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
-----
Rather a nothing
week it seems in terms of BIG news but lots of innovation going on that will
lead to good things later we hope!
-----
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/fed-govt-backs-away-making-electronic-charts-mandatory-aged-care
Fed Govt backs away from making electronic charts mandatory in aged care
The RACGP says the continued reliance on paper-based systems is
one reason for the struggle to attract GPs
19th July 2021
By Antony
Scholefield
Aged care facilities should be legally
required to adopt electronic medication charts as a condition of operating,
says the chair of the RACGP's aged care specific interests group.
The Federal Government is
still resisting the move to address one of biggest bugbears for GPs, despite
it being a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality
and Safety.
Instead, under a $45 million budget pledge, it
is offering nursing homes cash to "defray" the cost of
upgrading to electronic systems.
It added that, while the adoption of
electronic charts was encouraged, their use would remain optional in the
foreseeable future.
-----
https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/apac/telstra-health-eyes-majority-stake-powerhealth
Telstra Health eyes majority stake in PowerHealth
The investment will enable the company to expand its international
footprint.
By Adam Ang
July 19, 2021 03:15 am
Today, Melbourne-headquartered Telstra Health,
the digital health arm of Telstra Corporation, announced that it has entered
into a deal to buy a majority stake in PowerHealth, a healthcare software
solutions provider based in Adelaide.
A news report noted that the deal is for about
A$150 million ($110.7 million).
Established in 1995, PowerHealth specialises
in billing, costing and revenue solutions, budgeting, safety and quality,
decision support and application integration solutions for hospitals and other
healthcare businesses.
The company provides software that supports
activity-based funding and is used in over 20 countries.
Aside from Australia and Canada, PowerHealth
also operates in Ireland and the Middle East. Its biggest customers are the
province of Quebec, the Hong Kong Government’s Hospital Authority and the
Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, among others.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/telstra-buys-majority-share-in-adelaides-powerhealth-for-about-150m/news-story/b52376af762ba37a3c1b6962cbe9fbf0
Telstra buys majority share in Adelaide’s PowerHealth for $95m
Valerina
Changarathil
5:30AM July 19, 2021
Telco giant Telstra is paying $95m for a majority stake in
Adelaide-based PowerHealth, a global healthcare software solutions business founded
by Patrick Power.
Telstra’s e-health subsidiary, Telstra Health, has signed a
deal with Mr Power to buy 70 per cent of the business, valuing the company at
$135m.
PowerHealth’s software supports public and private hospitals
and healthcare providers in more than 20 countries, including much of Europe,
South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year,
subject to regulatory approval.
It comes after months of negotiations since Mr Power first
initiated an auction process with select suitors last year.
-----
https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/telstra-health-pays-95m-for-majority-stake-in-powerhealth-and-employs-its-creator/
Telstra Health pays $95M for majority stake in PowerHealth and employs its
creator
Published on July 22, 2021
Telstra Health, which provides
software products, solutions and platforms for the aged care sector, is to pay
$95 million for 70% of Adelaide-based PowerHealth, a global leader in healthcare
and hospital software solutions.
It is a specialist provider in
billing, costing and revenue solutions, budgeting, safety and quality, decision
support and application integration solutions.
Founded by Patrick Power in 1995,
PowerHealth’s software supports public and private hospitals and healthcare
providers in more than 20 countries, with its largest customers the Province of
Quebec, the New Zealand Government, Hong Kong Government’s Hospital Authority,
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health, the majority of Australian hospitals and
Local Health Districts or Health and Hospital Service.
Telstra Health’s Managing Director, Professor Mary Foley AM, said in a statement, partnering with PowerHealth
would enable Telstra Health to provide a more connected and
improved digital health experience for the health and aged care providers it
supports.
-----
21 Jul 2021 8:10 AM AEST
Safety and standards dashboard facilitate quality care and informed
decision making among clinicians
A $2.1 million project to collect patient data in one place aims
to better equip healthcare workers when making critical and life-saving
clinical decisions.
The Digital Health
Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) project will deliver live streams of
clinical analytics and reporting information in the form of online dashboards.
The dashboards will drive quality improvement, safety assurance and more
efficient accreditation in a hospital setting. The data will be drawn from
hospital electronic medical records (EMR) and the Victorian Health Incident
Management System (VHIMS).
The project will be led by Monash University Faculty of Information Technology and
Eastern Health Clinical School, The Australian Council
on Healthcare Standards, Eastern Health and the Department of Health (Victoria) are
collaborators.
Prof David Plunkett, Chief Executive of Eastern Health, said the
project is the first of its kind in Victoria, with exciting potential for
scalability.
“This project is led by our Executive Director of Information,
Technology and Capital Projects, Zoltan Kokai. It will display streamed data on
dashboards extracted from Eastern Health hospital systems,” Professor Plunkett
said.
“Importantly, it will bring together the areas of clinical
practice, technology and the very important requirement of accreditation, to
proactively improve the quality and safety of how care is provided.”
-----
https://www.itwire.com/health/%242-1m-project-to-better-equip-healthcare-workers-for-making-critical,-life-saving-decisions.html
Wednesday, 21 July 2021 11:29
$2.1m project to better equip healthcare workers for making critical,
life-saving decisions
By Staff Writer
A $2.1 million project by the Digital Health Cooperative
Research Centre (CRC) to collect patient data in one place is aimed at better
equipping healthcare workers when making critical and life-saving clinical
decisions.
The project will be led by Monash University Faculty of Information Technology and
Eastern Health Clinical School, with The
Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Eastern Health and the Department of Health (Victoria)
as collaborators.
The Digital
Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) project will deliver live streams
of clinical analytics and reporting information in the form of online
dashboards.
The CRC says the dashboards will drive quality improvement,
safety assurance and more efficient accreditation in a hospital setting - with
the data drawn from hospital electronic medical records (EMR) and the Victorian
Health Incident Management System (VHIMS).
-----
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/apac/new-project-implement-digital-safety-and-standards-dashboards-victoria
New project to implement digital safety and standards dashboards in
Victoria
The dashboard project will deliver a live stream of patient
data to aid in clinicians' decision making and accreditation.
By Adam
Ang
July 22, 2021 02:40 AM
The Australian government-backed Digital Health Cooperative
Research Centre has announced a A$2.1 million ($1.5 million) project to deliver
real-time patient data through dashboards.
The Faculty of Information Technology and Eastern Health
Clinical School, both institutions under Monash University, will lead the
project. The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Eastern Health and
Victoria's Department of Health will serve as collaborators.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Based on a media release, the four-year dashboards project,
a "first of its kind in Victoria", will provide live feeds of
clinical analytics and reporting information. It will draw data from Eastern
Health's electronic medical records and the Victorian Health Incident
Management System.
Chris Bain, a professor of Practice in Digital Health at
Monash University, said the dashboards will "combine data engineering
techniques with user-friendly visualisations" to display key information
from large datasets.
-----
21 Jul 2021 10:48 AM AEST -
Bupa Dental Trials HITIQ Technology with Junior Rugby
·
Bupa Dental
trials HITIQ concussion management technology in an Australian first Junior
Rugby Pilot Project;
·
The
initiative is aiming to revolutionise junior sport safety by enhancing
concussion management protocols that can lead to better long term health
outcomes for young players;
·
The
technology has been deployed in a pilot including 100 junior players from the
Wests Bulldogs Rugby Club who have been fitted with HITIQ mouthguards; and
·
The trial
will conclude later this year where a review will determine the potential to
expand the technology offering across the Bupa Dental clinicnetwork, which
represents Australia’s largest dental network.
Transformative, concussion management
technology company, HITIQ Limited (ASX:HIQ) (HITIQ or the Company),has entered
into an arrangement with Bupa Dental for a trial of its concussion management
technology with junior rugby players. This is the first time hi-tech mouthguard
technology has been made available to junior Rugby players in Australia to
monitor head impacts,with the aim of enhancing grassroots concussion safety
protocols.
Concussion is a growing concern at professional rugby level
with one concussion being recorded every 1.6 games according to recent
reports1. The HITIQ mouthguards, currently used by professional AFL, Rugby and
NRL players, is embedded with force measuring sensors that record and interpret
head impacts and the accumulation of force from hits sustained during a game.
-----
Media
release
Delivering new prevention and treatment approaches for heart disease with digital health
Digital health will
take transformative steps by supporting
new clinical trials to address secondary prevention of Australia’s deadliest
disease following an agreement between Australian digital health company
Cardihab and medical research organisation, the Baker Heart and Diabetes
Institute.
The five-year
agreement between Cardihab and the Baker Institute will involve several
clinical trials and cohort studies that provide evidence of the effectiveness
of digital approaches to cardiovascular disease management, rehabilitation,
prevention and treatment.
Cardihab is a
landmark Australian digital health platform that facilitates the virtual
delivery of cardiac rehabilitation and chronic disease management programs for
patients recovering from cardiac events and living with heart disease.
Patients use
Cardihab apps to complete their cardiac rehabilitation program virtually while
under clinical supervision by qualified healthcare professionals.
Cardihab Chief Executive
Officer Helen Souris said it was the first widespread research program to be
conducted in Australia using broader applications of Cardihab’s digital health
platform.
-----
23 Jul 2021 5:00 AM AEST
Media release
23 July 2021
ImpaQt Group takes stake in digital health platform Cardihab to help
manage Australia’s deadliest disease
Social impact investment consortium ImpaQt Group has
invested in Australian digital health company Cardihab to help expand solutions
for the prevention and treatment of Australia’s biggest killer – cardiovascular
disease.
Cardihab is a landmark Australian digital health company
with a head office based in Queensland, that facilitates the virtual delivery
of cardiac rehabilitation and chronic disease management programs for patients
recovering from cardiac events and living with heart disease.
Patients use the Cardihab apps to complete their cardiac
rehabilitation program from home virtually while under clinical supervision by
qualified healthcare professionals.
ImpaQt Group Managing Director Lisa Siganto said that the
opportunity to invest early in Cardihab was overwhelmingly compelling.
-----
https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/australian-vaccination-passport-coming-to-apple-wallet
Australian ‘vaccination passport’ coming to Apple Wallet
The smartphone app will store
COVID-19 test results and vaccination records as Australia gears up to reopen
its borders.
By David Flynn,
July 22 2021
Australians
could be carrying a internationally-recognised 'vaccination passport' on their
smartphones within months, with the potential to unlock quarantine-free travel
to Covid-safe countries.
"We already have vaccine
certificates (in Australia)," Prime Minister Scott Morrison remarked at a
press conference yesterday, "and this month we expect them to be in a form
that can be dropped into Apple Wallets, things of that nature."
"Later in the year, about
October we estimate, we will have a vaccination certificate that will be able
to be... internationally recognised to facilitate when people are moving out of
the country and into the country, being able to recognise others'
certificates."
"That is something that has
been a common feature of the conversations I have been having with other
leaders."
-----
https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/australian-pm-says-covid-19-vaccine-certificates-coming-apple-wallets
Australian PM says COVID-19 vaccine certificates coming to Apple Wallets
Adam Ang | 23 Jul 2021
Australia's COVID-19 vaccine
certificates will soon be available on Apple Wallets. In Wednesday's press
conference, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he expects the country's vaccine
certificates to come into the wallet app "this month".
He also said that later in the
year, or around October, the COVID-19 digital vaccine certificates will be
recognised internationally, enabling travels to and from the country.
Australian citizens who have
completed their Pfizer or AstraZeneca jabs will automatically get their digital
certificates via their accounts in the Express Plus Medicare app. The
certificate can also be accessed in their MyGov account's immunisation history
once they can link it to Medicare. Another way to get their certificates is by
requesting an immunisation history statement from their vaccine provider or
through the Australian Immunisation Register.
THE LARGER TREND
The federal government is
currently seeking a developer for its smartphone app project that can store
COVID-19 vaccine certificates and test results.
-----
https://www.hinz.org.nz/news/573998/HealthOne-integrates-with-MIQ.htm
HealthOne integrates with MIQ
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
NEWS -
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
The HealthOne shared care record
for the South Island is being accessed more than 10,000 times a day by
clinicians working across more than 500 organisations.
The system is also now integrated with the region’s six managed isolation and
quarantine facilities (MIQ).
HealthOne general manager Rachael Page says after a decade of year-on-year
growth in use, HealthOne is now central to the clinical workflow for almost
30,000 clinicians who rely on the platform.
HealthOne collects and holds a summary record for every patient in the South
Island, including information such as, prescribed and dispensed medications,
allergies and alerts, adverse reactions and observations.
There are more than 200 million pieces of data stored and more than 300,000
views per month.
-----
https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/omniscient-neurotechnology-gets-us-fda-clearance-brain-mapping-software
Omniscient Neurotechnology gets US FDA clearance for brain mapping
software
Adam Ang | 22 Jul 2021
Sydney-based Omniscient
Neurotechnology has received the US FDA's 510(k) clearance for its brain
mapping software.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Quicktome is a digital brain
mapping platform that provides clinicians with a visualisation of a patient's
brain networks which are responsible for complex functions such as language,
movement and cognition.
Featuring intuitive browser
interfaces, the platform analyses millions of data points drawn from a
patient's MRI. Cloud computing is then utilised for processing big data.
WHY IT MATTERS
Quicktome incorporates
"connectomics", or the study of brain connections, into routine
neurosurgical planning.
The platform is designed by
neurosurgeons and data scientists to assist clinicians in making informed
decisions; it also reduces uncertainty by providing insights on a patient
before and during life-changing brain surgery. The company says its solution
can derive insights from various brain-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s
disease, depression, chronic pain and brain cancer.
-----
https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/western-australia-rollout-ai-powered-foetal-monitoring-system
Western Australia to rollout AI-powered foetal monitoring system
Adam Ang | 23 Jul 2021
The state government of Western
Australia is set to roll out a foetal monitoring system in all Country Health
Service maternity sites across its regions through next year. Bunbury Regional
Hospital, the state's busiest and largest site, will be the first to introduce
the system.
It will implement the A$4.2
million Infant Guardian System from health record system provider K2 Medical
Systems which runs on artificial intelligence to support the clinical review of
foetal heart rate patterns.
WHY IT MATTERS
Based on a media release, the
implementation of the AI-powered foetal monitoring system enables remote
monitoring of clinical data delivered in real-time, which further enhances
patient involvement. It also renders greater privacy and fewer intrusions
during labour as foetal heart rates can be monitored remotely. There is also a
potential for a much efficient discharge process using data.
The media release also noted that
through the system, specialist support can be delivered to smaller maternity
sites in real-time and remotely.
-----
https://medicalrepublic.com.au/e-scripts-hit-the-big-time/49430
21 July 2021
E-scripts hit the big time
PBS
Technology
By Holly Payne
Australia’s digital health sector all too often fails to
deliver on the hype, but electronic prescribing capabilities appear to be the
exception.
Introduced in May last year as a pandemic safety measure,
more than 12 million e-scripts have now been issued, according to Australian Digital Health Agency figures.
E-scripts act as replacements for a paper script by sending
a unique digital token directly to patients via text or email, and can also be
uploaded to Active Script List.
The interoperability with Active Script List allows patients,
GPs and pharmacists to share access to a consolidated digital wallet containing
all active prescriptions for the patient.
According to Fred Naismith, CEO of pharmacy sector tech
vendor Fred IT, although e-scripts were implemented only last year, the concept
has been in the works for almost a decade.
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-says-119000-services-still-cant-reach-25mbps-peak-speeds-567760
NBN Co says 119,000 services still can't reach 25Mbps peak speeds
By Ry
Crozier on Jul 22, 2021 4:37PM
Despite network being "built and fully operational".
NBN Co said there are still
119,000 active services that can’t achieve the minimum 25Mbps peak download
speed the network is meant to deliver, including almost 24,000 services that
can’t go higher than 20Mbps.
The updated number, current to
the start of June, shows the issue is still present despite the NBN being
declared “built and fully operational” at the end of last year.
However, it is well down on the almost
238,000 underperforming services that were active as at the end of last year.
“NBN Co advises that as at June 1
2021, 119,000 NBN services were unable to access speeds of 25Mbps or higher,”
the company said, adding that “the majority (80 percent) of these premises are
able to access speeds of more than 20 Mbps.”
-----
https://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/commbank-takes-stake-in-nbn-rsps-to-offer-customers-broadband-plans.html
Friday, 23 July 2021 11:21
CommBank takes stake in NBN RSPs to offer customers broadband plans
By Sam
Varghese
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has taken a 25% stake in
two retail service providers that resell NBN services and says it will offer
discounted plans to its customers through these two companies.
The bank announced the deal on Thursday, saying it had signed up
with More Telecom
and Tangerine.
In a statement, Angus Sullivan, group executive for Retail
Banking Services, said: "We’re looking at how we can help save customers
money with their everyday bills and commitments and our decision to partner
with More Telecom and Tangerine highlights how we’re continuing to reward our
customers.
“As the country’s biggest supporter of getting Aussies into
homes, we are reimagining banking for our customers, creating more value for
them, putting more money back in their pockets, and helping them save money by
exposing them to new ways of doing things and new quality products and
services.”
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/cba-takes-25-percent-stake-in-two-nbn-retail-service-providers-567729
CBA takes 25 percent stake in two NBN retail service providers
By Ry Crozier on Jul
22, 2021 8:28AM
Will offer 'discounted NBN and broadband' to customers.
CBA is making a surprise play in the Australia broadband
market, taking stakes in More Telecom and Tangerine and using its banking app
to try to persuade customers to switch their provider.
The bank said on Thursday it had entered a “new strategic
partnership” with sister companies More Telecom and Tangerine, and acquired “a
25 percent ownership stake in both."
It will use the partnership to “offer discounted NBN and
broadband services” to banking customers, mostly by recommending a provider
switch through the CommBank app.
“The average monthly cost of internet in Australia is one of
the most expensive in the world, and we are uniquely positioned to help
customers manage these costs,” CBA’s group executive for retail banking
services Angus Sullivan said.
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-roundtable-returns-focus-to-customer-needs---and-nbn-cos-costs-567686
NBN roundtable returns focus to customer needs - and NBN Co's costs
By Ry Crozier on Jul 21, 2021
12:33PM
Areas
of scrutiny revealed.
Retailers selling NBN services have sought to
prioritise customers’ expectations of broadband services in critical
discussions that promise to radically shake up the way NBN services are priced.
The retailers, together with other
stakeholders, attended a roundtable discussion with Chatham House rules last
month convened by the Australian Competition
and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and
NBN Co.
Both the ACCC and NBN Co released discussion papers before the roundtable, pointing to their
present thinking around long-term pricing models.
The model that most retailers are advocating
for is a single flat-price wholesale charge, and the removal of variable
charges that create problems when trying to set retail prices.
A summary of the roundtable [pdf], released today, still shows a “preference” among “several
attendees” for a flat-rate pricing model.
-----
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/accc-clears-5g-as-a-substitute-for-fixed-line-broadband-567607
ACCC clears 5G as a substitute for fixed-line broadband
By Ry Crozier on Jul 20, 2021
12:52PM
Sets
high bar for a future ruling.
NBN Co hit a hurdle in its bid to rein in
competition from 5G operators late yesterday, with Australia’s competition
watchdog more clearly defining when it will consider 5G “substitutable” for
fixed-line services.
The Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) late yesterday confirmed a December draft decision to extend
a set of regulations imposed on fixed-line rivals to NBN Co by a further five
years.
Through the process, the ACCC had been under
pressure from NBN Co to also regulate wireless competitors, including cellular
providers of ‘home broadband’ 5G services.
“NBN Co considers that mobile technology,
including 5G technology, are effective technical substitutes for fixed-line
broadband services,” NBN Co had said. [pdf]
NBN Co reinforced that position last month, arguing 5G operators were challenging its monopoly status in many market segments.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-limits-are-crucial-as-telcos-fight-over-5g-spectrum-20210718-p58as7.html
Why limits are crucial as telcos fight over 5G spectrum
Paul Fletcher
Contributor
July 19, 2021 — 9.30am
In recent days I’ve been interested to read in this masthead
comments from both Telstra
and Optus regarding
the upcoming auction of low-band 5G spectrum.
Readers might wonder why this rather arcane issue is
attracting such passion from the telcos. What is “spectrum” and why does it matter?
First, “spectrum” refers to the invisible radio frequencies
that wireless signals travel over. Those signals are what allow our mobile
devices to operate.
Mobile networks use radio frequency spectrum across
different ranges. Generally, the lower the frequency, the further a signal can
travel.
The Government regularly reallocates blocks of spectrum,
particularly to support the huge growth in mobile communications. In 2019 there
were 28 million services in operation, compared to 6 million 20 years prior,
and mobile networks today carry very large amounts of data—whereas, 20 years
ago, they carried almost exclusively voice services.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/nasa-selects-spacex-for-mission-to-jupiter-moon-europa/news-story/f1e99b7e0da1a2d8d1725cbea5e12388
NASA selects SpaceX for mission to Jupiter moon Europa
AFP
10:13AM July 24, 2021
NASA on Friday said it had selected SpaceX to launch a
planned voyage to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, a huge win for Elon Musk's company
as it sets its sights deeper into the solar system.
The Europa clipper orbiter will make about 40 to 50 close
passes over Europa to determine whether the icy moon could harbor conditions
suitable for life.
-----
Enjoy!
David.