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."

Thursday, May 06, 2021

A Recent Small Study Of ED Use Of #MyHealthRecord Reveals Pretty Low Use And A Significant Number Of Issues.

This appeared last week:

Health Inf Sci Syst

2021 Apr 16;9(1):19.

doi: 10.1007/s13755-021-00148-6. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Physicians' and pharmacists' use of My Health Record in the emergency department: results from a mixed-methods study

Alexandra K Mullins  1 Heather Morris  1 Cate Bailey  1 Michael Ben-Meir  1   2   3 David Rankin  2 Mariam Mousa  1 Helen Skouteris  1   4

Affiliations

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore pharmacists' and physicians' perceptions of use, barriers to use and the healthcare outcomes associated with use of Australia's national personally controlled electronic health record-known as My Health Record-in the emergency department.

Methods: A mixed methods approach was deployed, including surveys and individual semi-structured interviews. All physicians and pharmacists who work in the emergency department at Cabrini Health (a non-for-profit healthcare provider in Victoria, Australia) were invited to participate. Due to the timing of elective blocks, physician trainees were excluded from interviews.

Results: A total of 40 emergency medicine clinicians responded to the survey. Over 50% (n = 22) of all respondents had used My Health Record in the emergency department at least once. A total of 18 clinicians participated in the semi-structured interviews, which led to the identification of three themes with multiple sub-themes regarding My Health Record: (1) benefits; (2) effectiveness; and; (3) barriers.

Conclusion: Participants reported My Health Record use in the emergency department delivers efficiencies for clinicians and has a heightened utility for complex patients, consistent with previous research conducted outside of the Australian setting. Barriers to use were revealed: outdated content, a lack of trust, a low perception of value, no patient record and multiple medical record systems. The participants in this study highlighted that training and awareness raising is needed in order to improve My Health Record use in the emergency department, a need stressed by physician's. Further observational research is required to explores meaningful MHR use at scale.

Keywords: Barriers; Efficiencies; Electronic health record; Emergency department; My health record; Patient outcomes.

Here is the link:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33898021/

Happily the full text of the article is available as a .pdf here:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13755-021-00148-6.pdf

The Abstract is a good summary of the paper which is really hampered by the relatively number of clinicians who were using the system and the low number of frequent users. There seemed to be only a few occasions reported when the #myHR was seen as valuable and making a difference.

Clearly, if present, the pharmacists found the #myHR useful to confirm a patient’s medication but absent useful data was a problem for both types of users.

All in all, an interesting effort in the absence of any properly funded research from the ADHA which we have been promised for years now!

David.

 

Details Of Funding For myGov / #myHealthRecord. So Absurd!

https://theconversation.com/upgrades-for-mygov-and-my-health-record-sites-in-budgets-1-2-billion-digital-strategy-160387

Upgrades for myGov and My Health Record sites in budget’s $1.2 billion digital strategy

1.      Michelle Grattan

Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

More than $500 million of a $1.2 billion digital economy strategy in Tuesday’s budget will be spent on overhauling the federal government’s myGov and My Health Record sites.

The initiatives, to be announced by Scott Morrison on Thursday, include $200.1 million for myGov, which is the main portal for people to access government services on line.

Changes will make it easier for people to find services, from childcare providers to disaster support, as well as to manage payments and claims.

The government says the time saved by the enhancements will generate benefits across the economy worth an estimated $3.6 billion over a decade.

The package will put $301.8 million into what the government describes as the “next wave” of My Health Record, expanding the system, which has 23 million registered users. My Health Record contains summaries of people’s health information. It is managed by the Australian Digital Health Agency.

Some of this spending will assist the vaccination rollout, such as giving people alerts when vaccinations are due. There will be funds to help the move of aged care into a digital system that can link in with My Health Record to make safer and more efficient transitions between aged care and hospitals and other health facilities.

In other initiatives, $124.1 million will be provided to build Australia’s capability in Artificial Intelligence. This will include a National Artificial Intelligence Centre, to promote the adoption by business of AI technologies, supported by a network of AI and digital capability centres.

More than $100 million will go to boosting digital skills including a pilot program for work-based digital cadetships.

Business will benefit from investment incentives. There will be a digital games tax offset of 30% to help Australia obtain more of the $250 billion annual global video game development market.

The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association says Australia could generate a $1 billion games industry within a decade. In 2018-19, the Australian games sector earned $144 million.

Changes to the way businesses can claim depreciation on intangible assets such as intellectual property and in-house software, and help for small businesses to build digital capacity are also in the measures.

The government will invest $111.3 million to support the Consumer Data Right (CDR) rollout. The CDR helps consumers to compare and switch between products and services. This sharpens price and service competition between providers.

The $1.2 billion in spending on the digital strategy package is over six years.

Morrison said: “We need to keep our foot on the digital accelerator to secure our economic recovery from COVID-19”.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said: “Greater digital adoption will improve our competitiveness and lift our productivity – driving job creation and higher wages”.

In a pre-budget speech on Thursday opposition leader Anthony Albanese will distance himself from the big spending Labor proposed at the last election.

He will say money was tight when he was growing up and his mother taught him “the value of a dollar”.

“That’s why, when it comes to thinking about government spending, I am cautious”.

Republished with permission.

David.

 

 

The Morrison Government Confirms Profound Digital Health Ingorance - Gives 1/2 Billion Dollars To myGov and #myHealthRecord!

This is being reported to be in the Budget on May, 11 by ABC News this morning!

You are all paying for Morrison / Hunt Government stupidity and ability to just spend your money on no real evidence!

Glad I am retired and don't pay tax!

Here is a link:

https://theconversation.com/upgrades-for-mygov-and-my-health-record-sites-in-budgets-1-2-billion-digital-strategy-160387

Upgrades for myGov and My Health Record sites in budget’s $1.2 billion digital strategy


Wednesday, May 05, 2021

All The Wrinkles Are Not Quite Out Of ePrescribing Just Yet. Stay Alert For Issues!

This appeared last week:

26 April 2021

Active ingredient prescribing prone to dangerous errors

By Holly Payne

Just three months after active ingredient legislation kicked into action, GPs say hazardous blind spots in the system are becoming apparent.

Now, no matter what brand name is typed into the computer end of the prescription software, it will print with only the generic name.

Although GPs are still able to check a no-substitutions box when creating the prescription – which will then allow the brand name to be listed – Sydney GP Dr Ruth Ratner told The Medical Republic that this was a less-than-ideal workaround.

“The only way to get the brand name back [on the medication list] for somebody who has been on a drug for a long time is to delete it, re-write it and tick that box,” she said.

“But when there are 10 different drugs to do that with, it is exceptionally onerous.”

Dr Ratner has further concern that when a drug is deleted and re-added to the medication list, it could give the false impression that the date it was changed was the date it was originally prescribed.

When a patient with an egg allergy presented for a flu vaccination, however, Dr Ratner found a hole in the system far more serious than wasted time.

After Dr Ratner wrote a prescription for the egg-free version of the vaccine, the patient collected it from a pharmacy and returned for immunisation.

Having forgotten to tick the no-substitutions box, the doctor did not realise the script printout had requested a generic flu vaccine – which the pharmacist had then dispensed – until she was close to delivering the injection.

“Should I have double-checked the paper script I handed out? Yes, I should have,” Dr Ratner told TMR.

“But I would have been medico-legally responsible [if that patient had an adverse event].”

More here:

https://medicalrepublic.com.au/active-ingredient-prescribing-prone-to-dangerous-errors/44427

This does not seem like progress to me. The prescribing system should always ask for a brand name which can then be inserted for extra certainty that the patient will actually get what is intended by the clinician. The nudge to generics becomes a bit more than that as it presently works it seems.

Also this week we have:

April 30, 2021 8:40 am AEST

Integrating electronic prescriptions into pharmacy operations

The rollout of electronic prescriptions has expanded significantly over the past few months, with 97 per cent of all PBS-approved pharmacies now dispensing electronic prescription tokens.

The next phase in the rollout of electronic prescriptions is the Active Script List (ASL) in which a patient’s electronic prescriptions are consolidated in a digital list and can be accessed at any pharmacy without the need for tokens.

The ASL has multiple benefits for patients and pharmacists, particularly for those who take multiple medications.

The ASL framework has progressed through beta testing and will be available to pharmacies over the coming months, depending on their location and dispensary software provider.

Guild Learning and Development has collaborated with the Australian Digital Health Agency to create an online module titled Integrating electronic prescriptions into your pharmacy operations.

The module discusses the practical implementation of electronic prescriptions, with a focus on workflow considerations, privacy and consent considerations related to the ASL, as well as electronic prescription troubleshooting advice.

To enrol in this course please visit guilded.guild.org.au

More here:

https://www.miragenews.com/integrating-electronic-prescriptions-into-552102/

And here:

Keeping to the script

Chris Brooker29/04/2021

One year on from the launch of electronic prescriptions in Australia where are we at now? And what are the next steps?

Was it only a year ago that Australia’s first paperless electronic prescription in primary care was successfully prescribed and dispensed?

Amazingly, it was on Wednesday 6 May 2020 that an e-script—which used the “token” model—was prescribed by Dr David Corbet at Anglesea Medical in Victoria and dispensed by pharmacist Jason Bratuskins at Anglesea Pharmacy.

From this simple beginning only a year ago, the use of ePrescriptions has skyrocketed, helped no doubt by the COVID-inspired growth of all things electronic and remote in healthcare.

According to the Australian Digital Health Agency, there have now (as of 9 April) been more than six million ePrescriptions issued to Australians.

This includes 3.5 million original ePrescriptions from prescribers and 2.5 million ePrescriptions as repeat scripts issued by pharmacies.

Almost all pharmacies around the nation have dispensed an electronic prescription.

“The majority of Australians can now choose an electronic prescription as an alternative to a paper prescription from their doctor when needing medicines,” Andrew Matthews, director, Medicines Safety Program at the Australian Digital Health Agency told the AJP.

“At least 97% of PBS approved pharmacies have dispensed ePrescriptions. Prescribers can be confident that if a patient prefers an electronic prescription from their doctor over a paper prescription, they will be able to get this dispensed at their local community pharmacy.”

Getting active

Most experts say the next step in the evolution of Australia’s ePrescription program will come with the full national availability of the new Active Script List program, expected to occur by the end of 2021.

Active Script List (ASL) is a list of all active prescriptions and repeats available to be dispensed for a patient. It is a pharmacy-assisted service for accessing patient ePrescriptions for the supply of medicines.

The list has been trialled at 10 sites with 280 patients, Mr Matthews told delegates at the E-medication Management Conference in Sydney in late March. It will become “progressively more available” from April onwards, he said.

The patient can register for the list and can set options for which health professionals they wish to see or access this information.

“Pharmacy is the conduit through which a patient will manage their ASL, with pharmacy’s role including offering assisted registration for patients,” he said.

An example of how the system could work is if a patient is on holiday and needed to obtain a repeat prescription.

“They could elect to allow a pharmacy that is not their regular pharmacy to access their ASL information for one or two days so their prescription could be dispensed,” Mr Matthews said.

“After that date, the nominated pharmacy would no longer be able to access this information.”
The dispensing pharmacy “can access an electronic prescription for a patient from an ASL following proof of identity.”

The patient also has the capacity to instruct a prescriber to withhold scripts from the ASL.
One advantage of the system was that it removed the need for the patient to receive their tokens via SMS or email and retain their tokens, Mr Matthews said.

ADHA data indicated that currently around 85% of ePrescriptions are sent via SMS, he added.

Managing the workload

There were concerns expressed by pharmacists about the impact on workflows, which he believed had been addressed during testing on its integrating into day to day practice.

Full system functionality should be achieved “soon”, Andrew Matthews said, while the privacy framework was also being finalised “at the moment”.

He also noted there are currently three apps (MedAdvisor, Medmate and GuildLink) that are conformant for ePrescribing and offering a token management solution.

In addition, the agency has reported generally good collaboration between professions during the initial development and growth process.

“Feedback to the Agency through clinical peak bodies has been that communication between local general practices and community pharmacies about readiness to write and dispense electronic prescriptions has been another good example of the collaboration between community pharmacy and general practice,” said Mr Matthews.

For more on this article, see our May AJP magazine or e-magazine

https://ajp.com.au/features/keeping-to-the-script-2/

It is well worth reading this article carefully. Frankly I am a little worried that the complexity of the patient interaction with the pharmacist may mean all sorts of issues emerge as the roll-out continues. There seems to be a real set of privacy and security issues come to notice as the roll out continues.

I look forward to feedback from the field regarding glitches emerging as we move forward!

As you can see from this article the technology is still very new!

First active script list launched in Australia

My Script List provides pharmacies with a complete digital list of a patient’s current prescriptions and repeats

Fred IT Group has launched Australia’s first digital script list, called My Script List, beginning with pharmacies across Tasmania.

My Script List was activated in all Tasmanian pharmacies on Thursday, and is expected to roll out to remaining states and territories over the coming weeks.

It is Australia’s first iteration of a Department of Health conformant Active Script List (ASL), providing an alternative to the token model which launched in May last year.

More than 6.5 million electronic prescriptions were created and 4.2 million dispensed in the first six months since the launch of the token model.

“We think ASL will be the predominant model over time, for convenience and utility particularly for patients,” David Freemantle, General Manager of eHealth at Fred IT Group told AJP.

The token model can become difficult to juggle for patients who are on multiple medications as it generates a separate token for each prescription and repeat, he explained.

Meanwhile My Script List combines the patient’s electronic prescriptions in one digital list.

“The target market is patients for whom pharmacists keep their scripts on file,” said Mr Freemantle. However he hopes that as more patients learn about it, use of My Script List “should become ubiquitous”.

“If your phone becomes flat or lost you can’t access the token, but if [your prescription] is on the My Script List then you can still access it,” he said. “We think it really makes e-scripts make sense.”

Paul Naismith, pharmacist and CEO of the Fred IT Group, added that My Script List will substantially reduce the administrative burden associated with managing and dispensing prescriptions.

“This is extremely important for pharmacies that are supporting patients with multiple prescriptions and chronic health conditions,” said Mr Naismith.

“It means that pharmacists can therefore spend time where they need to – supporting the health care needs of their patients.”

Fred IT Group has been running eight pilot sites for three months, ramping up to 12 sites over the past few weeks.

On Thursday 22 April, Tasmanian pharmacies were the first to receive access to My Script List outside of these pilot sites.

“My Script List has provided us with better visibility of our patients’ current prescriptions,” said Joseph O’Malley, pharmacist and proprietor of Westside Pharmacy in Ulverstone, Tasmania, and PDL Director.

“This helps us to reduce the pressure that patients experience, as they no longer need to worry about remembering their scripts or sorting through tokens on their phone.

“Instead, they simply come in and talk to us and let us manage their prescriptions. My Script List has also removed the need to keep scripts on file, so is much easier to manage than printing and filling paper prescriptions.”

Patients can choose to access My Script List once it becomes available in their state or territory by contacting their pharmacist or GP and providing their consent.

This patient-controlled access can be ongoing or for a short period of time. Once granted access to this list, a pharmacy may dispense the items requested by the patient.

Similarly doctors and third-party intermediaries, with patient consent, can view the active list of scripts. 

More here:

https://ajp.com.au/news/first-active-script-list-launched-in-australia/

Lots to consider!

David.

 

Tuesday, May 04, 2021

Commentators and Journalists Weigh In On Digital Health And Related Privacy, Safety, Social Media And Security Matters. Lots Of Interesting Perspectives - May 04, 2021.

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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.

I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.

Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! Its pretty sad!

Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.

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https://medicalrepublic.com.au/who-is-the-racgps-telehealth-stance-actually-serving/44733

30 April 2021

Who is the RACGP’s telehealth stance actually serving?

By Jeremy Knibbs

When our much beloved media cousins at Australian Doctor broke the story on Tuesday that, as of 1 July, the Department of Health had decided to stop rebates on phone consultations longer than 20 minutes, our journos were immediately on to the department seeking a confirmation, clarification and details.

Although a big story, it wasn’t really a surprise.

The DoH had from the start been worried about the low uptake of video by GPs (it’s less than 3 per cent) for the obvious reasons that a video consult, if you can do one, is a far more effective patient interaction than a phone consult, especially for anything a little more complex, such as a mental health assessment.

The department had been hinting from early on that they might be end up providing monetary signals to balance the situation if didn’t self-correct.

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https://www.innovationaus.com/why-we-need-a-publicly-funded-social-network/

Why we need a publicly funded social network

Jordan Guiao
Contributor

29 April 2021

I almost bore myself when I start to write about issues with Facebook. The revelations of privacy scandals, data breaches, hate speech, and violence-inducing disinformation by Facebook has become such a regular occurrence in our news feeds that we are almost inured to its coverage.

It may be a symptom of how we’ve over-relied on Facebook and outsourced so much of our communication and community that we can overlook their recurring transgressions.

Ghosts of social networks past may provide a glimmer of doubt or hope in Facebook’s continued dominance. After all, bygone platforms like MySpace, Friendster and Flickr once ruled the internet.

It may surprise many that LinkedIn is actually older than Facebook, and continues to succeed to this day, albeit not at the same level.

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https://www.innovationaus.com/govt-acts-on-just-3-of-13-data-sharing-recommendations/

Govt acts on just 3 of 13 data-sharing recommendations

Denham Sadler
Senior Reporter

27 April 2021

The federal government only addressed three out of 13 recommendations from a Privacy Impact Assessment of its sweeping new data-sharing scheme in the final legislation presented to Parliament.

The Data Availability and Transparency Bill (DATB), which would herald a significant expansion of the sharing of public sector data between agencies, departments and private sector organisations, is currently the subject of a senate inquiry.

The new scheme would present a “new path” for the sharing of data that is currently blocked by secrecy or privacy provisions.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) of the final legislation introduced to Parliament late last year by Information Integrity Solutions has now been released publicly by the government.

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https://www.zdnet.com/article/australias-esafety-and-the-uphill-battle-of-regulating-the-ever-changing-online-realm/

Australia's eSafety and the uphill battle of regulating the ever-changing online realm

The eSafety Commissioner has defended the Online Safety Act, saying it's about protecting the vulnerable and holding the social media platforms accountable for offering a safe product, much the same way as car manufacturers and food producers are in the offline world.

By Asha Barbaschow | April 30, 2021 -- 07:26 GMT (17:26 AEST) | Topic: Security

Australia's eSafety Commissioner is set to receive sweeping new powers like the ability to order the removal of material that seriously harms adults, with the looming passage of the Online Safety Act.

Tech firms, as well as experts and civil liberties groups, have taken issue with the Act, such as with its rushed nature, the harm it can cause to the adult industry, and the overbearing powers it affords to eSafety, as some examples. Current eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has even previously admitted that details of how the measures legislated in the Online Safety Bill 2021 would be overseen are still being worked out.

The Bill contains six priority areas, including an adult cyber abuse scheme to remove material that seriously harms adults; an image-based abuse scheme to remove intimate images that have been shared without consent; Basic Online Safety Expectations (BOSE) for the eSafety Commissioner to hold services accountable; and an online content scheme for the removal of "harmful" material through take-down powers.

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https://www.smh.com.au/technology/accc-s-tracking-win-over-google-a-small-step-in-the-right-direction-20210420-p57kst.html

ACCC’s tracking win over Google a small step in the right direction

By Tim Biggs

May 1, 2021 — 12.01am

The consumer watchdog’s court win over Google this month should serve as a warning to big tech that privacy and data settings must be made as transparent as possible, but more pressure will need to be exerted to dispel the opaque terms and conditions they impose on consumers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had alleged that Android devices, in 2017 and 2018, were set up in such a way that someone creating a new Google account would not be adequately informed about whether their location would be tracked or not.

At the time, Google made it sound as though turning off “location history” — a service that maps wherever you go with your devices — would stop the company from collecting data about a user’s location. But consumers also needed to turn off another setting, one with no mention of location data - “App and web activity”, to completely stop Google from tracking their location.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the federal court decision in its favour earlier this month was “an important victory for consumers, especially those concerned about their privacy online.

“The court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers. Consumers should not be kept in the dark when it comes to the collection of their personal location data.”

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https://soundcloud.com/adhapodcast/specialists-digital-health-tools

Specialists: Digital health tools

Australian Digital Health Agency Podcast  ADHA Propaganda

Follow Australian Digital Health Agency Podcast and others on SoundCloud.

Hear from industry experts about the benefits of digital health for specialists and how these tools are used to streamline processes and optimise patient care.

Speakers: Dr Andrew Rochford (Facilitator), Omar Khorshid (Australian Medical Association President), Jill Tomlinson (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon) and Steve Hambleton (Agency Independent Medical Advisor).

Comment - while there is too much on the #myHR we see some are making good use of other aspects of Digital Health. Steve Hambleton is hardly and independent commentator!

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/senate-committee-urges-further-privacy-guidance-in-data-sharing-laws-563972

Senate committee urges further privacy guidance in data sharing laws

By Justin Hendry on Apr 30, 2021 7:05AM

As Labor calls for 'deeply flawed' bill to be scrapped.

A senate committee has urged the federal government to consider embedding further privacy protection guidance into proposed public sector data sharing laws that will make it easier for agencies to share data with third-parties.

Handing down its report [pdf] on Thursday, the government-led Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee made three recommendations for minor changes to the Data Availability and Transparency Bill 2020.

The recommendations go to some of the security and privacy concerns raised by stakeholders during the course of the inquiry, though skirt crucial issues like de-identification by recommending that government only consider the change.

Labor senators have, meanwhile, denounced the legislation altogether, labelling the bill “deeply flawed” and suggesting the scheme will “undermine current privacy protections, most notably the Privacy Act” if passed in its current form.

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https://audioboom.com/posts/7855118-thur-29-apr-21-state-election-my-health-record-missing-moving-box

THUR 29 APR 21: State Election, My Health Record, missing moving box

Apr 29, 3:18 PM

Full podcast of Tasmania Talks with Mike O'Loughlin for Thursday 29th April, 2012

From About 42 Mins ADHA Propaganda

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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/events-and-webinars/my-health-record-in-aged-care-get-connected

Webinar • My Health Record

My Health Record in Aged Care – Get Connected!

Event details ADHA Propaganda

When

Tuesday, 4 May 2021
7:00pm - 8:00pm (AEST)

Where

Online

Hosted by

Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) and Australian Digital Health Agency

Register here

Contact us

General enquiries

Phone: 1300 901 001
8am - 5pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday - Friday
Email: help@digitalhealth.gov.au

More information

My Health Record provides access to accurate and relevant clinical information to assist in improving quality of life, care coordination and ultimately reduce potential medication misadventures. This webinar guides you through how to get connected to the My Health Record as well as ongoing compliance requirements.

Please join Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) and the Australian Digital Health Agency for an interactive session and panel discussion focusing on how digital health tools, such as My Health Record, can support enhanced models of person-centred care. We are pleased to have speakers with a range of expertise join us, who will be able to share their insights on this topic.

All allied health providers working in primary care and in aged care facilities are welcome to attend this session.

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https://www.itwire.com/technology-regulation/accc-authorises-country-press-australia-collective-bragaining-with-google,-facebook.html

Thursday, 29 April 2021 11:17

ACCC authorises Country Press Australia collective bargaining with Google, Facebook

By Peter Dinham

Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC, has granted interim authorisation for Country Press Australia (CPA) members to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google over payments to publishers for their news content that appears on the platforms.  

CPA - an industry body that represents the interests of independent regional and local newspapers throughout Australia - currently represents 81 members and 160 regional newspapers, which provide local news to regional communities in print and online.

One of the 23 recommendations made by the ACCC’s 2019 Digital Platforms Inquiry final report was that a code be developed to address the imbalance in bargaining power between leading digital platforms and Australian news businesses - and in April 2020, the Government directed the ACCC to develop a mandatory code - with legislation enacting the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code passed by Parliament on 25 February this year.

The Australian Competition and Cosumer Commission says that authorisation will enable CPA members to collectively negotiate with each of Facebook and Google, engage in discussions with each other and exchange information about those negotiations.

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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/nbn-has-ignored-us/news-story/186ecf531465e8c86afe3dde8045ca03

‘NBN has ignored us’

David Swan

NBN Co’s latest pricing proposal shows its negotiations with telcos and retail providers had been a ’waste of time’, according to executives of Telstra, Optus and TPG who have all hit out at the government-run company for retaining controversial CVC charges and not going far enough with pricing reform.

On Wednesday NBN released a new pricing paper following months of consultations, proposing a soft cap on variable data capacity charges, as well as what it described as more generous data inclusions and a progress of long-term pricing reform.

The company said the proposed soft cap would protect retailers from sudden surges in demand, and improve industry certainty around data usage.

The Connectivity Virtual Circuit - or CVC - is the price telcos pay to move data from the NBN to their networks. The amount of CVC a telco buys affects the internet speed, particularly at peak usage times from 7pm to 11pm.

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https://www.smh.com.au/technology/significant-issues-apple-google-app-marketplace-power-a-concern-for-accc-20210428-p57n2v.html

‘Significant issues’: Apple, Google app marketplace power a concern for ACCC

By Tim Biggs

April 28, 2021 — 11.48am

Australia’s consumer and competition watchdog has highlighted “significant issues” with the power wielded by Apple and Google over the marketplace for apps and digital services, in the strongest indication yet the companies may face fresh regulations following a five-year inquiry.

Each tech giant operates a mobile app store that taken together represent an effective duopoly in Australia, a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says, and the fact that Apple and Google also compete in those markets with their own apps gives them the ability to self-preference.

“They have the ability and incentive to promote their own apps over others, and they control the terms that their competitors must comply with to gain access to their stores,” said ACCC chair Rod Sims in announcing the report.

“The ACCC is also concerned with restrictions imposed by Apple and Google which mean developers have no choice but to use Apple and Google’s own payment systems for any in-app purchases.”

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https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/nbn-s-monopoly-getting-stronger-20210428-p57n2z

NBN’s monopoly getting stronger

The NBN Co needs to make a profit to recover its $59 billion total build cost. But does that mean it should be allowed to suppress competition?

Apr 29, 2021 – 12.00am

Australia’s biggest monopoly, NBN Co, is slowly but surely entrenching its powerful position at the centre of the telecommunications sector through a range of moves that ought to worry the competition regulator.

In fact, NBN’s clever moves to blunt or impede competition from private sector players should be a top priority for Anna Brakey, who is chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s telecommunications committee.

Brakey is leading a review, announced on Wednesday, that will result in a revised regulatory model for NBN, including giving the ACCC the power to control NBN’s pricing.

The ACCC has been talking about “full price regulation” of NBN since 2015, but only a quarter of active NBN connections are covered by the current special access undertaking signed by NBN.

Of course, NBN’s monopoly position is helped by the federal government’s Regional Broadband Scheme, which puts a $7.10-a-month levy on fixed-line infrastructure providers competing with NBN.

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https://www.itwire.com/home-it/reset-australia-says-facebook-allows-you-to-target-%E2%80%98teens-interested-in-smoking%E2%80%99-for-%24127.html

Wednesday, 28 April 2021 17:16

Reset Australia says Facebook allows you to target ‘teens interested in smoking’ for $127

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Reset Australia is demanding greater data protections for teenagers after it uncovered a Facebook loophole that allows teenagers to be profiled and targeted with advertising based on a range of age inappropriate interests, such as alcohol, smoking, gambling, and extreme weight loss.

Facebook builds profiles based on interests, and then sells access to these profiles to advertisers for direct, targeted advertising. While underage Facebook users can not be served alcohol, cigarette or gambling ads specifically, in a new report Reset Australia finds a loophole which allows underage profiles to be targeted based on these illicit interests.

Reset Australia found it costs advertisers $127 to target 1000 underage profiles with an interest in smoking, $38 to target 1000 underage profiles interested in extreme weight loss, and just $3 to target 1000 an underage profiles interested in alcohol.

“Facebook appears to use teenagers’ data in the same way as adults,” said Chris Cooper, executive director Reset Australia, the local affiliate of a global initiative working to counter digital threats to democracy across the world."

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/act-policing-may-have-unlawfully-accessed-location-data-ombudsman-finds-563920

ACT Policing may have unlawfully accessed location data, Ombudsman finds

By Justin Hendry on Apr 28, 2021 4:05PM

Less than one percent of authorisations ‘proper’.

ACT Policing may have illegally accessed the approximate location of mobile devices during investigations due to its “cavalier approach to exercising telecommunications data powers”, the Commonwealth Ombudsman has found.

An investigation [pdf] into the access and use of location-based services (LBS) or ‘pings’ found that the community policing arm of the Australian Federal Police failed to properly authorise or report LBS authorisations between October 2015 and 2019.

LBS provides the “location of a mobile devices from which communication was made”, either for a single point in time or at regular intervals, and is used by law enforcement agencies to identify persons of interest.

The investigation was prompted by an internal review that found about 8000 requests for prospective telecommunications data such as LBS had taken place outside of the AFP’s approved processes since 2007.

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https://wildhealth.net.au/gps-and-their-tech-vendors-are-technologically-landlocked-amid-systemic-changes/

28 April 2021

Aged care billions light fuse on systemic changes to GP and tech sector

Cloud Interoperability Investors Money Patient Management Systems PE VCs

By Jeremy Knibbs

As  the federal government gears up to spend $10 billion fixing aged care, big money is  hard at work already. planning how they can use GPs and new technology to access this new funding pool

For good or bad, there are systemic changes in politics, technology and commerce now rippling inexorably towards the GP sector which are likely to affect all GPs in the not-too-distant future. The same forces are going to create significant changes to the local medical software industry as well.

Politics is seeding the change with a big investment coming in aged care. Big money groups such PE, VCs and private health insurers are planning their path to the money, a path which must include GPs in some way.

But GPs are stuck in a work and technology paradigm which won’t work for these new money types.

The money people are going to change the paradigm – for GPs and for likely for large swathes of our local health tech sector as well.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/accc-says-apple-google-app-store-regulation-may-be-needed-563892

ACCC says Apple, Google app store regulation may be needed

By Staff Writer on Apr 28, 2021 12:22PM

If changes aren't made.

Australia's competition watchdog said regulation may be required to address the significant market power app stores owned by Alphabet's Google and Apple have if they do not take steps to assuage concerns.

The global dominance of Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store has been criticised by some app makers for mandatory revenue sharing payments and strict inclusive rules by both companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in a digital platforms services inquiry interim report, said app developers should be allowed to provide customers with alternative payment options and data collected by Google and Apple should be kept separate from their other operations.

The ACCC also called for consumers to be allowed to change or remove pre-installed or default apps.

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https://www.australianageingagenda.com.au/technology/ict-in-aged-care-under-the-spotlight/

ICT in aged care under the spotlight

The next edition of Australian Ageing Agenda magazine is reporting on information and communications technology (ICT) in aged care along with stories on clinical education and infection control.

There’s no doubt that Australia’s future aged care sector needs to operate in a technology-enabled environment. Royal Commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle most recently highlighted this in their final report.

They recommend all aged care providers use a digital care management system that includes medication management by July 2022. The system should be interoperable with the My Health Record, which providers should also adopt.

Next issue we will talk to the experts and providers about ICT in aged care, such as:

  • what ICT systems providers need for 2021 and beyond
  • the clinical, business and operational outcomes they can expect
  • provider lessons on implementing new technology.

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Electronic Prescribing - Technical Framework Documents v3.0

Dear Valued Partner,

Further to the release of the Electronic Prescribing - Technical Framework Documents v3.0 (EP 3.0), we wish to remind you that conformance to the relevant Healthcare Identifiers conformance requirements is now mandatory for relevant participating software products.

Who will this affect?

Clinical Information Systems and Prescription Delivery Services currently participating in electronic prescribing or those who wish to implement electronic prescribing. 

Note: This does not apply to systems performing mobile application or mobile intermediary roles.


Required action
Software developers developing to the Electronic Prescribing – Conformance Profile 3.0 are required to first be conformant to the relevant Healthcare Identifiers conformance requirements before they can be assessed and approved as conformant for electronic prescribing.

A reminder that the conformance end date for all previous electronic prescribing conformance profiles will be 30 April 2022.
Software which is conformant to any of the previous profiles will be required to become conformant to EP 3.0 by this date in order for their customers to continue to access electronic prescribing functionality.

Next Steps
- Fill out the
Implementation Conformance Statement Proforma
- Conduct self assessment against the Conformance Test Specification  
- Book HI Notice of Connection and HI Conformance testing using the process here


More information
For further information on developing for the HI Service, please see the Developer Centre.

Feedback and questions
If you would like more informantion on HI conformance for electronic prescribing, please contact our support team at: help@digitalhealth.gov.au or 1300 901 001.

Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Australian Digital Health Agency

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33898021/

Health Inf Sci Syst

2021 Apr 16;9(1):19.

doi: 10.1007/s13755-021-00148-6. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Physicians' and pharmacists' use of My Health Record in the emergency department: results from a mixed-methods study

Alexandra K Mullins  1 Heather Morris  1 Cate Bailey  1 Michael Ben-Meir  1   2   3 David Rankin  2 Mariam Mousa  1 Helen Skouteris  1   4

Affiliations

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore pharmacists' and physicians' perceptions of use, barriers to use and the healthcare outcomes associated with use of Australia's national personally controlled electronic health record-known as My Health Record-in the emergency department.

Methods: A mixed methods approach was deployed, including surveys and individual semi-structured interviews. All physicians and pharmacists who work in the emergency department at Cabrini Health (a non-for-profit healthcare provider in Victoria, Australia) were invited to participate. Due to the timing of elective blocks, physician trainees were excluded from interviews.

Results: A total of 40 emergency medicine clinicians responded to the survey. Over 50% (n = 22) of all respondents had used My Health Record in the emergency department at least once. A total of 18 clinicians participated in the semi-structured interviews, which led to the identification of three themes with multiple sub-themes regarding My Health Record: (1) benefits; (2) effectiveness; and; (3) barriers.

Conclusion: Participants reported My Health Record use in the emergency department delivers efficiencies for clinicians and has a heightened utility for complex patients, consistent with previous research conducted outside of the Australian setting. Barriers to use were revealed: outdated content, a lack of trust, a low perception of value, no patient record and multiple medical record systems. The participants in this study highlighted that training and awareness raising is needed in order to improve My Health Record use in the emergency department, a need stressed by physician's. Further observational research is required to explores meaningful MHR use at scale.

Keywords: Barriers; Efficiencies; Electronic health record; Emergency department; My health record; Patient outcomes.

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https://www.afr.com/technology/take-it-from-a-data-expert-humans-are-more-important-than-ever-20210318-p57byg

Take it from a data expert, humans are more important than ever

Despite excitement about artificial intelligence, the co-founder of Woolies-owned Quantium says that without inherently human skills, new systems will fail to deliver value.

Tony Davis

Apr 26, 2021 – 12.00pm

It’s been said by some tech advocates that “there will always be a role for a man and his dog: the dog to protect the computer and the man to feed the dog.” You won’t hear that from me. The role of humans in sophisticated data analysis and technology has never been more crucial.

Certainly while with Quantium I’ve seen thousands of examples where human inspiration and interpretation within technical processes has been the key to unlocking insight and value.

Artificial Intelligence continues to generate considerable hype, but for many of us in the industry it’s increasingly evident that without uniquely human skills, AI and automation will fail to deliver the promised benefits.

A better way to think about AI might be Augmented Intelligence, relying on people to define and harness technologies to drive personalised offerings for customers and superior outcomes for businesses.

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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ba02d5c9-943d-4073-aa34-8b8eadca9e3b

Data Protection and Privacy

KISCH IP - Mercia Fynn

April 8 2021

This article is taken from Lexology GTDT’s Practice Guide to Franchise. Led by DLA Piper, the publication examines key themes topical to cross border franchising.


Introduction

The right to privacy is a fundamental human right that has been recognised in most jurisdictions for ages, but only in the past two decades or so has data protection and privacy become a major focus globally, resulting in legislation being enacted in most countries, which places the obligation on businesses to protect the privacy of personal data that they deal with.

Franchised businesses, like any other businesses, are obliged to comply with data privacy laws. In the case of multinational franchising, this means complying with the data privacy laws of all of the jurisdictions in which franchises are operated, which is no easy task. Most countries have some form of data protection law in place.

This chapter will look at the current trends in different countries with respect to data protection and privacy law, as well as the opportunities, challenges and risks brought about by the processing of data under the prevailing circumstances, particularly within the franchising industry.

Key concepts in data privacy law

The definition of ‘data’ differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; however, the common thread tends to be that it refers to information concerning an identifiable living, natural person.2 In South Africa3 and Switzerland4 (although, in the case of Switzerland, this is likely to change soon with the ongoing revisions to the DPA) legal entities are included in the definition. Information falling within this definition includes, but is not limited to, information relating to race, gender, sexual orientation, age, an identifying number, email address, geolocation and personal opinions.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/facial-recognition-should-be-banned-eu-privacy-watchdog-says-563802

Facial recognition should be banned, EU privacy watchdog says

By Foo Yun Chee on Apr 26, 2021 10:32AM

Because of its "deep and non-democratic intrusion" into people's private lives.

Facial recognition should be banned in Europe because of its “deep and non-democratic intrusion” into people’s private lives, EU privacy watchdog the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said.

The comments come two days after the European Commission proposed draft rules that would allow facial recognition to be used to search for missing children or criminals and in cases of terrorist attacks.

The draft rules, which need to be thrashed out with EU countries and the European Parliament, are an attempt by the Commission to set global rules for artificial intelligence, a technology dominated by China and the United States.

The privacy watchdog said it regretted that the Commission had not heeded its earlier call to ban facial recognition in public spaces.

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Comments more than welcome!

David.