The blog is having a small rest for the Easter weekend.
Have a safe and happy Easter
David.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
The Macro View - General And Health News Relevant To E-Health And Health In General.
March 24 Edition
The macroeconomic stresses seem to have eased a little more with markets rising around the world. Indeed the stock market indices in the US are now up for the calendar year.
In Australia, things are also looking up for the present.
However we also are now see a set of ongoing bun-fights on pathology funding, health insurance costs as well as negative gearing and superannuation. Will be fun to watch. Mr Trunbull and Mr Morrison seem to have disappointed with the lack of a clear plan. At present it is not clear what will happen on Budget Night and indeed when the Budget will actually be!
There now seems to be very little tax reform coming - except in Superannuation and possibly company tax.
Here is a summary of interesting things up until the end of last week:
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General Budget Issues.
Scott Morrison brings ALP negative gearing policy under fire
- The Australian
- March 14, 2016 12:00AM
Sid Maher
Scott Morrison will intensify his attack today on Labor’s negative gearing policy, releasing 28 questions he says Labor needs to answer, including whether house prices would fall 4 per cent.
The Treasurer’s questions, part of a social media campaign, come as Bill Shorten will seize on the six-month anniversary of Malcolm Turnbull’s becoming Prime Minister to declare him “all talk and no action’’.
Labor has proposed limiting negative gearing to new homes as part of its tax policy, saying it will boost new home building.
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Wealthy primed for Turnbull’s superannuation tax hit
- The Australian
- March 16, 2016 12:00AM
Sid Maher
High-income earners face superannuation tax hikes in the Turnbull government’s tax package, with one proposal calling for the threshold beyond which contributions are taxed at 30 per cent, rather than the standard 15 per cent, to be lowered, possibly as far as $180,000.
Scott Morrison yesterday flagged that superannuation tax reforms would be announced in the May budget or earlier and would reflect the government’s view that superannuation should aim to reduce dependence on the Age Pension and should not be a vehicle for “estate planning”.
A proposal to reduce the threshold at which the contributions tax rises to 30 per cent from $300,000 to the top marginal tax rate of $180,000 could raise up to $1.5 billion a year and has support from elements in the superannuation industry.
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Treasurer Scott Morrison signals possibility of no tax cuts this budget
Date March 15, 2016 - 12:29PM
Gareth Hutchens
Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison says the government needs to be innovative when it comes to finding budget savings.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has given his clearest signal yet that personal and corporate tax cuts may be too difficult to deliver this budget, despite indicating for months that tax cuts would be his priority.
In an obvious indication of how difficult the Turnbull government is finding the budget repair task, Mr Morrison, when asked on Tuesday about the pressure that high tax rates were putting on the economy, said next year's scheduled removal of the deficit repair levy was an example of forthcoming tax relief.
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Expect great things from Malcolm Turnbull's first budget. No, seriously.
Date March 17, 2016 - 12:00AM
Peter Martin
Economics Editor, The Age
The Prime Minister is prepared to make the most of unusually low interest rates by spending up big on projects that will pay dividends.
The government is considering issuing long-term bonds to fund massive new infrastructure spending. Peter Martin explains the logic.
While the media has been obsessing about tax, Malcolm Turnbull has been focused on setting Australia up. To do it, he'll need to borrow big sums of money for exceptionally long periods at at extraordinarily low interest rates.
We should have done it sooner. Right now Australia can borrow for 10 years at 2.7 per cent, just a few points above the the Reserve Bank's inflation target of 2.5 per cent, meaning we are able to get money for close to nothing. But it's still unattractive for long-term projects because there's a risk that in a decade's time when the loans have to be refinanced, the new rates will be higher. So Turnbull's looking at borrowing for 30 years.
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Turnbull government's next target: limiting claims for work-related expenses at tax time
Date March 16, 2016 - 3:28PM
Alex Malley
It's time to shine a light on some dark political manoeuvring taking in place in Canberra at the moment. In the crosshairs is your right to claim full and legitimate work-related expenses in your annual income tax return.
As we head towards the May budget, the Prime Minister and Treasurer have made it clear that controlling expenditure is a priority. The retreat from holistic tax reform means the hunt for savings is well and truly on – it's why Treasurer Scott Morrison tasked a parliamentary committee with an urgent inquiry into tax deductibility.
We understand the committee's report has been finalised and is sitting with the government, its recommendations being fed into the budget process. We'll likely hear nothing about it until budget night (whenever that might be).
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Pressure on government to make budget repair levy permanent
Date March 17, 2016 - 12:15AM
Gareth Hutchens, Peter Martin, Mark Kenny
The opposition targets the government's abandonment of income tax reform as the government attacks Labor's fiscal record in question time on Thursday.
The Turnbull government is being called on to retain the temporary budget repair levy on high-income earners, which is due to expire next July, after conceding this week that tax cuts for individuals may be unaffordable in this budget due to lack of funds.
The temporary 2 per cent loading on the top tax bracket is scheduled to be removed in July 2017, giving high-income earners on more than $180,000 an effective tax cut.
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Backpacker tax: government to review controversial budget measure
- The Australian
- March 16, 2016 2:17PM
Rachel Baxendale
The federal government has announced a review of its controversial backpacker tax, admitting it could have an adverse effect on the agriculture and tourism industries.
The 2015 federal budget measure would see those on working holiday visas pay 32.5 cents tax for every dollar they earn, and forego the $18,299 tax-free threshold.
Speaking at the Tourism & Transport Forum Australia in Sydney this morning, Tourism Minister Richard Colbeck announced a cross-departmental review of the proposed tax to find a “revenue neutral” solution.
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Fitch warns Australia of ratings cut over deficit blowout
- The Australian
- March 17, 2016 12:00AM
Adam Creighton
Ratings agency Fitch has warned the Turnbull government against tolerating further debt blowouts, stressing Australia’s vulnerability to record foreign debt, fragile housing prices and a Chinese economic slowdown.
Fitch yesterday reaffirmed the Australian government’s AAA credit rating but said a “sustained widening of the fiscal deficit without remedial policy actions” could see it stripped of the coveted financial endorsement.
“Despite resilient GDP growth, a sharp fall in the terms of trade has weighed on nominal income growth, reducing tax revenues and slowing the expected pace of fiscal consolidation,” it said, noting total federal and state government debt had increased rapidly to 34.5 per cent of GDP or near the average level (43.6 per cent) of AAA-rated countries.
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- Mar 17 2016 at 9:30 PM
- Updated Mar 18 2016 at 10:23 AM
Morrison to cut company taxes; income taxes to wait years
by Staff reporters
Salary earners will have to wait some years for an income tax cut after Treasurer Scott Morrison confirmed on Thursday that company tax cuts will be his priority in the federal budget.
After indicating on Tuesday that the government had ditched plans for the income tax cuts it has been pledging for several months, Mr Morrison told Parliament the best way to fund income tax cuts was through economic growth. And the best way to drive economic growth was by reducing the 30 per cent company tax rate.
"We understand the burdens faced by people who are paying higher and higher rates of income tax. We understand that and we understand the best way to deal with that … [is to] grow the economy so you can grow revenues to support those changes," he said.
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Public may turn ‘hostile’ if govt messes with tax
Daniel Burdon | 18th Mar 2016 6:00 AM
A MAJOR accounting firm has urged the Turnbull government not to target people's work-related tax deductions, warning any changes will be "met with hostility".
The warning has come in a submission to a government-led inquiry into tax deductions that is understood to be "softening the ground" ahead of Treasurer Scott Morrison's first budget in May.
While the government has reportedly abandoned income tax cuts in favour of a company tax cut this budget, it is understood to be exploring potential savings by reining in work-related tax deductions.
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Samantha Maiden: Tax not adding up for Treasurer Scott Morrison
March 20, 2016 12:00am
The Sunday Telegraph
BILLIONAIRE Oprah Winfrey once wrote a self-help book called What I Know For Sure.
Here’s what everyone in politics knows for sure about Scott Morrison.
If the Treasurer (pictured above) seriously thinks he can front up on Budget night without holding out the hope of income tax cuts for average earners he is in big trouble.
Time to hand in his police badge and his gun kind of trouble.
Burn the uniform, shave your head like Mark Latham. Nip down to Coles and buy a family tub of ice cream and a spoon and just go sit in a park. It’s over.
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Health Budget Issues.
Margaret Wenham
March 16, 2016 12:00am
Australia, we’re being ripped off
Here’s something for reform-spruiking Health Minister Sussan Ley to mull over: Australians are lumbered with an expensive, inefficient, bastard, hybrid health system that’s anything but a fair deal.
We are Medicare levy-paying taxpayers who are often unable to access, without unreasonable and distressing waiting periods, public treatment.
Most of us are also paying, under threat of punishing Medicare levy surcharges and savage “lifetime health cover” penalties, bloated health insurance premiums yet, when we require treatment, we are frequently expected to stump up supersized gap payments.
We are also forced to wait for 12 months even for private treatment if a condition develops requiring an insurance upgrade.
Think I’m overstating this diabolical shambles of a system? Well, last week I spoke with Julie. A former high school teacher, 20 years ago Julie set up her own business as a Qi gong instructor. She was super fit when she began having significant hip pain and was told a full hip replacement loomed.
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Prime Minister confirms children’s free dental health program faces axe
March 17, 2016
Shorten accuses Turnbull of caving in to the backbench
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he’s considering scrapping a dental health scheme, which has been used by around one million children since it was introduced.
Mr Turnbull told parliament on Thursday that the Labor scheme — which gives children $1000 worth of free dental care every two years — was failing to live up to expectations.
And the PM confirmed earlier reports the future of the program was under review.
Mr Turnbull said the scheme was “nowhere near meeting its targets”.
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Foreigners rack up millions in sick bills
- The Australian
- March 18, 2016 12:00AM
Sean Parnell
Foreign students and backpackers are adding to queues in public hospitals and leaving unpaid bills of tens of millions of dollars each year.
Most visa-holders are not eligible for Medicare and are required by the federal government to have health insurance in the expectation they will pay their own medical expenses as required.
Yet despite paying high premiums, thousands of foreign citizens are presenting to public hospitals for treatment and forcing administrators to chase payment later.
The trend raises questions over the value of such insurance policies and whether visa requirements are having the desired effect.
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Health Insurance Issues.
One Big Switch: health insurance hikes put pressure on households
March 13, 2016 11:45pm
News Corp Australia Network
The campaign aims to use “people power” to extract cheaper cover from a leading provider.
EXCLUSIVE
THE latest health insurance hike is about to make the cost of cover a heftier hit than petrol for the first time on record.
For those households that don’t have childcare or private school fees to contend with, fuel has been entrenched as the third-biggest expense after the mortgage — or rent — and groceries.
However, analysis by News Corp Australia shows health insurance is set to displace it.
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Public patients persuaded to bill their private health fund
- The Australian
- March 16, 2016 12:00AM
Sean Parnell
Almost one in five emergency patients admitted to public hospitals for urgent operations, and one in 10 who have elective surgery in the public system, are persuaded to bill their health fund.
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare highlights the billion-dollar cost shift to insurers as state and territory governments seek to rely on alternative revenue streams to manage constrained budgets.
Under universal healthcare, Australians have a right to be treated without charge in the public system and taxpayers have traditionally funded such services. Public hospitals cannot force privately insured patients to bill their health fund, however hospital administrators now actively target such members, offering to pay their gap fees and even provide a private room.
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Public patients persuaded to bill their private health fund
- The Australian
- March 16, 2016 12:00AM
Sean Parnell
Almost one in five emergency patients admitted to public hospitals for urgent operations, and one in 10 who have elective surgery in the public system, are persuaded to bill their health fund.
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare highlights the billion-dollar cost shift to insurers as state and territory governments seek to rely on alternative revenue streams to manage constrained budgets.
Under universal healthcare, Australians have a right to be treated without charge in the public system and taxpayers have traditionally funded such services. Public hospitals cannot force privately insured patients to bill their health fund, however hospital administrators now actively target such members, offering to pay their gap fees and even provide a private room.
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Best and worst health insurers revealed in AMA report card
Date March 17, 2016 - 12:42PM
Julia Medew
Health Editor
The worst private health insurers have been revealed by a new analysis that shows some of the leading insurers, including Medibank and NIB, are not the most generous of all.
A new league table created by the Australian Medical Association has exposed what health insurers pay for 22 common procedures including cataract surgery, tonsil removals, colonoscopies and births.
It shows a large variation in payments for the same procedures, suggesting some policy holders are more likely to face out of pocket fees than others. For example, HBF pays $2150 for an uncomplicated delivery of a baby while GMHBA pays $832 - a difference of 158 per cent.
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Health is also clearly still under review as far as its budget is concerned with still a few reviews underway and some changes in key strategic directions. Lots to keep up with here with all the various pre-budget kites still being flown - although narrowing it seems to be largely focussed on Super! Enjoy.
David.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The AMA Has Yet Again Come Out To Say It Is Very Unhappy With The mHR. It Seems The DoH is in Denial Of The Scale Of the Issues.
This appeared a few days ago.
Government Ignores Flaws In E-Health Push.
15 Mar 2016
The Federal Government is pushing ahead with mass trials of its My Health Record e-health system despite concerns that fundamental shortcomings are yet to be addressed.
Health Minister Sussan Ley has announced that the personal health information of more than one million people will be automatically uploaded to the internet from July as part of a large-scale test of My Health Record prior to a nationwide roll-out of the scheme.
Under the plan, 700,000 people living in North Queensland Primary Health Network (PHN) and 360,000 covered by the Nepean Blue Mountains PHN in western Sydney, will have until the end of June to opt-out or have a digital health record containing details of their health status, medicines and allergies automatically created and uploaded to the system.
The trial is the latest development in the Government’s overhaul of Labor’s failed Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system, which failed to attract much support from health practitioners or patients despite the expenditure of more than $1 billion.
Ms Ley said it was important that patients be able to safely and securely share their medical records with health workers no matter where they were in the country.
“I consider this a landmark turning point in improving our health system and bringing it into the 21st century,” the Health Minister said. “Our new My Health Record means people will not have to remember the names of the medications prescribed, details of diagnosis and treatments, allergies, medical procedures and there will be no need to repeat the same information when they see another doctor or go to hospital.”
The move follows a heavy-handed attempt by the Health Department to boost the adoption of My Health Record by threatening to withdraw incentive payments from practices that fail to upload shared health summaries to the system in May – action condemned by the AMA as grossly premature, particularly given the trial did not start until July.
The AMA warned that the design of the My Health Record system meant it was unlikely to realise the Minister’s vision.
The clinical usefulness of the PCEHR was fatally compromised by the ability of patients to withhold or hide information, and the peak medical body said My Health Record was similarly flawed.
Patients can set controls on who has access to information in their My Health Record, and the AMA said that, whether or not such controls were used, doctors and other health providers had to be mindful of the possibility that the information that could view was incomplete.
“Unfortunately, My Health Record cannot be relied on as a trusted source of comprehensive information,” the AMA said. “This means that My Health Record can be a potentially useful additional source of clinical information, but it is not a replacement for existing clinical records maintained by doctors.”
The system incorporates a “break-glass option” to allow access to vital information in case of a medical emergency, but the AMA said there were many situations short of such a crisis where access to core clinical information would be valuable.
Other aspects of the system highlighted by the Minister are also likely to discourage the use of My Health Records by doctors.
Ms Ley emphasised that in designing the system the Government had paid particular attention to protecting sensitive medical information, and deliberate breaches of privacy could incur fines of up to $500,000 or even jail terms.
But the AMA said such heavy penalties were unjustified and were likely to prove counter-productive.
It said medical practitioners and practice staff already dealt with confidential information on a daily basis, and there was “nothing inherently different or unique” about the data contained in My Health Records.
Instead, it warned the complexity of the compliance rules for using My Health Records and the scale of the penalties for breaches would likely deter many practitioners from adopting them.
“While extreme penalties may appeal to those with very strong sensitivities and concerns on information access, they are counterproductive for encouraging participation by health care providers,” the AMA said. “They will be a very strong deterrent to participating in the My Health Record.”
The adoption of My Health Records is also being hampered by a failure to engage with specialists.
The AMA said medical specialists were a key group for creating and using information in electronic health records, but the Government was yet to consult with them.
AMA President Professor Brian Owler said this neglect was compounded by the fact most medical practice software was designed for GPs, not specialists.
“Until we engage with people as to how it might work, and the software vendors are on board, it’s never going to work,” Professor Owler told The Australian Financial Review.
Currently, around 2.6 million people have a digital health record, and about 8000 health providers are registered to use the system.
Adrian Rollins
Here is the link:
It really is hard to know just why the DoH is not working closely with the AMA and the College to come up with an agreed national approach to all this.
One can only hope the planned new Digital Health Agency will do what DoH has not done and found a way to proceed with e-Health that can gain public and clinical support.
Over to you guys and gals!
David.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Is It Really As Good In Queensland As This Seems To Imply? Seems Almost Too Good To Be True.
This appeared very late last week.
Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services
The Honourable Cameron Dick
Friday, March 11, 2016
Australia’s digital revolution begins in Brisbane hospital
Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital has become Australia’s first public digital hospital, heralding a revolution in the way healthcare will be delivered in Queensland.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick today announced that implementation of the digital hospital project was successfully underway.
“This digital hospital project will transform healthcare delivery in Queensland and allow clinicians to focus on the patient, not paperwork,” he said.
“This means improved safety and quality of care for patients and faster treatment to get them home sooner.”
Deputy Premier and Member for South Brisbane Jackie Trad said the project also allowed for optimisation of world-class medical research through improved analysis of data and a reduction in inefficiency and wastage.
“This project is representative of what the Palaszczuk Government is all about – harnessing the potential of new technology and innovation to create a better Queensland,” she said.
Metro South Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Dr Richard Ashby said Electronic Medical Records (EMR) were available instantly to healthcare staff across the hospital and, as other facilities follow suit, across Queensland.
“This project means the 2000 paper records that circulate in our hospital at any given time will now be replaced by real-time patient information being sent to a secure EMR,” he said.
“Given our proud history of clinical innovation, I’m delighted that the PA Hospital is leading this digital revolution,” he said.
Rollout of the project required training nearly 6000 staff and integrating more than 1600 new digital devices across the hospital, with extensive third-party support throughout implementation.
Care Delivery Lead Dr Clair Sullivan said hospital staff had enthusiastically risen to the challenge of going digital, with the benefits already starting to show.
“The scale of this change is unprecedented in an Australian hospital and by going digital, we will be able to provide patients with the best care possible,” she said.
The Queensland Government has invested $200 million over four years to establish the foundations of the digital hospital system, which will be implemented across the state.
Metro South Hospital and Health Service has contributed more than $30 million towards implementing the project at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
The roll-out of the digital hospital system is part of the Palaszczuk Government’s $1.5 billion eHealth strategy, announced last year.
ENDS
Here is the link:
What confuses me in this release is the alternating use of the future tense and in the release. You read, for instance, that implementation is underway and at the same time 6000 staff HAVE been trained. We also hear that the benefits are “starting to show”.
What also makes me wonder just what is going on I see this in the 2014-15 Annual Report. (p 47)
Digital records–integrated electronic Medical Record (ieMR)
Princess Alexandra Hospital commenced scanning of inpatient notes into the ieMR in June 2014. Information is scanned within 48 hours of the notes arriving in the scanning unit and is then available for viewing in the ieMR. Quality and auditing processes have been implemented to ensure a high quality scanning service is provided at all times.
Numerous electronic and paper resources are available for all relevant staff to ensure the information in the ieMR is accurate and available as soon as possible.
Redland and QEII Jubilee hospitals currently manage a paper medical record system however Logan Hospital has had an electronic system since 2008 that supports the scanning of clinical information. It is anticipated that the ieMR will be available at each Metro South Health facility within the next few years.
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Knowing that Cerner is involved in the implementation of some state-wide systems it is not entirely clear just where all this scanning of paper records fit.
I look forward to a comment or two as to what is actually happening and what success is being achieved. With all we hear re SA and WA it would be nice to hear a good news story! The headline is certainly a big claim!!
David.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 21st March, 2016.
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
Quite an interesting week, with issues in South Australia and with the mHR getting some air-time.
For the second week in a row we have had a registry operated by DoH (Immunisation Register) seemingly not being satisfactory.
I wonder what will break out next week. The problems in WA maybe?
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No end in sight for loathed electronic record system
18 March 2016
SA HEALTH is ploughing ahead with a much-maligned platform for electronic records that has been blamed for inducing “rage attacks” in clinicians.
Doctors remain concerned that the $422 million Electronic Patient Administration System (EPAS) remains user-unfriendly, despite assurances that bugs have been ironed out.
“The EPAS system will continue to evolve and improve over time and SA Health remains committed to working closely with our clinicians’ support (for) the roll out of EPAS”, SA Health told Medical Observer in a statement.
The Flinders and Far North Doctors Association (FFNDA) wrote to the department in January arguing that the system should be overhauled or junked.
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NSW Health hires new CIO
Acting chief wins role.
By Paris Cowan
Mar 18 2016 4:17PM
Mar 18 2016 4:17PM
Zoran Bolevich has secured his spot at the top of NSW Health’s IT wing after winning an open selection process to take over as CEO of eHealth NSW.
Bolevich has been acting in the role, notionally the CIO of the health department, since his predecessor Michael Walsh was tempted back to the sunshine state to take over as director general of Queensland Health in July last year.
The government began taking applications for the role in January.
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5:57pm March 19, 2016
Time-poor Aussies turn to online health
AAP
Time-poor Australians juggling caring for their children and elderly parents are among the most likely to access health services from home, a new report has found.
The study, commissioned by the National Broadband Network (NBN), found that 90 per cent of those "sandwiched" between caring for the two generations delayed trips to the GP in a bid to save time and money and avoid days off work.
The Digital Health at Home report found convenience was king among half of respondents using services including GP video conferencing and in-home monitoring for the elderly.
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App lets carers share a cache of information
18 March 2016
CareMonkey is aimed at parents or carers who want to share health information, care instructions and what to do in an emergency.
It is similar to other apps available on the market, although this one allows access to be shared with trusted individuals.
Users create a profile containing emergency contacts, health and safety alerts, allergy details, medications, asthma plan, immunisations, family history, organ donor details, health and ambulance insurance details.
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CSIRO and Dell supercomputer to mothers’ rescue
- The Australian
- March 15, 2016 12:00AM
CSIRO is harnessing a supercomputer made by Dell to help combat post-childbirth complications experienced by mothers.
In a partnership forged with Melbourne’s Monash University, CSIRO and Dell have built a high-performance computer cluster to test mesh supports to counter organ movements women can experience years afterwards.
The weakening of abdominal muscles after childbirth can cause body organs to slip, resulting in a prolapse. This can happen weeks, months or sometimes years later, and can be brought on by a bout of coughing, lifting, bending, exercise or seemingly nothing.
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(When) Will #FHIR replace HL7 v2 messaging?
Posted on March 15, 2016 by Grahame Grieve
Question:
I’m working in the healthcare domain and has been hearing the FHIR developments for a while. In my hospital setting, we typically have a Patient Registration System, a EMR system, a LIS and RIS system, and some machine interface (Vital Signs, BMI). We are communicating with each other using HL7 V2 standard and is working fine.
My question is, how does the development of FHIR helps in existing interfaces? Do we need to eventually replace these interfaces with FHIR? If yes, all vendors of the respective systems needs to be FHIR ready.
I like to believe that FHIR is for a future expansion packs, and not a move to replace all existing interfaces. Meaning HL7 V2 are expected to stay. Another question: In HL7, we dealt with messaging in asynchronous mode. But the FHIR standards, we are moving from the messaging world?
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eHealth Pathology Report and eHealth Diagnostic Imaging Report - My Health Record Conformance Profile now available
Created on Friday, 18 March 2016
The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has published updates to the following specifications.
- eHealth Diagnostic Imaging Report – My Health Record Conformance Profile;
- eHealth Pathology Report – My Health Record Conformance Profile.
The consent management section of these conformance profiles (Section 3.4) has been rewritten to better reflect implementation requirements as a result of feedback from early adopters. Section 3.5 has updates to record keeping requirements to allow greater flexibility in how records are kept.
The related template package libraries and the template package directory have been updated to refer to the new versions of the conformance profiles.
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Thousands at risk of unfairly losing welfare benefits because of "no jab no pay"
Date March 14, 2016 - 6:44PM
Julia Medew
Health Editor
Thousands of Australians are at risk of having their welfare payments unfairly slashed because of inaccuracies in Australia's immunisation register, which is being used to process the Turnbull government's new "no jab, no pay" rules, health care workers say.
There are also fears that children are receiving unnecessary vaccinations, or doses at times when they shouldn't be because of errors in the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), and problems with how GPs and nurses upload information onto the database.
While the government plans to save $500 million through its new policy of cutting welfare payments for families whose children are not fully vaccinated, immunisation policy expert Julie Leask said research suggested 18 to 50 per cent of children who are listed as not fully vaccinated on the register, may in fact be fully vaccinated. A previous audit of records in Western Australia also pointed to this problem.
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Human Services Dept renews $484m contract with IBM
15/03/2016
news The Department of Human Services (DHS) has renewed a contract with IBM for the delivery of new technology that is aimed to drive new products and services.
The deal, worth $484m over five years, “will enable the DHS to realign hardware, software and services to critical areas of need”, Alan Tudge, Minister for Human Services, said in a statement. “This will ultimately achieve savings for the taxpayer while delivering better outcomes for Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support recipients.”
The department’s investment is aimed to provide better IT services for the millions of Australians that a range of DHS online services for payments.
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Sneaky health apps share private information
15 March 2016
MANY diabetes apps collect and share patients’ private information without their knowledge, US researchers warn.
An analysis of 211 Android diabetes apps has found 81% don’t have privacy policies. Of the 19% with a privacy policy, most of them state that they share user data with third parties without seeking express permission from the user.
Data collected by diabetes apps includes insulin and blood glucose levels, usually captured by tracking cookies.
“Patients might mistakenly believe that health information entered into an app is private (particularly if the app has a privacy policy), but that is generally not the case,” the researchers write in a letter to JAMA.
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Scalextric experiment paves way for willpower-driven wheelchair
- Tom Whipple
- The Times
- March 15, 2016 9:45AM
How do you revamp a toy designed for a 1950s world where simulating a racetrack involved two small plastic cars on rails, and where the only power you had was to make them go fast or slow? Well, you make it mind-controlled, of course.
Engineers at Warwick University have built a Scalextric set on which the speed of the cars is determined by an electrode on your skull that measures how relaxed you are.
While mind-controlled slot car racing may not be the first application that springs to mind for such technology, and while trying to make a toy Le Mans car go fast may not seem like an obvious relaxation therapy, that is not really the issue. The point is more to show that the technology works, is not prohibitively expensive — and could soon be applied to uses such as wheelchairs for paralysed people.
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3D ‘dementia-friendly home’ app to assist carers and empower people living with dementia
Wednesday 16 March 2016
The Dementia-Friendly Home app has been launched by Alzheimer’s Australia Vic today. Using interactive 3D game technology Unreal Engine, the tablet app provides carers with ideas to make their home more accessible for people living with dementia.
Maree McCabe CEO Alzheimer’s Australia Vic said most people are not aware that people with dementia may experience spatial and visual challenges as well as the more commonly understood memory issues.
“Changes in the brain can impact on day to day functions and potentially confuse people living with dementia. Identifying ways the home and environment can be modified to ameliorate any challenges will make a difference to the person living with dementia,” Ms McCabe said.
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Game tech applied to making homes 'dementia-friendly'
- 16 March 2016
- By Stephen Withers
"There's an app for that" is a cliche, and the phrase "ageing population" often turns up in political discourse. But even if there's a person with dementia in your family, would you have thought of an app that can make their home more accessible for them?
Launched by Alzheimer's Australia Vic, the Dementia-Friendly Home app uses the Unreal Engine interactive 3D game technology Unreal Engine provides carers with ideas to make their home more accessible for people living with dementia.
Alzheimer's Australia Vic CEO Maree McCabe pointed out that people with dementia may experience spatial and visual challenges as well as memory issues.
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Health
A ‘digital health’ industry is taking shape
By Tim Kelsey, Strategy & Commercial Director, Telstra Health | 2016-03-15
Healthcare around the world is characterised by fragmented and complex systems, but the sector is changing as technology opens up new ways to tackle critical challenges like ageing populations, chronic disease and stretched budgets.
Last year, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, a Japanese life sciences company, and its US-based partner Proteus Digital Health applied for regulatory approval of an anti-depressant drug incorporating an ingestible sensor. The sensor will measure how patients keep to their prescriptions, and the treatment’s effects, the data being transmitted to care providers. If approved, it will mark the first mass-market commercialization of a ‘smart pill’, and will be an important manifestation of the promise of digital health.
This is just one example of the numerous alliances being forged between health and life sciences organisations and technology companies. Healthcare providers are emerging as active practitioners of digital partnering.
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Why we need to get over the Medicare Locals disappointment
Many people are still getting over the disappointment of Medicare Locals. I get that. Although some MLs were able to make a difference, too many were not. The new Primary Health Networks (PHNs) may be a different kettle of fish. One thing is for sure: they are here for the long haul.
There is an enormous opportunity for PHNs to add value where they support quality primary healthcare services to the community. For that reason the RACGP is keen to work with the new organisations. I believe there are at least three areas where grassroots support from local PHNs can make a big difference.
Working together
The first area is relationship building and teamwork. We all know there are too many silos and tribes in healthcare. On the other hand, long-term relationships positively influence knowledge exchange, understanding and trust.
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Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services
The Honourable Cameron Dick
Friday, March 11, 2016
Australia’s digital revolution begins in Brisbane hospital
Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital has become Australia’s first public digital hospital, heralding a revolution in the way healthcare will be delivered in Queensland.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick today announced that implementation of the digital hospital project was successfully underway.
“This digital hospital project will transform healthcare delivery in Queensland and allow clinicians to focus on the patient, not paperwork,” he said.
“This means improved safety and quality of care for patients and faster treatment to get them home sooner.”
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Using digital technologies to tackle chronic pain for rural Australians
March 17, 2016
Digital online systems are being used more widely to assist remote, rural and regional Australian access medical help. Babs McHugh speaks with Red Witham, a chronic pain sufferer, on his experiences, Dr Helen Slater about the painHEALTH online resource in WA and Jenni Johnson on an online program in NSW.
Babs McHugh
Source: ABC Rural | Duration: 4min 17sec
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Government Ignores Flaws In E-Health Push.
15 Mar 2016
The Federal Government is pushing ahead with mass trials of its My Health Record e-health system despite concerns that fundamental shortcomings are yet to be addressed.
Health Minister Sussan Ley has announced that the personal health information of more than one million people will be automatically uploaded to the internet from July as part of a large-scale test of My Health Record prior to a nationwide roll-out of the scheme.
Under the plan, 700,000 people living in North Queensland Primary Health Network (PHN) and 360,000 covered by the Nepean Blue Mountains PHN in western Sydney, will have until the end of June to opt-out or have a digital health record containing details of their health status, medicines and allergies automatically created and uploaded to the system.
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Telstra backs out of $1b Philippines wireless joint venture
Telstra has abandoned its negotiations with San Miguel over forming a wireless joint venture in the Philippines.
Telstra has cited the lack of an acceptable "risk-reward balance" as the reason for abandoning negotiations with Filipino giant San Miguel Corporation over a $1 billion equity investment in a wireless joint venture in the Philippines.
Telstra said the two companies were "unable to reach commercial arrangements" over the joint venture, announced at the end of last year, to form a wireless provider.
San Miguel, which generates approximately 6.2 percent of the Philippines' GDP through its infrastructure, fuel, oil, power, and mining, food, and beverage business, would have been its partner in the joint venture.
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NBN needs radical rethink
17 March 2016 | There are calls for the network to revert to an all-fibre NBN for future-proofing.
Network problems
By Ros Page
The plan for the national broadband network (NBN) needs a radical overhaul and should revert back to an all-fibre network, according to Internet Australia (IA), the peak body representing internet users.
IA delivered the blunt message that the national network should deploy fibre and just do it now at last week's hearing of the NBN Senate Select Committee, which is investigating the NBN.
Nbn™ leaks question viability of multi-tech NBN
It comes after a series of leaked documents show that expanding the use of high-speed fibre is now a cost-effective option for the national broadband network (NBN). It raises questions about the viability of the current network that is repurposing technically inferior copper and pay TV cables and linking to fibre at nodes, at significant cost.
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Computer's Go victory is a warning about the AI in our lives
Date March 17, 2016 - 8:35AM
Nello Cristianini
COMMENT
The victory of a computer over one of the world's strongest players of the game Go has been hailed by many as a landmark event in artificial intelligence. But why? After all, computers have beaten us at games before, most notably in 1997 when the computer Deep Blue triumphed over chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov.
We can get a hint of why the Go victory is important, however, by looking at the difference between the companies behind these game-playing computers. Deep Blue was the product of IBM, which was back then largely a hardware company. But the software – AlphaGo – that beat Go player Lee Sedol was created by DeepMind, a branch of Google based in the UK specialising in machine learning.
AlphaGo's success wasn't because of so-called "Moore's law", which states that computer processor speed doubles roughly every two years. Computers haven't yet become powerful enough to calculate all the possible moves in Go – which is much harder to do than in chess. Instead, DeepMind's work was based on carefully deploying new machine-learning methods and integrating them within more standard game-playing algorithms. Using vast amounts of data, AlphaGo has learnt how to focus its resources where they are most needed, and how to do a better job with those resources.
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Enjoy!
David.
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