I Wonder Are There Lessons For Australia In These Two Articles? It All Seems A Little Familiar.

The following couple of articles appeared a few days ago - there seem to be some parallels to what we are seeing here:

Probe finds U.S. e-health program lacks oversight

Inspector general says physician and hospital self-reporting rule is ineffective

Lucas Mearian

November 29, 2012 (Computerworld)

Federal investigators Thursday released a report charging that the Medicare electronic medical records (EMR) program lacks effective fiscal oversight.

The report, issued by the Inspector General's office of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), states that the Medicare EMR program may be paying incentives to health care providers and hospitals that do not fully meet the quality standards known as "meaningful use".

The report stated that the program's self-reporting format lacks audit oversight requirements so it's impossible to prove whether reports from physicians and hospitals are accurate.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) oversees the federal EHR program, including the incentive payments. The "incentive money" CMS pays to healthcare professionals and hospitals that have deployed EMRs and have met meaningful use criteria is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The total cost for the EMR incentive program is expected to hit $22.5 billion over the next decade, according to the latest estimate of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Physicians and other qualified healthcare workers can receive up to $44,000 apiece in incentive payments while hospitals are eligible for base payments of $2 million a year.

The incentive monies can be awarded under Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Medicare EHR incentive payments of about $4 billion to 82,535 healthcare professionals and 1,474 hospitals have been made since the program started in May, 2011, according to the Inspector General's report.

In total, CMS has dispensed more than $7.7B in incentive payments to more than 307,000 healthcare professionals and 4,000 hospitals that deployed EHRs, the report said.

The CMS responded to the report by stating that protecting taxpayer dollars is a "top priority."

"We have implemented aggressive procedures to hold providers accountable. Making a false claim is a serious offense with serious consequences and we believe the overwhelming majority of doctors and hospitals take seriously their responsibility to honestly report their performance," the spokesman told Computerworld via email.

Lots more here:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9234144/Probe_finds_U.S._e_health_program_lacks_oversight

I have to say did make me think just how fully things like the new ePIP Program will be audited. Site visits etc. or I wonder what is planned?

I also was prompted by the following to wonder what effects all those requirements for ePIP and the associated complexities are moving GPs into corporate practice.

Federal EHR regs driving docs out of private practice, says new report

By Mike Miliard, Managing Editor

Created 11/30/2012

Independent physicians are a vanishing breed, due in large part to government regulations requiring the adoption of health IT and the meaningful use of electronic health records, according to a new report from Accenture.

The report finds that 61 percent of those surveyed will seek employment rather than open a private practice, with the majority citing the government regulations as the cause.

The number of doctors in private practice has dropped from 57 percent in 2000 to just 39 percent in 2012, according to Accenture, which forecasts a further 3 percent downtick by the end of 2013.

A large majority of physicians (87 percent) said they sought employment thanks to the high cost of doing business independently, according to the report. Nearly two-thirds (61 percent) noted the prevalence of managed care as a challenge, and more than half (53 percent) cited federal electronic health record (EHR) requirements as reasons to give up their independence.

.....

Read it here (PDF).

The full article is here:

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/federal-ehr-regs-driving-docs-out-private-practice-says-new-report

The parallels are certainly worthy of more than a passing thought!

David.

Here Is Another Very Good Reason For Not Putting Sensitive Information In Your NEHRS / PCEHR

The following appeared a few days ago:

Doubts over e-health records for research

30 November, 2012 Julie Robotham

Patients and GPs are wary about the use of electronic health records for public health research, even if the data is de-identified, according to a UK study with implications for Australia’s development of the sector.

Fiona Stevenson from the Department of Primary Care and Population Health, at University College London, approached 800 patients from the two general practices chosen to evaluate an “opt out” system for patients whose medical and social security records otherwise could be linked though electronic identifiers and stored in a “safe haven”, for later de-identified use by researchers. Half of the patients she selected had opted out.

.....

A spokeswoman for Australia’s Department of Health and Ageing said de-identified personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) data could be used for research. Next year the government would develop, “more detailed guidance about access to the PCEHR data for research purposes,” and would seek input from patients.

Full article here:

http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/doubts-over-e-health-records-for-research

Then we read this from the US Government.

OCR: No fail-safe for de-identifying patient info

November 29, 2012 | By Dan Bowman

Neither the expert determination method nor the safe harbor method of de-identifying patient data are 100 percent effective, according to new guidance released this week by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office for Civil Rights. While both methods can lower the risk of re-identifying data to miniscule levels, neither are completely secure, OCR officials write.

"There is a possibility that de-identified data could be linked back to the identity of the patient to which it corresponds," the guidance says.

For the expert determination method, a person deemed an expert--a.k.a, someone "with appropriate knowledge of and experience with generally accepted statistical and scientific principles for rendering information not individually identifiable"--uses their expertise to measure the risk of re-identification for certain sets of data. In a blog post written this week by FierceHealthIT Advisory Board member David Harlow, Harlow says it's worth noting that OCR says that expert determinations should only be valid for a finite amount of time.

More here:

http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/expert-determination-safe-harbor-not-fail-safe-de-identifying-patient-info/2012-11-29

Here are the relevant links:

- here's the guidance (.pdf)

- read Harlow's blog post

All I can say is that it is up to you if you believe DoHA and NEHTA can do a better job than the experts in the US in the task of data de-identification. Me, I won’t take the risk, and will apply the ‘happy to see the information on the front page of the SMH or The Age’ test to the content I provide to these systems.

David.

This Australian Article on Health IT Safety Makes Some Good Points But One Part Worries Me.

This appeared over the weekend.

More tests vital for health IT

Date December 2, 2012

Category Opinion

Enrico Coiera and Farah Magrabi

A doctor calls up the drop-down menu on her electronic prescribing system, looking for the heart drug digoxin. The 225 options are listed in counter-intuitive alphabetical order and she clicks on the wrong dose. Her patient is given four times the amount he needs.

Another healthcare worker finds the computer's font hard to read and accidentally gives a patient 10 times the correct dose of epinephrine (adrenalin). The patient dies.

These are just two of the many serious events that we at the University of NSW Centre for Health Informatics have unearthed while analysing accidents and mishaps involving health information technology reported to the US Food and Drug Administration from January 2008 to July 2010.

The recent accidental deletion of 10-year-old Ezekiel Howard's electronically stored heart scans, along with two months' worth of similar scans on other patients' hearts at Nepean Hospital, is another example of an IT incident that has the very real potential to harm patients.

There's no formal requirement to report errors such as these - unlike adverse patient safety events from medication or medical negligence. But the few studies that have been done into errors associated with computerised health information systems are pointing to a disturbing fact: as much as technology can improve the health system, it can also have deadly side effects.

IT is transforming doctors' surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals. Over the next 10 years, more IT will be deployed in health systems worldwide than in their entire history.

You've probably already seen the start of it. GPs don't write prescriptions any more. They print them out using an electronic system, which then files away information on your medication history and your medical history, to build a growing database. Indeed, you may even have entered your own history into the new Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record, which the government launched in July.

There is no doubt technology will contribute much to healthcare - better record-keeping, better communication in a complex system, and better information about patients' medical histories. It will be evermore crucial to rein in costs and create efficiencies as governments worldwide cope with ageing populations, a shortage of healthcare workers and an increasing workload due to obesity and chronic disease - and do so with fewer resources.

But here's the rub. If we were introducing a new drug or surgical procedure, we'd be proving it worked in large clinical trials and running exhaustive tests to get it registered by a national regulatory authority. For health IT, there is no such regulation.

.....

Enrico Coiera is a professor and Farah Magrabi is a senior research fellow at the University of NSW Centre for Health Informatics.

The full article is found here:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/more-tests-vital-for-health-it-20121201-2anka.html

These three paragraphs worry me a lot, especially the third one:

“IT is transforming doctors' surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals. Over the next 10 years, more IT will be deployed in health systems worldwide than in their entire history.

You've probably already seen the start of it. GPs don't write prescriptions any more. They print them out using an electronic system, which then files away information on your medication history and your medical history, to build a growing database. Indeed, you may even have entered your own history into the new Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record, which the government launched in July.

There is no doubt technology will contribute much to healthcare - better record-keeping, better communication in a complex system, and better information about patients' medical histories. It will be evermore crucial to rein in costs and create efficiencies as governments worldwide cope with ageing populations, a shortage of healthcare workers and an increasing workload due to obesity and chronic disease - and do so with fewer resources.”

My view is that while there is absolutely no doubt we need the appropriate regulation to ensure Health IT (or e-Health as DoHA and NEHTA want to call it) is both safe and effective that we also need a few other boxes ticked.

Among these are that we need the appropriate leadership and governance frameworks for the introduction of the technology and that benefits are properly assessed, tested and then proven to have been delivered through rigorous evaluation.

I would suggest that the benefits case for the NEHRS / PCEHR program is very weak, has never been subjected to independent scrutiny and is basically a fanciful fiction.

It seems to me the authors need to have gone a little further than they did to push past the mentality being pushed by the Government that if you build e-health ‘they will come’ and that it will really work safely and actually deliver the benefits claimed.

All those views are on pretty rocky ground as far as I am concerned.

On a different track and from the same source.

Surveillance shows potential in detecting HIT system failures

November 26, 2012 | By Susan D. Hall

An Australian study finds potential value in applying a syndromic surveillance system to health IT systems to detect early system failures.
Such surveillance typically is used in public health to monitor the spread of infectious diseases. The system was used in research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney to monitor four factors in a tertiary hospital laboratory: total number of records being created, the number of records with missing results, average serum potassium results, and total duplicated tests on a patient.
The researchers, led by Dr. Mei-Sing Ong, wanted to detect HIT system failures causing: data loss at the record level, data loss at the field level, erroneous data, and unintended duplication of data, according to a paper published at the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Statistical models were used to detect system failures using simulated outages lasting 24 hours, with error rates from 1 percent to 35 percent.

More here with links:

http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/surveillance-shows-potential-detecting-hit-system-failures/2012-11-26

Keep the work coming guys (and gals).

David.

It Really Is A Little Sad To See Just How Bad DoHA Is At Technology Implementation.

The following appeared in the last few days.

PharmCIS delays hamper PBS claims

30 November, 2012 Kirrilly Burton  

Pharmacists are being asked to hold off submitting their PBS claims until their software has been updated after delays on a major upgrade to the IT system for the PBS.

The new system, dubbed ‘PharmCIS,’ to replace over 40 existing systems, was expected to be introduced tomorrow to coincide with changes to the PBS Schedule from December 1 2012. 

However, the Department of Health and Ageing has admitted that some PBS software updates by some vendors would not be implemented by tomorrow due to the “complexity of the transition to the new system.”

An excerpt from a letter sent by the Department to key stakeholders seen by Pharmacy News, said: “While not all prescribers and pharmacies will have fully up to date software for 1 December, the correct PBS prices will be available on: www.pbs.gov.au where a print version can be downloaded to enable correct dispensing scripts that were modified by the 1 December changes to the PBS Schedule.”

Consequently, a spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, said not all pharmacies will have fully up to date software that includes correct information on the PBS Schedule from 1 December 2012.

More details here:

http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/news/latest-news/pharmcis-delays-hamper-pbs-claims

Coverage also made it into the mainstream press:

New PBS computer system delayed

• by: Fran Foo
• From: The Australian
• November 30, 2012 7:10AM

THE Department of Health and Ageing has flagged further delays to a new computer system for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that will impact prescribers and dispensers, but not patients.

The new IT system for the PBS, dubbed PharmCIS, replaces over 40 systems spanning nearly 20 years.

According to the department, PharmCIS or Pharmaceutical Consolidated Information System will support approval and listing of medicines on the PBS and its price determinations.

The system will provide PBS data to Medicare, software vendors and others, and also manage data and information associated with evaluating and listing drugs on the PBS.

The PBS Schedule is released in online format and contains all medicines available under the scheme.

Under PharmCIS, medicine descriptions will be based on the Australian Medicines Terminology, a new national standard set by the National e-Health Transition Authority.

Software vendors rely on "clean data" from PharmCIS to upgrade their products for prescribers and dispensers so information will be at these workers fingertips when they access the system. This work will now have to be done manually and those affected will have to check against the PBS website to ensure scripts are accurately dispensed at the correct price.

Lots more here:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/new-pbs-computer-system-delayed/story-fn4htb9o-1226527171748

What is really good is that in a letter to the Medical Software Industry Association we read:

“In the letter, the department took the unprecedented step of recognising the efforts of the vendor fraternity amidst the problems.

"The Department of Health and Ageing would like to express its appreciation of the work being undertaken by the medical software community.

"All software vendors have worked to very tight timeframes to maintain their quality assurance and to roll out their PBS supporting software packages for December 2012.”

So we actually have a confession as to who has let the side down here - in the nicest possible way.

None of this is at all new. The Department have known for a while now they were going to miss the deadlines but rather than just keep on with the old system till the new one was sorted they pressed on with the outcome we see. Remind you of any other DoHA initiatives?

David.

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 3rd December, 2012.

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

Well the silly season seems to have begun and all seems pretty quiet on the e-Health front - not that the same is true under the hood with a lot of work happening to try and meet or fix various Government deadlines and problems.

For mine I just get the feeling we are seeing a fair bit of instability in all that is happening - the reason for this is unclear.

The weekly visit to my NEHRS reveals that the system is still unacceptably slow and that one sees much too much of the wirling ‘please wait’ symbol when looking around.

With the number or registrations reported so far (see first article below) this seems odd!

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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/pcehr-patient-registration-rising-steadily

PCEHR patient registration rising steadily

27th Nov 2012

Danielle Cesta

REGISTRATIONS for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) are steadily rising, with at least one major GP software firm on track for GPs to be able to upload patient health data by December.

There have been 18,214 consumer registrations and 243 healthcare provider registrations for the PCEHR system since its low-key launch on 1 July.

“This number precedes targeted promotions, which are currently under way,” a Department of Health and Ageing spokesperson said.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/new-pbs-computer-system-delayed/story-fn4htb9o-1226527171748

New PBS computer system delayed

• by: Fran Foo
• From: The Australian
• November 30, 2012 7:10AM

THE Department of Health and Ageing has flagged further delays to a new computer system for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that will impact prescribers and dispensers, but not patients.

The new IT system for the PBS, dubbed PharmCIS, replaces over 40 systems spanning nearly 20 years.

According to the department, PharmCIS or Pharmaceutical Consolidated Information System will support approval and listing of medicines on the PBS and its price determinations.

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http://www.pharmacynews.com.au/news/latest-news/pharmcis-delays-hamper-pbs-claims

PharmCIS delays hamper PBS claims

30 November, 2012 Kirrilly Burton  

Pharmacists are being asked to hold off submitting their PBS claims until their software has been updated after delays on a major upgrade to the IT system for the PBS.

The new system, dubbed ‘PharmCIS,’ to replace over 40 existing systems, was expected to be introduced tomorrow to coincide with changes to the PBS Schedule from December 1 2012. 

However, the Department of Health and Ageing has admitted that some PBS software updates by some vendors would not be implemented by tomorrow due to the “complexity of the transition to the new system.”

-----

http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/doubts-over-e-health-records-for-research

Doubts over e-health records for research

30 November, 2012 Julie Robotham

Patients and GPs are wary about the use of electronic health records for public health research, even if the data is de-identified, according to a UK study with implications for Australia’s development of the sector.

Fiona Stevenson from the Department of Primary Care and Population Health, at University College London, approached 800 patients from the two general practices chosen to evaluate an “opt out” system for patients whose medical and social security records otherwise could be linked though electronic identifiers and stored in a “safe haven”, for later de-identified use by researchers. Half of the patients she selected had opted out.

50 patients joined focus group interviews. They supported research in principle but worried records would be used by scientists with no duty of care to individual patients. They also questioned whether people fully understood the opt-out provision.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/it-business/remote-servicing-helps-the-deaf/story-e6frganx-1226524459829

Remote servicing helps spread word to the deaf

• by: Chris Griffith
• From: The Australian
• November 27, 2012 12:00AM

CHILDREN in the developing world may soon start receiving Australia's renowned Cochlear hearing implants, thanks to a process that tunes and services the devices using remote computer technology.

More than 250,000 patients worldwide have benefited from Cochlear implants and products since their inception in 1982 but their availability has been limited not only by access to surgical facilities and audiology specialists but also a lack of clinics to periodically tune the implant's speech processing unit.

The solution has moved one step closer, with the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre confirming it has serviced an implant patient in Kenya using remote computer access technology provided by software firm LogMein. The patient, a three-year-old girl, is its first in Africa.

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http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/scientists-facing-a-2m-shortfall-on-bionic-eye-project-20121127-2a5pa.html

Scientists facing a $2m shortfall on bionic eye project

Date November 28, 2012

Bridie Smith

A MAJOR funding shortfall could derail Australia's hopes of developing the world's first bionic eye, with a key group working on the project reporting a need of almost $2 million.

Bionic Vision Australia, a consortium of some of the country's top research institutions, secured a four-year, $42 million federal grant in 2009 after the idea was floated at the 2020 summit in 2008.

Delivered in instalments, the money was to last until the end of next year. But on Wednesday the group will launch a public appeal for funds, without which it says it will be unable to leap-frog international rivals or secure on-going contracts for researchers.

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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/443247/privacy_amendment_bill_passed_gives_commissioner_far-reaching_powers_/

Privacy Amendment Bill passed, gives commissioner far-reaching powers

Timothy Pilgrim can seek civil penalties in cases of serious privacy breaches

• Hamish Barwick (Computerworld)
• 29 November, 2012 15:23

The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 was passed in Parliament today, giving privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim more powers, including the right to seek civil penalties in the case of serious breaches of privacy.

The legislation also permits the commissioner to conduct assessments of privacy performance for both Australian government agencies and private companies.

The Bill which is due to come into effect in March 2014, updates the Privacy Act 1988 and is designed to enhance Australian’s personal information.

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http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/milliondollar-fines-set-for-privacy-breaches-20121130-2al1e.html

Million-dollar fines set for privacy breaches

Date November 30, 2012 - 12:11PM

Jane Lee

The Australian Privacy Commissioner will be able to issue million-dollar fines to government agencies and companies for serious and repeated privacy breaches under a new law.

The reforms, which Commonwealth Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has dubbed the most significant changes to privacy laws in more than 20 years, passed on Thursday and are expected to come into force in about 15 months. Ms Roxon introduced a discussion paper on mandatory reporting of breaches in October. 

The law gives privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim new powers, including the ability to investigate both groups at his discretion, in the same way that he currently can individuals.

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http://ehealthspace.org/news/mental-health-needs-better-information-report

Mental health needs better information: report

Posted Wed, 28/11/2012 - 13:29 by Will Turner

Vast improvements in health information collection, sharing and analysis are needed if Australia is to better support the estimated 3.2 million people currently suffering from mental illness.

So says Australia’s first ever National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, released by the National Mental Health Commission yesterday.

The report provides as snapshot of the nation’s progress to date on mental health along with recommendations for change and improvement, with a particular focus on an individual’s “recovery journey” to achieve a fulfilling life.

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http://nehta.gov.au/media-centre/nehta-news/992-availability-of-ehealth-authentication-solution-to-support-secure-messaging-delivery

Availability of eHealth authentication solution to support secure messaging delivery

29 November 2012. The first release of the Department of Human Services (DHS) National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) supported access to the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system using both organisational and individual certificates.

The use of the DHS NASH digital certificates (known as HPI-O certificates) for healthcare organisations has now been extended by DHS to enable usage for Secure Message Delivery (SMD) via compliant SMD products.

Providing an assurance that only authorised healthcare organisations are allowed to access eHealth Records and transmit important health information is vital to protecting people’s private health information and improving health outcomes. This same level of assurance is now available for SMD.

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http://ehealthspace.org/news/data-revolution-hits-healthcare

Data revolution hits healthcare

Posted Mon, 26/11/2012 - 08:27 by Will Turner

Advances in genomic science are turbocharging the data volumes available to tackle a global surge in chronic disease, according to the Scottish Government’s chief health scientist.

Speaking at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation’s Network to Network conference in Sydney, Professor Andrew Morris explained how genomic science, together with the growth in health information from other sources such as ehealth records, requires new approaches to collecting, sharing and analysing data.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/more-bumps-in-e-health-road/story-fn4htb9o-1226524459540

More bumps in e-health road

• by: Fran Foo
• From: The Australian
• November 27, 2012 12:00AM

THE Gillard government's personally controlled e-health record system is facing more bumps in its rollout following frequent disruption to its software vendor testing environment.

In the past seven months, only five vendors have passed the requirements for their software to be connected to the live e-health production platform. There are more than 250 software vendors who need their 300-400 products certified for the PCEHR.

The PCEHR is intended to be a secure electronic summary of people's medical history that is stored and shared in a "network of connected systems".

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/department-keeps-details-secret/story-fn4htb9o-1226524460937

Department keeps details secret

• by: Fran Foo
• From: The Australian
• November 27, 2012 12:00AM

THE inner workings of a powerful unit behind the Gillard government's e-health records program is set to remain behind closed doors indefinitely.

The highly secretive program control group within the Health Department is the main steering body overseeing the implementation of the national personally controlled electronic health record system.

The control group includes health deputy secretary Rosemary Huxtable, chief information officer Paul Madden, e-health division first assistant secretary Fionna Granger and National E-Health Transition Authority chief executive Peter Fleming.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/tibco-pushes-privacy-breach-laws/story-e6frgakx-1226525572974

Tibco pushes privacy breach laws

• by: Fran Foo
• From: Australian IT
• November 28, 2012 10:54AM

AUSTRALIA has been urged to adopt new mandatory breach notification rules to offer the same protection consumers in Europe are afforded.

Under local privacy laws there is no requirement to notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or any individual in the event of a data breach.

However, the government has released a discussion paper on privacy breach notification, with submissions closing on November 23, following the Australian Law Reform Commission's recommendation for such laws to be introduced.

The paper covers a myriad of areas, primarily whether there is a need to introduce a mandatory data breach notification scheme.

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http://www.mjainsight.com.au/view?post=Online+access+boosts+consults&post_id=11592&cat=news-and-research&mo=1

Online access boosts consults

A NEW US study showing online access to medical records and doctors led to an increase in GP and emergency department visits is no cause for concern, according to Australian medical leaders.

AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton said a spike in the use of clinical and hospital services that was identified by the study was not a result of patients with online access developing additional health concerns but, rather, because the people who participated in online access were more worried and motivated about their health.

“It wasn’t because of access, it was because of self-selection bias”, Dr Hambleton said.

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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/medicare-locals-name-to-go-under-review

Medicare Locals name to go under review

28th Nov 2012

Andrew Bracey and Byron Kaye

HEALTH Minister Tanya Plibersek has confirmed a planned review of the Medicare Locals initiative – set to begin early in 2013 – will evaluate whether the contentious moniker given to the entities is “suitable for its purpose”.

News of the review – which will also canvass community acceptance of the name – came as legislation amendments that would officially open the door for Medicare Locals to legally use the term Medicare in their operating names passed the lower house by a single vote yesterday.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/smart-specs-may-replace-guide-dogs/story-e6frgakx-1226523912890

Smart specs may replace guide dogs

• From: AAP
• November 26, 2012 6:19AM

SMART specs for the blind that could take the place of white canes and guide dogs may be available in two years, say researchers.

The hi-tech glasses are designed to prevent "legally blind" individuals with a small degree of residual vision from bumping into objects.

They use tiny stereo cameras in the frames to project simplified images onto the lenses which become brighter the closer an object is.

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http://www.rustreport.com.au/issues/latestissue/ibm-to-create-50-new-tech-jobs-in-ballarat/

NICTA uses computer science to improve prostate cancer treatment

NICTA scientists will use funds from a recently-awarded National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant to help doctors tell the difference between lethal and non-life-threatening prostate cancers. The scientists will use computational analysis to better understand genomic data, paving the way for better, more targeted medical treatments in the future.

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http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/online-tool-calculate-childhood-obesity-risk

Online tool calculate childhood obesity risk

29 November, 2012 Julie Robotham

The likelihood a child will become obese can be predicted accurately at birth, say British researchers who have incorporated risk factors identified in a long-term study into an online calculator.

Researchers from Imperial College, London, used data from a study established in 1986 to track 4000 children born in Finland. They had initially expected the children’s genetic profiles might yield most clues to subsequent weight gain.

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http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/electronic-heart-decisions-put-to-the-test

Electronic heart decisions put to the test

23 November, 2012 Megan Reynolds

An electronic decision support system will be rolled out in an ambitious pilot project across 60 Sydney GP clinics and Aboriginal health services in an attempt to improve persistent deficiencies in cardiovascular disease prevention.

Using a computerised algorithm based on guidelines from the National Heart Foundation, Diabetes Australia and other groups, the Health Tracker system combines decision support with patient materials and practice feedback for doctors.

It will compare the performance of practices using the system against matched controls participating in existing quality improvement initiatives, according to the protocol published in BMJ Open.

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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/443084/national_health_medical_research_council_seeks_ip_telephony/

National Health and Medical Research Council seeks IP telephony

Other government agencies may opt in to the VoIP service.

• Adam Bender (Computerworld)
• 28 November, 2012 09:39

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) wants to replace an “ageing” phone system with IP telephony, according to a request for tender posted Tuesday.

The Council said its existing PBX telephony system in Canberra and Melbourne is more than 20 years old. The Council has 220 staff in Canberra and 25 staff in Melbourne. The government body’s data centre is in Canberra.

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http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/dusty-cameras-cause-false-alarms

Dusty cameras cause false alarms

29 November, 2012 Clare Pain

Cameras used for total body photography (TBP) to record skin checks need to be carefully cleaned, otherwise dust specks can look like melanomas, warn Australian dermatologists.

Describing a recent experience with a 34 year old woman with a history of lentigo maligna and atypical naevi, Dr Alex Chamberlain and Dr Sarah Edwards of the Victorian Melanoma Service, the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne report how a darkly pigmented lesion seen on the right thigh in photographs misled them into thinking a lesion had regressed.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/cambridge-centre-to-delve-into-artificial-intelligence/story-e6frg8y6-1226524009243

Cambridge centre to delve into artificial intelligence

• From: AP
• November 26, 2012 9:41AM

COULD computers become cleverer than humans and take over the world? Or is that just the stuff of science fiction?

Philosophers and scientists at Britain's Cambridge University think the question deserves serious study.

A proposed Centre for the Study of Existential Risk will bring together experts to consider the ways in which super intelligent technology, including artificial intelligence, could "threaten our own existence", the institution says.

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http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/windows-8-sales-flounder-as-critics-pan-clumsy-interface-20121126-2a2d0.html

Windows 8 sales flounder as critics pan clumsy interface

Date November 26, 2012

Asher Moses

Technology Editor

Windows 8 sales in Australia and overseas are below expectations, with one US expert describing its user interface as "a monster that terrorises poor office workers and strangles their productivity".

In Australia, IDC market analyst Amy Cheah, who has spoken to local retailers, vendors and channel partners as part of her work compiling sales numbers, said Windows 8 take-up was "not as strong as Microsoft would like it to be".

"Actual sales to date is not matching the hype, but the momentum is picking up in November," she said.

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Enjoy!

David.