December 5.

He says standard terminologies and code sets ensure common meaning in health data, enabling interoperability across the system and improving patient safety through accurate information recording and communication. Health providers and their industry partners will be able to use the service to keep the code tables in their own systems up to date.

Kenworthy expects to have all the relevant code sets for the NZIPS published on the NZ Health Terminology Service over the next six months.

The International Patient Summary (IPS) is an internationally recognised data standard that includes an individual's core personal health information, such as health conditions, medicines, allergies, immunisations, and test results.
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https://itwire.com/government-tech-news/technology-regulation/accc-calls-for-new-competition-and-consumer-laws-for-digital-platforms.html

Friday, 11 November 2022 10:32

ACCC calls for new competition and consumer laws for digital platforms

By Staff Writer

Australia’s competition watchdog, the  Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), has called for new competition and consumer laws for digital platforms and recommended a range of new measures to address harms from the platforms to Australian consumers, small businesses and competition.

The fifth report of the ACCC’s five-year  Digital Platform Services Inquiry has proposed that platforms be subject to mandatory dispute resolution processes and stronger requirements for combating scams, harmful apps and fake reviews, among other measures.

The Report has also proposed mandatory codes of conduct for certain platforms and services to protect and promote competition.

“We know that the expansion of digital platforms in Australia has brought many benefits to Australian consumers and businesses,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/teletrial-program-to-expand-across-australia-1530072745

Teletrial program to expand across Australia

Friday, 11 November, 2022

A national program spearheaded by Queensland Health to expand the reach of clinical trials Australia-wide is continuing under a multimillion-dollar agreement.

Queensland Health has officially announced the implementation of the Australian Teletrial Program (ATP) until 4 October 2026, which is underpinned by a $75 million commitment from the Commonwealth Medical Research Future Fund.

First piloted in 2018, the ATP leverages digital telehealth technology to create an interconnected network of rural, regional and remote clinical trial sites across Australia.

The initiative means clinicians and participants can take part in clinical trials remotely, overcoming the need for participants to travel long distances to metropolitan centres.

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https://itbrief.com.au/story/macquarie-cloud-services-signs-deal-with-icon-group

Macquarie Cloud Services signs deal with Icon Group

By Mitchell Hageman

Managing Editor

7 Nov 2022

Macquarie Cloud Services, part of Macquarie Telecom Group, has signed a new deal with one of Australia's largest comprehensive cancer care providers, Icon Group (Icon).

The deal involves the management of Icon's platforms through a Microsoft Azure environment.

Since engaging MCS, Icon says it has navigated a global expansion with secure and scalable services and met new regulations in the pharmacy industry against a tight deadline.

Icon provides all aspects of cancer care, including medical oncology, radiation oncology, haematology, research, pharmacy and chemotherapy compounding to deliver end-to-end service for patients. 

Mark Holmes, Head of IT Infrastructure, Icon, says the group has relied in the past on flexible and innovative technology to deliver patient care, however a recent expansion into Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong and New Zealand has necessitated the move to a secure and scalable environment.

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https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/plenary-consortium-wins-600m-unsw-health-hub-20221104-p5bvp2

Plenary consortium wins $600m UNSW health hub

Michael Bleby Senior reporter

Nov 6, 2022 – 7.00pm

A consortium led by Australian infrastructure investment specialist Plenary and backed by property investor ISPT and super funds HESTA and UniSuper, will develop a new $600 million building for the University of NSW on Sydney’s southern edge to enable collaboration between academics, healthcare practitioners and industry.

Plenary and its three other investment partners will fund the 35,600 square metre UNSW Health Translation Hub, which will directly connect to a new Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage 1 and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre as well as to UNSW’s existing Kensington Campus.

A Plenary-led consortium has won the contract to deliver and operate UNSW’s new Health Translation Hub in Sydney’s Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct. 

It’s the first NSW property project for Plenary, but the company that has traditionally been a developer of infrastructure has a track record in healthcare and life sciences already, through projects such as the $1.1 billion Victoria Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

But it comes as real estate investors the world over are lining up to claim part of the growing market for life sciences, a real estate asset class expected to grow by two-thirds to 2 million square metres-worth over the two decades to 2042 in response to ageing populations in wealthy countries.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/brisbanes-virtual-ed-goes-statewide/80788

8 November 2022

Brisbane’s virtual ED goes statewide

By Holly Payne

GPs across Queensland will soon have a new option to help patients bypass the physical emergency department, as the state expands the telehealth ED model currently used in northern Brisbane.

It will be funded under the Connected Community Pathways initiative, which received a $67.5 million commitment from the state government.

“This is already making a difference in Brisbane’s northside and we want to replicate that success around Queensland,” Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said.

“It’s not only relieving demand on our busy emergency departments but it’s providing a streamlined and comfortable service to patients in their own home, by allowing people to access expert clinical advice remotely.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/south-australian-health-and-medical-research-institute-upgrades-it-587540

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute upgrades IT

By Jeremy Nadel on Nov 10, 2022 6:31AM

To support processing-intensive research projects.

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) has reduced its data centre footprint by 75 percent and upgraded its high performance computing cluster to meet the needs of its processing intensive research. 

SAHMRI head of ICT James Barona told iTnews that the not-for-profit research organisation replaced a multi-vendor environment with HPE’s GreenLake platform. 

Its corporate environment, including servers, storage and network devices, was assembled over an eight-year period but was siloed to different applications or lines of business. 

The organisation has since transitioned its IT workloads, such as data and medical image storage and clinical registries, to GreenLake.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/eastern-health-taps-powerhealth-consolidate-16-billing-systems

Eastern Health taps PowerHealth to consolidate 16 billing systems

Its new billing system has simplified processes and reduced missed revenues.

By Adam Ang

November 08, 2022 11:34 PM

Eastern Health, one of Melbourne's largest metropolitan public health services, has consolidated its billing systems into a single enterprise-wide system through its partnership with PowerHealth.

The PowerHealth Power Billing and Revenue Collection (PBRC) is now managing the billing for the entire patient journey across Eastern Health's emergency department, inpatient and outpatient, theatre and prosthetic billing, pharmacy, allied health, transition care, ambulatory care, pathology, medical imaging and cardiology services.

Aside from putting up a single billing system, the organisations also worked on setting up an integrated mail house with PBRC to allow the automatic generation of patient correspondence by SMS, email or mail. A hand-held electronic device called PBRC Mobile has been delivered to clinicians for recording services for billing. 

Additionally, the PBRC has been integrated with the health service's rostering system to obtain clinician roster information and to assist in the identification of potentially missed billing for services. The system is also being used for management reporting.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/australian-teletrial-program-expand-nationwide-45m-funding

Australian Teletrial Program to expand nationwide with $45M funding

This comes following its pilot in Queensland which started in 2018.

By Adam Ang

November 08, 2022 11:28 PM

A national programme that seeks to expand the reach of clinical trials across Australia will continue to be implemented over the next four years with A$75 million ($45 million) investment from the Commonwealth Medical Research Future Fund.

The Australian Teletrial Program (ATP), which was first piloted in 2018, leverages telehealth technology to create a network of rural, regional and remote clinical trial sites nationwide. It allows clinicians and participants to take part in clinical trials remotely so they will no longer have to travel long distances to major cities.

Queensland Health will continue to head the programme as the lead jurisdiction with Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory as programme partners.

In Queensland, multiple hospitals and health services (HHS) will be involved in the programme with the Townsville HHS hosting the regional ATP clinical trial coordinating centre, a specialist unit of senior clinical staff working collaboratively with primary and satellite sites to conduct tele-trials. Townsville has been providing virtual specialist care in rural and remote areas since 2007 and is ideally positioned as a coordinating centre for ATP given its dispersed location.

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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/app-tracking-menses-and-more-for-endo-adeno-and-pcos-patients/

App: Tracking menses and more for endo, adeno and PCOS patients

Siobhan Calafiore

9 November 2022

Unlike most period apps available, QENDO not only helps patients track their menstrual cycle, pain and mood but is also a tool to manage chronic illness.
 
It is aimed at people with endometriosis, adenomyosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome who are after an easy way to record information to later share with their doctors.
 
There is an ovulation diary where patients can keep record of their symptoms, including pain, bleeding, bowel and bladder function, headaches, bloating, breast tenderness, temperature, stress and energy levels, mood and mental clarity.
 
The app also allows the user to go further and identify their own symptoms, assess patterns and frequency of flare ups and detail pain location, intensity and sensation.
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https://www.intersystems.com/au/news/painchek-partners-with-intersystems-to-take-mobile-pain-assmt-app-to-hospitals-new-markets/

PainChek Takes Mobile Pain Assessment App to Hospitals and Other New Markets in Partnership with InterSystems 

InterSystems IRIS for Health scales up PainChek’s capacity to integrate with electronic medical record systems, including InterSystems TrakCare, and future FHIR-based home care systems  

Sydney, Australia – November 7, 2022 – InterSystems, a provider of next-generation solutions for enterprise digital transformation to help customers solve the most critical data challenges, today announced a global partnership agreement with Australian-based PainChek®, developer of the world’s first smartphone-based pain assessment and monitoring application. 

Under the agreement, PainChek is using InterSystems IRIS for Health™ to integrate its application with electronic medical record (EMR) systems – including the InterSystems TrakCare® unified healthcare information system. More than one billion health records worldwide are managed using InterSystems technology. Combining the companies’ platforms will facilitate PainChek’s hospital global market entry and help transform pain management in the hospital sector and, in the future, new markets like home care that would also benefit from accurate and reliable pain assessment. 

PainChek’s software-as-a-service (SaaS), artificial intelligence (AI) platform uses smart devices with cameras to accurately evaluate patients’ pain levels. PainChek’s reliability and consistency improves care and saves time and money for healthcare providers. For example, clinicians with different bedside manners may record different verbal assessments. Many patients cannot or do not reliably describe their pain levels, are pre- or non-verbal, or are not lucid at the time. 

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ANDHealth - Special Announcement: 8 November 2022

ANDHealth is excited to announce a new collaboration with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) healthcare team to deliver the AWS Healthcare Accelerator Australia/New Zealand for Aged Care and Digital Health.

 “This program allows companies to access the enormous capability and capacity within the AWS healthcare team to rapidly scale both their technology and customer networks. We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with AWS to bring our combined expertise to companies seeking to solve the major aged care and digital health challenges associated with an ageing population.” – Bronwyn Le Grice, CEO and Managing Director, ANDHealth.

Accelerate Healthcare and Aged Care Startup Solutions with AWS
The AWS Healthcare Accelerator Australia/New Zealand for Aged Care and Digital Health, delivered in collaboration with ANDHealth, is a four-week technical, business, and mentorship accelerator that will scale high-potential startups focusing on health technology solutions looking to solve the increasing challenges of an ageing population.

The proportion of people 65 and over in Australia has increased from 12.4% to 16.3% between 2000 and 2020[1], with the over 65 group projected to increase more rapidly over the next decade. This creates increased demand across the healthcare and aged care systems, creating challenges around funding, low uptake of new technologies, workforce requirements, quality of care and the ability to support patients and the elderly in their homes.

To help address the challenges of an ageing population, the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care has embarked on a digital transformation initiative for the aged care sector to create a better-connected sector that is consolidated, sustainable, automated and modern.
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https://www.dayhospitalsaustralia.net.au/australian-digital-health-agency-update-webinar-series/

Australian Digital Health Agency Update Webinar Series

11th November 2022

General,

The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) are hosting  a webinar three times a year commencing November 2022 to provide updates on the Agency’s progress on a wide range of digital health initiatives.

The first webinar will be held on Wednesday 30 November at 2pm-4pm AEDT. Click here to register 

If you have any questions email StrategicEngagement@digitalhealth.gov.au.

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https://www.ddwmphn.com.au/upcoming-events/introduction-to-my-health-record-3

Introduction to My Health Record

This session is designed for healthcare providers with no prior experience of using My Health Record. Join this webinar to learn more about the benefits of having access to clinical information through My Health Record. This session will provide you with an overview of key clinical documents and outline access controls and notifications which can be set for My Health Record by patients. The session will include a short demonstration through a clinical software system and provide an opportunity to ask questions.

For more information, contact Australian Government - Australian Digital Health Agency.

Thu 10 Nov

When
11:30am - 12:00pm,
Thursday 10 November 2022

Where
Online

Organiser
Australian Government - Australian Digital Health Agency

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/59170716?type=standout

Senior Policy Advisor

Australian Digital Health Agency

Sydney NSW

Policy, Planning & Regulation (Government & Defence)

$125,047 - $142,618 total remuneration incl super

Full time

Nov 11, 2022

About the Agency

The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them.

About the Role

The EL1 Senior Policy Advisor is accountable, under broad direction, to provide specialist policy advice to inform the development and implementation of digital health policies, work collaboratively to support the progress of Agency initiatives and projects, and shape strategic thinking. 

The EL1 Senior Policy Advisor is responsible for providing specialised policy knowledge in relation to relevant legislation. They will successfully engage with a wide variety of stakeholders to deliver effective solutions to challenging problems and opportunities and develop well informed policy advice on complex matters in tight timeframes that meets the needs of the Agency and the government.

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/59154986?type=standout

Data Engineer

Australian Digital Health Agency

Sydney NSW

Developers/Programmers (Information & Communication Technology)

$101,757 - $114,800 per annum

Full time

11 Nov, 2022

About the Agency

The Australian Digital Health Agency is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them.

About the Role

As part of the Digital Strategy division, you will be part of a team responsible for national digital health design and strategy, underpinned by strong clinical governance and digital health standard. The APS6 Data Engineer will undertake work that is very complex and sensitive and operate under broad direction, applying sound decision making and judgement to produce high quality outcomes. In addition, the APS6 Data Engineer will also be tasked with:

  • Providing expert advice on complex data ingestion problem solving and issues management. 
  • Ensure quality outputs including maintaining a high level of data quality within analytics platform. 
  • Support reporting requirements by analysing, extracting, and publishing information on anomalies, insights, and trends.
  • Work with a focus on research, analysis, and judgement to manage complex issues.
  • Partner with Data Analysts and other teams to build foundational data sets that are trusted, well understood, and aligned with business strategy. 
  • Providing highly granular level of detail to inform digital health business decisions

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/59161293?type=standout

Assistant Director, Data & Reporting

Australian Digital Health Agency

Sydney NSW

Government - Federal (Government & Defence)

$125,047 - $142,618 TRP incl superannuation

Full time

Posted 11 Nov, 2022

About the Agency 

The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them. 

 About the Role 

This position is responsible for supporting the Director of the Data & Reporting team in delivery of team aims. The team consists of Reporting Analyst, Data Scientists, and Project Specialists. The objective of the section is to design customer-centric information resources and implement new capability through innovative systems and processes that improve service delivery. This is achieved by placing data at the heart of decision-making, with advanced analytics providing intelligence that continuously improve processes and information flows. There are three areas that will be directly supported and enabled by DID. These are Research and Insights and Experience and Service Design. 

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/59123102?type=standout

Release Coordinator

Australian Digital Health Agency

Canberra ACT

Management (Information & Communication Technology)

$101,757 - $114,800 TRP incl superannuation

Full time

8 Nov, 2022

About the Agency

The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them.

About the Role

Reporting to the Assistant Director, Change and Release Management (CARM) section, within the Technology Operations Division, this position is responsible for providing release co-ordination and management and broader operational support. From time to time, there may be a requirement to assist other areas of the Operational Branch as a whole.

Key requirements of this role include: 

  • Strong understanding of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) principles and practices. 
  • Strong understanding of Program/Project Management/Release Management.
  • Fundamental understanding of the ITIL process. 
  • Strong written and oral communication skills, including experience building release schedules, drafting documentation, process development.
  • Coordinate and monitor release activities to ensure timely and accurate outcomes which meet key performance measures. 
  • Develop, publish, communicate, and enforce release management policies and standards across all teams. 
  • Maintain integrity in release execution by monitoring each phase of the release. 
  • Validate the release as it progresses through various release gates including planning, design, build, and test phases, alerting appropriate stakeholders of any risks or issues that need to be addressed. 
  • Maintain release area on Collaborate and shared location, file deliverables, risks, issues, milestones, and decisions for future reference. 
  • Identify, analyse and escalate issues and risks which may impact the team’s ability to deliver releases within expected timeframes. 
  • Validate pre deployment deliverables and activities. 
  • Provide release coordination and communication during and after deployment. 
  • Develop and document solutions to problems impacting the release program and escalate as appropriate. 
  • Identify opportunities to improve the release processes and policies, including documentation and dissemination to key stakeholders. 
  • Review and update existing processes and policies and create new ones as needed.

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/59121885?type=standout

CRM Manager

Australian Digital Health Agency

Sydney NSW

Direct Marketing & CRM (Marketing & Communications)

$120,000 - $139,999

Full time

8 Nov, 2022

The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them. 

 About the Role 

Reporting directly to the Director, Incident & Problem Management, the CRM Manager is responsible for the Agency’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM instances. This management includes strategic planning, business analysis, design, and development/configuration oversight. To manage such a broadly-used system successfully, the successful applicant will have hands-on Dynamics 365 experience, change management experience, strong interpersonal skills and experience in developing documentation and delivering training.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-eyes-25gbps-services-587581

NBN Co eyes 25Gbps services

By Richard Chirgwin on Nov 10, 2022 5:20AM

Plus core upgrades, network virtualisation.

NBN Co CTO Ray Owen has unveiled some of the upgrades the network builder has in mind as it pushes the capability of residential fibre beyond the current single gigabit speeds.

Speaking to the CommsDay Wholesale Forum, Owen foreshadowed upgrades from the edge of the network to the core.

He said NBN Co is in the vendor selection process to upgrade speeds available to fibre customers using the XGS-PON passive optical network standard. 

The company first ran XGS-PON at 10Gbps symmetrical in its labs in 2017 [pdf].

“We’re helping define standards for 50Gbps and 100Gbps PON going forward”, Owen said.

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Enjoy!

David.

Sunday, November 13, 2022

I Sometimes Worry About Just How Much Is Real In What We Hear From Some Organisations.

As you would imagine I see all sorts of publications in the Digital Health area. An example it this.

Lifelong learning key to our digital health future

Nicole Bittar
Contributor

With a mission to connect government, consumers, academia and researchers to deliver a cooperative approach to digital health innovation, the Digital Health CRC is at the forefront of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing society today. 

However, there is one fundamental challenge that is often overlooked in the push to innovate and commercialise new technologies; that is the need to train and upskill the current and future workforce who will be critical to the success of this new way of delivering patient care.  

In terms of the digital health evolution, this challenge is critical for the Digital Health CRC (DHCRC) which plays an important advocacy role in digital health — particularly in educational upskilling.    

“Because technology is moving so quickly, we need to be able to upskill people in parallel (with traditional skills), and find effective new ways of doing that,” said DHCRC education manager Dr Melanie Haines. 

“One way to look at it is as a spectrum where your learning happens progressively throughout your career. It traditionally starts with formal education at university, but given the speed of change and rapid take-up of technology, you’re not just going to learn once; you’re continuing to learn across your entire career.” 

In this context, digital upskilling will fall on the health sector, employers, and employees themselves to adopt a mindset of lifelong learning, in order to fully embrace the opportunities presented in digital health. 

“Digital upskilling means enabling or empowering the development of a mindset where technology augments (traditional) practices. It’s not just a digital replacement of a previously manual task, but a broadening of these capabilities,” said the DHCRC research director Dr Clare Morgan. 

“To this end, the DHCRC is supporting research into how clinicians can adopt the behavioural change that’s required to embrace technology and how clinicians change when they’re challenged by data.

“It’s not a sensible approach to invest in implementing new technologies if the people on the ground don’t have the skills to realise the full potential of these applications.” 

Sustainable learning that moves with the times 

A key pillar of the program of activity at DHCRC is to invest in upskilling and educating the next generation of healthcare professionals. 

The DHCRC oversees the delivery of a range of graduate and internship training programs which include two recently established initiatives: a clinical fellowship with the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH) and a micro-credentials program at RMIT University. 

The fellowship offered by the DHCRC is a global first, said Dr Haines — and the lack of established career pathways in digital health was the catalyst for the program.  

“The DHCRC fills an important gap by providing a clinical fellowship that allows for a nationally recognised digital program in clinical health,” she said. 

“For clinicians that want to be a recognised expert in digital health, we’ve established a fellowship program where you can effectively work towards that vocation.”

Essentially, this digital overlay improves their specialty areas. 

“In the past, people had to choose between whether they were going to specialise in their area or specialise in digital health,” Dr Haines said. 

“Recognition for both sides of the equation is proving paramount to the long-term results of augmenting the digital health learning to their specialty areas.”

Micro method offers a world of change 

Another innovative educational facet being offered by DHCRC is a micro-learning pilot (the style of which is based upon research conducted by the Harvard Business Review). 

Enabled via DigiTech, the pilot is accessible on mobile devices to encompass bite-sized (five minutes) learning on a daily basis. This suits not only the continual uptake of absorbing new information, but also fits into the often-frenetic lifestyle of clinicians.  

More is found at this link::

https://www.innovationaus.com/lifelong-learning-key-to-our-digital-health-future/

You can read about the CRC here:

https://digitalhealthcrc.com/

I really believe you need to read material of this with a level of scepticism – especially when in the first paragraph there is a claim that the “Digital Health CRC is at the forefront of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing society today.” It could just be that Climate Change and Cancer are a trifle more pressing!

As you read on there is lots of other material which it seems to me makes rather exaggerated claims or – as the end – tries to somehow link the use of telehealth in the pandemic to DHCRC work!

The CRC would do better to ‘under promise and overdeliver’ I reckon!

What do you think?

David.

 

AusHealthIT Poll Number 657– Results – 13th November, 2022.

Here are the results of the poll.

Are You Confident We Will Not See A Data Breach Of The #myHealthRecord?

Yes                                                                                          19 (42%)

No                                                                                           26 (58%)

I Have No Idea                                                                          0 (0%)

Votes: 45

A mixed view with a majority feeling there may be a breach of the #myHR.

Any insights on the poll are welcome, as a comment, as usual!

A good number of votes. and a clear outcome. 

0 of 45 who answered the poll admitted to not being sure about the answer to the question!

Again, many, many thanks to all those who voted! 

David.