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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! It’s 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://events.humanitix.com/digital-health-tips-for-busy-parents-skmoy8r9
Good Things Foundation Australia
Digital health tips for busy parents
Tue 9th Aug 2022, 10:00 am - 11:00 am AEST
Price FREE
Event description
Learning how to use digital health can be a valuable time saver for busy parents. Join our free webinar to gain practical tips on how to manage your child’s health using reliable online tools such as using their My Health Record to store information on allergies, reactions, vaccination records and much more!
This is an online event held via Zoom. You will receive a link by email to join the event after you register.
To join this event, you will need:
- Enough data to stream a 1 hour video
- A device that can access the internet eg smartphone, tablet or computer
- A quiet place to sit with headphones or speakers to listen to the event (your device may have a speaker built in)
- An email address to get your link to join the event
- Be able to access Zoom on your device (watch this video tutorial for hints if you are new to Zoom)
You can register for this event as:
- An individual - to watch online at home or at work by yourself
- A group - to watch online with others such as on a large screen with your community group
This webinar is being presented by Good Things Foundation Australia as part of our Your Health in Your Hands program. Find out more about our digital health literacy programs and webinars.
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https://www.innovationaus.com/broader-review-of-mygov-platform-is-on-the-cards/
Broader review of myGov platform is on the cards
Denham
Sadler
National Affairs Editor
27 July 2022
The new Labor government has been advised that a “broader review” of myGov may be needed to shape the future of the platform, as “underlying complexities” continue to plague efforts to integrate services onto it.
Under an election campaign policy, an audit is currently underway into the reliability, functionality and user-friendly experience of myGov following “ongoing disappointments” with its performance.
In a briefing to Government Services minister Bill Shorten, released following a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Social Services acknowledged this audit but said that a wider ranging review may be required.
“A broader review of myGov functionality and user experience within the context of a large and complex whole-of-government digital ecosystem would support future shaping of the myGov platform,” the incoming brief said.
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‘We’re all guilty of using technology as the digital babysitter’
July 30, 2022 — 5.00am
Julie Inman Grant leads the world’s first regulatory agency designed to keep people safe online, after an influential career working with US Congress, as well as in senior positions at Silicon Valley giants Microsoft and Twitter.
But she’s also just a mum, albeit one who understands better than most the pressures parents face in keeping their kids out of harm’s way online.
“My daughter is 16 years old,” says Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, “and I knew that the world was going to be very different when she was about three, and was more interested in playing with my phone than she was playing with a doll.”
Fast-forward to her current experience with 10-year-old twins, and the challenge feels even bigger. “They say, ‘Mum, every kid except for us has a phone.’ And … they’re just not ready yet,” she says. “They just don’t have the cognitive ability to self-regulate, to deal with the content, conduct, and a whole range of other things that we need to prepare them for.”
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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/racfs-prescribing-changes-an-important-step-forwar
RACFs prescribing changes ‘an important step forward’
Adoption of electronic medication charts in residential aged care facilities could be ‘a game changer’ for GPs who provide aged care.
29 Jul 2022
In
the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final
report, recommendation 68 calls for ‘universal adoption by the aged
care sector of digital technology and My Health Record’.
In response, the Department of Health and Aged Care engaged the Australian
Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to develop online resources to
support the rollout of electronic
National Residential Medication Chart (eNRMC) services.
From July, all residential aged care services (RACFs) now have the option to adopt
transitional eNRMC products to better support medication management.
Under a Transitional Arrangement, prescribers in RACFs can use transitional
eNRMC products for PBS medication chart prescribing, dispensing and
administration, eliminating the need for paper medication charts or
prescriptions.
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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/taskforce-prepares-to-tackle-medicare-failings
Taskforce prepares to tackle Medicare failings
Members of a new taskforce are preparing to gather to address one of the biggest issues facing Australia’s health system: fixing Medicare.
28 Jul 2022
Health
professionals and advocates tasked with solving long-standing issues with
Medicare will meet for the first time on Friday.
Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler this
week confirmed the 17 members of what he called a ‘diverse’ group
making up the Government’s new Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
They are being asked to collaborate on solutions to make it easier for patients
to see GPs, as well as ease pressure on hospitals and reform the Medicare
system. The taskforce’s stated aims also include improved patient affordability
and better management of chronic conditions.
RACGP President Adjunct Professor Karen Price is the college’s representative
on the taskforce, which will be chaired by Minister Butler.
Professor Price says she is relishing the opportunity to be involved and
advocate for substantial reforms to help GPs meet the challenges in providing
patient-centred care.
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DeepMind cracks structure of nearly all known proteins
By Rhys Blakely
The Times
July 29, 2022
Almost every protein known to science has been revealed in a breakthrough that could transform our understanding of biology and accelerate the discovery of lifesaving drugs.
DeepMind, the artificial intelligence company, said it had used an AI system to predict the 3D shape of more than 200 million proteins – from every creature, plant and microbe that has had its DNA sequenced.
Professor Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel prize-winning chemist, said: “This represents a stunning advance on the protein-folding problem, a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology.”
He said it would “fundamentally change biological research”.
Proteins are at the heart of life. The antibodies that fend off germs are proteins, as are the enzymes that power basic biological processes. The functions they perform are dictated by how they fold into complex 3D structures.
Working out the shape of proteins had previously required expensive and time-consuming experiments that frequently failed to deliver answers.
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0000bc77-521b-4671-9b8a-3c16bbf02eef
Q&A: the data protection legal framework in Australia
Piper Alderman - Andrea Beatty, Andrew Rankin, Craig Subocz, Joshua Annese and Lis Boyce
Australia July 27 2022
Law and the regulatory authority
Legislative framework
Summarise the legislative framework for the protection of personal information (PI). Does your jurisdiction have a dedicated data protection law? Is the data protection law in your jurisdiction based on any international instruments or laws of other jurisdictions on privacy or data protection?
The legislative framework in Australia is based on both federal laws and state and territory laws.
At the federal level, the collection, use, disclosure and holding of personal information by an agency or organisation to which the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) apply, including Australian Commonwealth government agencies and most private organisations (excluding small businesses with an annual turnover of less than A$3 million unless they engage in certain activities – see below), is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The Privacy Act incorporates 13 APPs and facilitates additional obligations being imposed on specific sectors by the registration of additional Privacy Codes such as the Credit Reporting Code.
Most Australian states and territories have adopted their own regimes for collecting and handling personal information and for collecting and handling health information that applies to either public sector providers only or both public sector and other health service providers. The state and territory legislative framework is summarised in the table below.
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Thursday, 28 July 2022 11:18
Impersonation scams still plague consumers
By Staff Writer
Consumers have been warned about ongoing scams where scammers are impersonating well-known telecommunications or tech companies like Telstra, NBN Co and Microsoft.
The alert has come from Australia’s telecommunications industry regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) which says it is aware of ongoing reports of the scams and poses the question - “Have you received unsolicited calls from people saying there is a problem with your computer and offering to fix it?” - and warning that “it’s likely to be a scam”.
“They make claims to alarm you, such as your broadband has been hacked or your computer has a virus or there are issues with your internet or phone connection,” the ACMA says.
“These scammers will often pretend to be ‘support desk’ or ‘technical support’ staff and ask to remotely access your computer to identify and fix the problem. They may also ask for your personal and/or financial details to pay a service fee or ask you to buy unnecessary software as part of a fix.”
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https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b612e859-60bb-465e-86ce-a3a10cf276fa
Facial recognition and artificial intelligence in Australia. Do we need more rules?
Gilbert + Tobin - Simon Burns, Jen Bradley, Sophie Bogard and Amelia Harvey
Australia July 25 2022
The use of facial recognition technology has been in the spotlight recently, following news that some Australian retailers have been using facial recognition technology to capture the biometric data of customers in their stores. The news has re-sparked a debate about whether Australia’s existing laws are adequate to regulate facial recognition technologies and AI systems.
Privacy Act and the collection of biometric data
One of the few existing regulations in Australia surrounding the use of AI systems is the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), in circumstances where the AI system uses personal information. In addition, and relevant to facial recognition systems, the Privacy Act requires regulated entities to meet a higher standard of conduct for the collection of biometric data that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification, which is considered to be ‘sensitive information’ under the Act. Entities regulated by the Privacy Act cannot collect such biometric information from individuals unless:
- the individual has consented to the collection of the information (consent can be implied, but the OAIC expects that consent be informed, voluntary, current and specific and be given by a person who has capacity); and
- the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of the entity’s functions or activities, (or other specific exceptions apply).
Consequently, if an entity regulated by the Privacy Act decided to use a facial recognition system, it would be necessary for it to comply with these conditions in respect of the collection of any biometric information by the facial recognition system. Additionally, the entity would need to provide individuals adequate notice that this kind of information was collected by the entity, for example by disclosing the collection in the entity’s privacy policy and any privacy collection notice.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/hospital-operations-why-is-it-clinicals-poor-cousin/
21 July 2022
Hospital operations: why is it clinical’s poor cousin?
Sponsored
Breaking down the complexity of Australian hospitals.
If you’ve ever been to a city emergency room, you know they are incredibly busy places, full of organised chaos.
At any one time, there is often a long list of people waiting – children with fractured arms, grandparents nursing broken bones, men who have tussled with lawnmowers and lost – and those people are all destined to meet at least four or five clinical professionals who will assist them during their visit.
They may be triaged, examined by a doctor, have an x-ray by a radiologist and be checked on by a nurse.
But while they wait for medical attention, they will see an absolute mass of people – hundreds of professionals moving purposefully about rooms, corridors and stations doing their jobs.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/is-this-the-dark-before-the-dawn/
26 July 2022
Is this the dark before the dawn?
We have the opportunity to make major reforms to our healthcare system, but will we take it?
BA.5 is here, and you only have to look at last week’s paper with the headline “Albanese calls emergency national cabinet meeting as premiers push for pandemic leave reboot” to realise we are far from out of the covid mess.
Only last week on my way back from the gym I heard that yet another variant of concern – BA.2.75 – is now emerging in India. Although it’s still too early to tell, we know there will be more mutations before the year is out and we certainly aren’t out of the woods just yet.
There is a feeling of Deja vu about these headlines, but after almost 3 years of wave after wave, variant after variant, it appears that globally frontline workers are done and internationally healthcare systems are struggling.
For the first time in recent years the Nursing and Midwifery Council register in the UK reported 25,219 and another 1780 Midwives and dual registered Nurse/Midwives left the profession in 21-22. It was an increase of 13% from 20-21. A report released in Australia back in March 2022 on the Australian Nursing workforce reported more than two thirds of our workforce are experiencing ‘burnout’, and there are real fears of a mass exodus from the profession in the coming years.
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https://wildhealth.net.au/what-if-amazon-starts-buying-gp-businesses-in-australia/
28 July 2022
What if Amazon starts buying GP businesses in Australia?
“Alexa, I need a doctor … now”.
Who seriously thinks this isn’t coming to a lounge room near them, in the not-too-distant future, even in Australia’s far, far away, interoperability challenged, slow-moving and risk-averse healthcare system?
There are four horseman of the digital apocalypse we all know we have to be careful about: Google, Amazon, Meta (Facebook) and Apple.
They all have global digital platforms which are root and branch entwined with our everyday personal and working digital lives, they all have more capital and influence than they know what to do with, and they all have expressed a strong desire to rule healthcare one day.
Three and half years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook made the out-of-the-blue statement that “If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’ It will be about health.”
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/free-speech-no-defence-bullying-social-media-warns-ahpra
'Free speech' no defence for bullying on social media, warns AHPRA
'The standard we walk past is the standard we accept,' the watchdog says in a public statement
26th July 2022
By Staff writer
AHPRA has issued a fresh warning to doctors that using social media to bully, harass or intimidate cannot be defended on the grounds of free speech.
The watchdog's statement, issued jointly with the Medical Board of Australia on Monday, comes in the wake of the Dr David Berger case.
The WA GP was recently sanctioned for unprofessional conduct over a series of social media posts using “emotive and pejorative language” which, according to AHPRA, implied politicians, governments, doctors and pharma companies were acting deceptively.
It sparked a backlash from a group of 18 high-profile doctors and academics who said that Dr Berger’s posts were part of his campaign for tougher measures to protect healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/governments-go-digital-to-rebuild-trust-20220726-p5b4sc
Governments go digital to rebuild trust
The new buzzwords for bureaucracy are trust and transparency. Can they deliver – and at what cost?
Jennifer Hewett Columnist
Updated Jul 26, 2022 – 5.55pm, first published at 5.40pm
Several years ago, Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, toured Uber’s operations to see how it used real-time data to understand and manage consumer demand.
He was so excited about the potential for a similar level of customer-focused, efficient delivery for government services, he insisted his senior bureaucrats take the same tour.
At the time, he concedes a lot of his political colleagues just thought he was crazy, while his passion for digital was largely dismissed as “playing in the kids’ corner” rather than the real reform of big players such as transport, education and health.
By now, the NSW government is mired in political debacle about a distinctly old-fashioned “jobs for the boys” scandal, but even other state governments privately concede NSW’s model of digital services delivery is the most advanced in Australia.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/government-warned-against-digital-id-scope-creep-20220726-p5b4r5
Government warned against digital ID scope creep
Paul Smith Technology editor
Jul 26, 2022 – 6.32pm
Top state and federal bureaucrats say that unnecessary complexity could risk efforts to create a national digital identity because, while people have moved past 1980s reservations about an Australia Card, they will only use it if it is simple.
Speaking at The Australian Financial Review Government Services Summit in Canberra on Tuesday, NSW minister for digital and customer service Victor Dominello, Victorian privacy and data protection deputy commissioner Rachel Dixon and Western Australia’s chief digital officer Jonas Petersen discussed the evolution of government efforts to let people identify themselves online.
On Tuesday, Mastercard announced it had been accredited as the third external credential provider – after Australia Post and EFTPOS – to the federal government’s trusted digital identity framework (TDIF). However, Summit speakers said different state-based and commercial schemes risked making things too complex for people.
The TDIF is an attempt to give Australians a digital identity credential, with which they can transact with government and other accredited bodies, and both sides can trust that the individual is not an imposter.
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Budget cuts needed after $1b blowout in business registry revealed
Michael Read Reporter
Jul 26, 2022 – 6.13pm
Labor is warning it will need to make additional budget cuts after uncovering a $1 billion blowout in the Morrison government’s signature program to consolidate business registries.
The revelations come as Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepares to deliver a statement on Thursday that will paint a dire picture of the state of the federal budget, which is forecast to remain in deficit for the next decade.
Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones said the cost of the federal government’s $480 million program to consolidate 30 separate business registries into one had blown out to more than $1.5 billion.
“We’re going to have to look and find new sources of savings or new sources of revenue,” Mr Jones told The Australian Financial Review.
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My Health Record
Clinical incidents
Legislation
Healthcare provider organisations participating in the system are required to understand and comply with a range of legislative obligations including the following legislation:
My Health Records Act 2012, My Health Records Rule 2016, My Health Records Regulation 2012, My Health Records (Assisted Registration) Rule 2015, Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, Privacy Act 1988
All healthcare systems, including the My Health Record system and other digital health products, require careful monitoring to ensure that potential clinical incidents are identified and addressed.
A clinical incident is defined by Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) as "an event or circumstance that resulted, or could have resulted, in unintended and/or unnecessary harm to a person and/or a complaint, loss or damage".
A clinical incident can be related to safety, usability, technical, and privacy and/or security issues.
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Standards lag creates ‘a cyber minefield’
12:00AM July 26, 2022
Australia is at risk of falling behind in the development of standards for new technologies, according to a milestone report that says doors are being left “unlocked” for cyber criminals to harvest data and steal the identities of Australians.
The report by national standards body Standards Australia said Australia had a lot of work to do in setting standards for emerging technologies and the nation’s “future prosperity” depended on keeping ahead of the curve.
Standards refer to voluntary documents that set out guidelines that aim to ensure products, services and systems are safe, consistent and reliable.
“With the rapid emergence of new technologies, standards drive innovation and competitiveness in these fields in Australia while also helping ensure responsible and secure use of the technologies,” the report said.
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Canva alumni raise $10m to stop you Googling your health
Tess Bennett Technology reporter
Jul 25, 2022 – 1.00pm
Two former product managers at design software giant Canva have closed the largest seed round so far raised by an all-female-founded Australian start-up, securing $10.15 million to launch a new personalised healthcare platform.
Georgia Vidler, Canva’s former head of product, and Kate Lambridis, who was a senior product manager, formed a friendship while working at the Aussie unicorn and bonded over shared challenges navigating the healthcare system which led them to co-found a start-up called Human in November.
“Like many, we have both experienced how frustrating finding quality information for complex health conditions can be, via our own experiences and those of multiple family members,” Ms Vidler said.
Ms Lambridis added, “It was genuine lived experience, like incredible, painful experiences that we’ve gone through that led us to want to solve this problem.”
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Double extortion ransomware and patient data protection
By Paul Prudhomme, Head of Threat Intelligence
Advisory, Rapid7
Monday, 25 July, 2022
With access to a network and holding data for ransom, it’s no surprise that ransomware is one of the most pressing and diabolical threats faced by cybersecurity teams. Causing billions in losses around the world, it has stopped critical infrastructure like healthcare services in its tracks, putting the lives and livelihoods of many at risk.
To better understand how ransomware attackers think, what they value and how they approach applying the most pressure on their victims to get payment, Rapid7 recently released a report titled ‘Paint Points: Ransomware Data Disclosure Trends’, revealing insights on the data that threat actors prefer to collect and release.
The report investigates the trend pioneered by the Maze ransomware group, of “double extortion”, examining the contents of initial data disclosures intended to coerce victims to pay ransoms.
Threat actors have upped the ante by using double extortion as a way to inflict maximum pain on an organisation. Through this method, not only are threat actors holding data hostage for money, but they threaten to release that data (either publicly or for sale on dark web outlets) to extract even more money from companies.
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Here are the Top 10 crucial trials coming up for ASX biotechs in 2022
· Stockhead
Big rewards, big risks. In biotech investing, a trial’s results can be the difference between boom and bust. Here are 10 crucial trials this year.
Risk v reward: A tale of two companies
Historical data shows that biotech is one the best sectors in which to put your money, over the long term.
Since 2007, the S&P Biotech Index is up by 500%, beating the benchmark S&P 500 return of 150%.
And over the years, the sector has been one that routinely delivers single-day 50 per cent or 100 per cent gains.
But while investing in biotech stocks can lead to these quick gains, it also comes with great risks, as it could easily go the other direction.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/australia-remains-an-ai-laggard-new-report-warns-20220722-p5b3vw
Australia remains an AI laggard, new report warns
Gus McCubbing Reporter
Jul 25, 2022 – 1.08am
Australian companies are less sophisticated than their overseas counterparts when it comes to adopting artificial intelligence, a new report says.
The Committee for Economic Development report says AI is still in the early phases of implementation in many Australian companies and industries, with only 34 per cent of firms using it across their operations.
“AI has the potential to give organisations – and Australia – a huge competitive advantage,” CEDA chief executive Melinda Cilento said.
“However, Australian companies are currently lagging in sophistication when it comes to AI adoption.”
The report points to Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Index, which showed Australia’s private investment in AI was valued at $US1.25 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2021.
Up from just shy of $US300 million in 2020, this marked the biggest yearly jump since 2014, and put Australia ahead of South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain and Portugal.
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David.
