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."

Monday, August 29, 2022

Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 29 August, 2022.

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

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Seems to have been a fair bit happening this week.

Interestingly we see the ADHA getting back to releasing press releases – I wonder why? 2 in 2 weeks after none for months.

Looking forward to the ADHA CEO’s justification of RoboDebt at the Royal Commission!

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https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/facility-admin/news/adha-signs-agreement-with-hl7-australia-850138906

ADHA signs agreement with HL7 Australia

Wednesday, 24 August, 2022


The Australian Digital Health Agency has signed a memorandum of understanding with Health Level Seven Australia Ltd (HL7) to support the development and implementation of digital health standards and specifications.

Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said the partnership affirms the importance of a thriving digital health standards ecosystem and would have a direct impact on consumers gaining better access to their health information through the Australian healthcare system.

“The objective is to create a new era of digital health in Australia with strong governance. This means open and collaborative processes for the agreement, development, testing, publishing and maintenance of digital health standards.

“Digital health standards are critical to the safe, secure and seamless movement of consumer health information between different healthcare providers,” she said.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/adha-ties-hl7-nationwide-fhir-adoption

ADHA ties up with HL7 for nationwide FHIR adoption

This comes as the agency enforces the government's plan to fully connect the country's health system by 2027.

By Adam Ang

August 24, 2022 03:09 AM

The Australian Digital Health Agency is collaborating with Health Level Seven Australia to support the consistent adoption of digital health standards across Australia's health system.

The organisations recently signed a memorandum of understanding to improve connectivity across the national healthcare system.

According to a media release, the partnership aims to foster a "vibrant" Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) community in Australia. They will also support the standards community to grow in size and expertise while "more clearly" communicating requirements for standards for national acceptance across public and private health and social care.

Moreover, they will provide training, education, and uplift activities to assist health workers in using the new standards.

Additionally, the organisations will continue supporting the widely-used V2 and CDA standards in the transition to FHIR.

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https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/australian-digital-health-agency-signs-agreement-with-hl7-australia-to-help-connect-australias-healthcare-system

Australian Digital Health Agency signs agreement with HL7 Australia to help connect Australia’s healthcare system

Published 24 August 2022

The Australian Digital Health Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Health Level Seven Australia Ltd (HL7) to support the robust development and implementation of digital health standards and specifications to help improve connectivity across the national healthcare system.

Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said the Agency’s partnership with HL7 affirms the importance of a thriving digital health standards ecosystem and would have a direct impact on consumers gaining better access to their health information through the Australian healthcare system.

“Digital health standards are critical to the safe, secure and seamless movement of consumer health information between different healthcare providers,” she said.

“Fostering and enabling interoperability in the health system is critically important and standards have a key role to play.

“The objective is to create a new era of digital health in Australia with strong governance. This means open, and collaborative processes for the agreement, development, testing, publishing and maintenance of digital health standards.”

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/australian-health-info-managers-want-more-investments-analytics-auditing-software-survey

Australian health info managers want more investments in analytics, auditing software: survey

HIS directors and staff have been found to have different views on certain department matters.

By Adam Ang

August 23, 2022 04:02 AM

Health information managers in Australia want their hospitals to invest more in analytics and auditing software, reflecting their desire for high coding quality and professional evolution that is inclined to analysis.

This is according to a recently published survey report by Code Focus, the coding and clinical auditing arm of IT consultancy firm Data Agility.

Its survey gathered responses from 87 HIMs to gain their insights about health information systems (HIS) departments and hospital data quality. 

FINDINGS

The survey found that about a third of all respondents want their hospitals to invest more in analytics and/or auditing software. According to Code Focus, senior management will see better business outcomes by providing HIMs with tools for analysing data and coding quality. 

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https://wildhealth.net.au/hospital-on-wheels-offers-remote-care-to-sydneys-homeless-population/

23 August 2022

Hospital-on-wheels offers remote care to Sydney’s homeless population

By Harriet Grayson

A new mobile health clinic on the streets in Sydney is using telehealth to provide people experiencing homelessness with access to specialist care. 

Being able to access hospital services outside of a hospital setting will be “game changing” for vulnerable patients who find it difficult to visit emergency rooms to receive care, Erin Longbottom, service manager of the mobile clinic, told Wild Health.  

“It will really increase access to care for those who really struggle to access services in the hospital. Having state-of-the-art telehealth services and video-conferencing capacities means that patients can see a specialist sitting in a clinic while they’re in a space that they feel comfortable, I think that’s really key,” she said. 

Funded by St Vincent’s Health Australia Inclusive Health Program, the vehicle features a range of equipment designed to identify and manage chronic diseases in vulnerable populations. 

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/western-health-rebuilds-identity-management-system

Western Health rebuilds identity management system

The upgraded system features a single sign-on and allows one identity for all internal systems.

By Adam Ang

August 24, 2022 03:05 AM

Western Health in Victoria has engaged IT solutions and managed services provider Logicalis Australia to separate and rebuild its old identity management system which it shared with two other major hospitals.

The health service manages four acute public hospitals – Sunshine Hospital, Footscray Hospital, Williamstown Hospital and Bacchus Marsh, as well as some community-based care services.

WHY IT MATTERS

Western Health had to quickly tackle the rapid changes brought by the global pandemic. It had to swiftly transition to remote work, redirect its resources to establish a vaccination hub, and at one point, manage nursing homes. Prior to the pandemic, it was fast growing as a healthcare provider, onboarding 3,000 new staff within a year, and was about to embark on a major merger project with Djerriwarrh Health Services. 

Amid all this, Western Health tapped Logicalis to rework its old identity management system, which it saw as a "major impediment" to its merger. The system, which was based on Microsoft Active Directory, manages identity, authentication and authorisation for all users of its network and IT resources.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/cubiko-developers-launch-cloud-based-interoperability-platform-halo-connect

Cubiko developers launch cloud-based interoperability platform Halo Connect

The platform provides Best Practice Premier integrators with a single point of integration via a REST and FHIR-compliant API.

By Adam Ang

August 23, 2022 04:04 AM

The developers of the practice intelligence platform Cubiko have put up a new cloud-based interoperability platform for healthcare software integrators through an undisclosed investment from medical software provider Best Practice Software.

They also sought the assistance of startup incubator Aginic Ventures in developing the said platform. 

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

Called Halo Connect, the platform provides Bp Premier integrators with a single point of integration via a REST and FHIR-compliant API. It was built to seamlessly connect healthcare data on-premise and cloud infrastructure in a "safe, secure and scalable way".

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/roundup-nsw-ambulance-gets-new-cardiac-care-tech-and-more-briefs

Roundup: NSW Ambulance gets new cardiac care tech and more briefs

Also, Asthma New Zealand has deployed a new CRM system to enhance health data collection from communities.

By Adam Ang

August 26, 2022 12:52 AM

NSW Ambulance to roll out latest cardiac care tech

NSW Ambulance is receiving new technology and equipment worth over A$55 million ($38 million) from the state government to enhance their provision of cardiac care.

The ambulance package includes a new cardiac notification platform – supplied by Device Technologies Australia – which improves communication by assisting with the transfer of clinical observation data from ambulances and regional hospitals to tertiary hospitals.

The package also includes additional 550 mechanical CPR Lucas devices, as well as 1,400 Corpuls ECG/defibrillation devices, which weigh less than the services' former defibrillators and can perform non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, capnography, pulse oximetry, temperature recording and pacing. 

The rollout of this technology package is a joint initiative between NSW Ambulance, NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and eHealth NSW.

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https://audiology.asn.au/ccms.r?Pageid=10056&tenid=AUDA&DispMode=goto|10332&Return=PageTop|11|10335

June, 2021

Australian Digital Health Agency seeking information on diagnostic audiology reports

Assistance required: Australian Digital Health Agency seeking information on diagnostic audiology reports

The Australian Digital Health Agency is developing a diagnostic reporting specification for the electronic exchange of diagnostic reports. An aspect of the Agency’s work is to support the exchange of diagnostic audiology reports.

The Agency is seeking assistance with the following questions:

(1) Are there best practice report guidelines currently in use by audiologists?

(2) Are any terminologies in use or endorsed e.g. SNOMED CT?

(3) To what degree are diagnostic audiology reports created using specific provider format and content as decided by the audiology clinic/organisation?

caused by quota to HIMs and clinical coders.

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https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/racgp/in-practice-countdown-to-women-s-health-week

In Practice: Countdown to Women’s Health Week

Morgan Liotta

25 Aug 2022

……

Become a digital health expert advisor
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) is seeking applications through a Request for Tender process for suitably qualified and experienced individuals to join their group of expert advisors who will support the agency’s program of work.
 
As a digital health expert advisor, you will apply everyday health industry experience to the design, development and implementation of ADHA products and services. This includes focusing on the clinical safety, quality and usability of all products and services developed by the ADHA, along with the systems within which the ADHA operates.
 
Applications close 19 September. More information and applications are available online.

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https://www.tenders.gov.au/Atm/Show/c75b229e-e5c1-4fbb-8484-f39316be4f07

Current ATM View - RFT_DH4303

Digital Health Expert Advisors

Email Address:
RFQ_TResponses@digitalhealth.gov.au

ATM Documents Lodgement Page

ATM ID:  RFT_DH4303

Agency:  Australian Digital Health Agency

Category:  85100000 - Comprehensive health services

Close Date & Time:

19-Sep-2022 2:00 pm (ACT Local Time)

Publish Date:  23-Aug-2022

ATM Type: Request for Tender

Description:

The Digital Health Expert Advisors panel are drawn from healthcare providers and administrators with digital health subject matter expertise from across the health sector. They are selected based on their current healthcare experience and their ability to apply their digital health expertise to the Agency’s products and services. Their strategic contribution is valuable to senior executives as well as program areas.

Panel members represent the Agency within the general community and in various local and national committees and promotional activities. The panel is a positive representation of engagement between the Agency and the healthcare provider community, advocating for the Agency, and the products and services we provide.

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https://allevents.in/george%20town/my-health-record-qanda-webinar-george-town-library/10000402241865247

My Health record Q&A webinar @ George Town Library

Wed Sep 7, 2022

My Health record Q&A webinar @ George Town Library

Join us and get all of your My Health Record questions answered by an expert.

About this Event

Join this free interactive webinar powered by Humanitix and hosted by Good Things Foundation Australia. Watch in this group session at the library to get all of your My Health questions answered by an expert. My Health Record is an Australian government digital health website.

As this program is currently modified to meet public gathering restrictions, we have limited spaces available.

We ask that you please register here, or call your local library on (03) 6702 6090 if you need help making a booking. If you are no longer able to make an event, please let us know so that others don’t miss out.

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/58110236?type=standout#sol=04503bd22ea9d8b6ea09d0feab58a547f9cac05c

Director, My Health Record and Digital Products

Australian Digital Health Agency

Brisbane QLD

Product Management & Development (Information & Communication Technology)

$149,194 - $176,637

Full time

14 August, 2022

About the Role

The Australian Digital Health Agency has exciting opportunity for a proven leader to join our team as the Director, My Health Record and Digital Products (Executive Level 2).  

The Digital Strategy Division is responsible for national digital health design and strategy, underpinned by strong clinical governance and digital health standards. 

As the Director, My Health Record and Digital Products you will be accountable (under broad direction) to undertake very complex work to develop, drive, and implement the product strategy and roadmap for strategically significant products to meet the Agency’s business objectives and interoperability needs of the Australian healthcare sector. 

You will work closely with all branches and business units across the Agency, other government agencies, jurisdictions, clinical peak bodies and medical software developers to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategic workplan, government initiatives, technical infrastructure and services, roadmap, and the context in which the Agency operates and maintains the relevant products. You will also: 

  • Manage the prioritisation, definition and delivery of fit-for-purpose end products and ensure the team works on the right priorities based on business value and customer needs, balancing this with any associated risks to maximise value; and
  • be required to produce briefings and provide high level of advice to senior management and Ministers as well as coordinating and assuming responsibility for highly complex or sensitive projects or work programs that have strategic, political and/or operational significance.

This is an exciting opportunity for suitably qualified and experienced leader to deliver influential and positive contributions to the Government’s National and Digital Health agendas for the good of the Australian people.

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/58195975?type=standout#sol=49b5b8e19dd3f1e48ef382a775485440b36ae136

Team Lead Incident Management

Australian Digital Health Agency

Brisbane QLD

Management (Information & Communication Technology)

$125,047 - $142,618

Full time

19 August, 2022

About the Role 

 As an Incident Manager, you will hold a pivotal role in the day-to-day management of Major Incidents within the Agency driving restoration, recovery and review of Major Incidents based on best practice within an ITIL Framework. You also play an active role in the implementation and transformation of Incident Management, policies, processes, and procedures, with a focus on continual service improvement 

Reporting to the Director of Incident and Problem Management Team, the Team Lead will be responsible for:  

  • Managing response, resolution, and post-incident review of all incidents to ensure deficiencies are identified, learnings are documented, and remediation activities carried out to limit risk of future recurrence.
  • Managing a team of Incident Coordinators.
  • Identify, design and Implement innovative solutions to expand and improve Incident Management.
  • Responsible for the operational delivery management of our production environments.
  • Responsible for monitoring and co-ordinating with resolve groups, vendors, and asset owners to resolve the incident in line with resolution SLA's to deliver a customer focused service.
  • Support the creation and maintenance of the incident, and event management process flow documentation to ensure consistency with the Process Quality Framework. Actively participate in Continual Service Improvement by identifying improvements to the incident, major incident management processes.
  • This is an on-call position and will be required to go on a roster with other team members to support 24x7 Major Incident Management.  

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https://www.seek.com.au/job/58128545?type=standout#sol=461f22cd64bcf84caae5674b4b0ff40dcbb8b28b

Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Australian Digital Health Agency

Brisbane QLD

PA, EA & Secretarial (Administration & Office Support)

$90,901 - $98,303

Full time

16 August, 2022

About the Role

The Executive Assistant is responsible for providing high level executive support to the CEO. The Executive Assistant is the front door to the Office of the CEO and is responsible for communicating and building relationships with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. They also provide guidance to other Executive Assistants and Business Support Officers.

The Executive Assistant will be responsible for the following, but not limited to:

  • Provide high level executive support including management of the CEO’s diary and travel and assistance with corporate functions (eg HR, finance and IT matters).
  • Assist in managing the inflow and outflow of documents in the office.
  • Proactively assist the CEO in preparing for meetings.
  • Develop and maintain internal and external relationships (including with the Agency Board Chair and Agency SES).
  • Support internal and external networks (including Executive Assistants and Business Support Officers).

To be successful in this role you will have previous experience delivering high quality and reliable executive support to senior executives working within a fast paced, highly complex and confidential environment. You will demonstrate high level communication and interpersonal skills; the ability to build productive working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders; well-developed time management, prioritisation and problem solving skills as well as attention to detail and discretion.

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https://www.ama.com.au/ama-rounds/26-august-2022/articles/mt-druitt-doctors-data-driven-practice

Mt Druitt doctor’s data-driven practice

Published 25 August 2022

General practitioner Dr Kean-Seng Lim discusses the ‘art of medicine’ and more with the MJA.

The AMA’s journal—the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)—this week features a podcast interview with Dr Kean-Seng Lim. Dr Lim is a GP, former President of AMA NSW, and this year’s recipient of the AMA Excellence in Healthcare award.

Dr Lim spoke to MJA news and online editor Cate Swannell and in a wide-ranging discussion offered his thoughts on the present and future of general practice in Australia.

He told the MJA he was not immediately drawn to general practice, but it was on his list of career paths.

“General practice was always on my list of possible medical specialties to enter, and it wasn't the only one. Ultimately why I chose general practice comes down to why I chose medicine in the first place—so for me medicine was about people. It was a combination of being able to apply a certain type of skill set, so that sort of scientific skill set, but also that organisational type skill set, to helping people. So it's very much about people.”

Dr Lim said that working in the hospital system gave him perspective as to how general practice might better align with his own healthcare interests.

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https://www.ama.com.au/gpnn/issue-22-number-33/articles/new-oaic-my-health-record-security-and-access-policy-template-and

New OAIC My Health Record security and access policy template and accompanying e-Learning module

Published 25 August 2022

A new My Health Record security and access policy template is now available to assist healthcare providers to comply with their obligations under Rule 42 of the My Health Records Rule 2016.  

Rule 42 of the My Health Records Rule 2016 requires healthcare provider organisations to establish, communicate and enforce a written security and access policy in order to register, and remain registered, with the My Health Record system. 

The policy template was developed by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), in collaboration with the Australian Digital Health Agency. Input was also provided by clinical peaks, Primary Health Networks and advisers from a range of healthcare settings and disciplines.  

The Agency has also developed an e-Learning module to accompany the security and access policy template, with input from advisers from various healthcare settings and disciplines. The e-Learning module is designed to support healthcare providers in using the policy template by outlining the practical steps that should be followed when drafting a security and access policy for their organisation.  

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https://www.miragenews.com/ama-outlines-its-vision-for-interoperable-842838/

AMA outlines its vision for interoperable healthcare system

Australian Medical Association

25 August, 2022

The AMA Federal Council in July adopted the AMA Position Statement on System Interoperability in Healthcare.

Following the adoption and publication of the AMA Vision for Digital Health earlier this year, this new AMA position statement further elaborates on what the AMA sees as the key priority for the future of digital health in Australia.

The AMA position statement articulates the AMA support for a more connected healthcare system that will enable more equitable access to medical care. It calls for interoperability across intersecting health and human services sectors, including acute care, primary care, allied health, community care, as well as aged and disability services, in order to achieve more efficient and effective methods of healthcare delivery and enable whole of person care.

The AMA Position Statement can be viewed here: https://www.ama.com.au/articles/ama-position-statement-system-interoperability-healthcare-2022

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https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/gps-warned-avoid-intimate-examinations-kids-over-telehealth

GPs warned to avoid intimate examinations of kids over telehealth

Doctors say it is important children learn it is never appropriate to expose their genitalia to a camera

25th August 2022

By Siobhan Calafiore

Intimate examinations of children via telehealth might inadvertently increase the risk of online sexual grooming, GPs are being warned.

Asking a child to undress in front of a phone or computer camera, even for a medical examination with a parent present, may normalise the type of behaviour that sexual predators would encourage, according to paediatric endocrinologists writing in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Dr Jacky Hewitt said she co-authored the journal letter after the issue arose during her own consults. 

“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen quite a number of families via telehealth who have tried to undress their child to show the physical development of their chest or genital area over web camera,” she told Australian Doctor.

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https://www.eventbrite.com.au/cc/your-health-in-your-hands-digital-health-help-969939

Your health in your hands - digital health help

City of Charles Sturt

This series of digital health workshops run at our Libraries will help you learn how to manage your health and wellbeing online, and is done in partnership with My Health Record, Good -Things Foundation & the Australian Government Digital Health Industry.

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https://www.innovationaus.com/absence-of-progress-as-the-nbn-strikes-out-again/

Absence of progress as the NBN strikes out again

Mark Gregory
Contributor

24 August 2022

The NBN Company has released a discussion paper on its Special Access Undertaking variation and commenced a new round of talks with the competition regulator, service providers and consumer advocacy groups.

In response to the government’s instruction that NBN Co was to withdraw the Special Access Undertaking variation that it previously submitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in March 2022, the company has now put forward minor changes, which really only serve to underline why the government needs to refresh the decision-making at NBN Co.

The key issue for the government is timing. NBN Co has proposed that it phase out the data usage Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) charge by July 2026 and introduce connection only Access Virtual Circuit (AVC) charges for 100 Mbps and above wholesale speed tiers by July 2023.

The AVC should be removed from all speed tiers by July 2023.

The proposal that the CVC would remain until after the next federal election is unacceptable and unnecessary.

Australia’s telecommunications market has been hampered by its focus on bitstream charging over the past three decades and it is time for change.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/tpg-telecom-may-have-price-modelled-itself-into-an-nbn-cvc-windfall-584398

TPG Telecom may have price-modelled itself into an NBN CVC 'windfall'

By Ry Crozier on Aug 26, 2022 12:08PM

Analysis: Questioning anomalous customer movements.

TPG Telecom mass-migrated 300,000 50Mbps NBN users - one-third of its user base on the tier - up to 100Mbps services in the three months to March 31, only to move some back to 50Mbps again, in what appears to be evidence of a sophisticated NBN price modelling play.

The ACCC’s quarterly wholesale market indicators report, released last week, showed an anomalous mass-movement of customers between the 50Mbps and 100Mbps tiers.

TPG Telecom is the only major retail service provider (RSP) to experience a mass customer movement like this between 50Mbps and 100Mbps in the first six months of the year.

That immediately suggests it acted alone and on its own information, which iTnews has been able to partially confirm.

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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/gov-asked-to-reconsider-future-nbn-mobile-funding-injections-584325

Gov asked to reconsider future NBN, mobile funding injections

By Ry Crozier on Aug 24, 2022 6:30AM

Productivity Commission proposes an alternative way.

The federal government should reconsider the way it pumps money into NBN upgrades, mobile towers and other communications infrastructure, because the benefits of these injections aren’t transparent, the Productivity Commission has said.

In an interim report [pdf] on digital technology released overnight, the commission criticised what it saw as a “lack of transparency” around how investments are made in digital infrastructure by the government “and which priorities are pursued.”

In particular, the commission singled out investment in NBN upgrades, such as the $480 million government injection to upgrade the fixed wireless network announced earlier this year, as well as the government’s mobile blackspots program (MBSP) and regional connectivity program (RCP).

“Allocating funding under programs such as the NBN, MBSP and RCP to specific areas or connection types means less funding available for investment in another location or technology,” the commission said.

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https://itwire.com/business-it-news/networking/aussie-broadband-s-nbn-enterprise-ethernet-opens-australian-businesses-to-the-world.html

Monday, 22 August 2022 21:53

Aussie Broadband's nbn Enterprise Ethernet opens Australian businesses to the world

By David M Williams

It doesn't matter what the problem is, the answer is more power. Well, not really - but in seriousness, when it comes to bandwidth it’s certainly true more means more, and Aussie Broadband has you covered with 1000/1000Mbps symmetrical nbn Enterprise Ethernet plans.

Businesses and enterprises of all sizes are increasingly using cloud services - for their own business use, as well as providing services to customers - and increasingly adopting video conferencing and conferencing and collaboration. They’re working with big data, connecting all manner of IoT devices, looking to push analytics and processing to the edge, and embracing many other emerging technologies.

All this means the network is critical to business. And a critical service deserves the best. Your network is a force multiplier; it enables your business to communicate, service customers, create and collaborate, gather data and work with that data.

While FTTN, FTTC, and HFC technologies have helped connect many businesses, they may also constrain your growth. It’s time to move from 100/40Mbps speeds to the incredible 1000/1000Mbps symmetrical plans available on nbn Enterprise Ethernet.

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Enjoy!

David.

 

Sunday, August 28, 2022

It Is Hard Not To Think The ADHA Is Going To Need At Least A Defibrillator To Revive Digital Health Standards Work In Australia!

This press release appeared a few days ago!

Australian Digital Health Agency signs agreement with HL7 Australia to help connect Australia’s healthcare system

Published 24 August 2022

The Australian Digital Health Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Health Level Seven Australia Ltd (HL7) to support the robust development and implementation of digital health standards and specifications to help improve connectivity across the national healthcare system.

Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said the Agency’s partnership with HL7 affirms the importance of a thriving digital health standards ecosystem and would have a direct impact on consumers gaining better access to their health information through the Australian healthcare system.

“Digital health standards are critical to the safe, secure and seamless movement of consumer health information between different healthcare providers,” she said.

“Fostering and enabling interoperability in the health system is critically important and standards have a key role to play.

“The objective is to create a new era of digital health in Australia with strong governance. This means open, and collaborative processes for the agreement, development, testing, publishing and maintenance of digital health standards.”

Ms Cattermole said the organisations will collaborate to support consistent adoption of digital health standards to strengthen connected health care across Australia. National priorities will be addressed systematically and the standards community will be supported to grow in size and expertise.

“We want to foster a vibrant Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) community in Australia as outlined in Connecting Australian Health Care – National Healthcare Interoperability Plan. Put simply, FHIR is the how-to-guide that enables health information movement from one place to another, a freely available and nationally endorsed interoperability standard.

“The Agency and HL7 recognise that different parts of the health system are at different points in their digital journey. The long established V2 and CDA standards are widely used. These will continue to be supported during the transition to FHIR.

“Together with HL7 we will deliver training, education and uplift activities to support the health workforce to use the new standards.”

HL7 Australia Chair, Isobel Frean, said the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding represented a significant moment for the promotion and adoption of interoperability standards in Australia.

“This agreement is testament to the world class standards development community we have in Australia,” she said.

“Equally it presents an opportunity for our community to help nurture new partnerships across health and social care in the interests of achieving a consensus approach to the development of the standards we use in Australia.

“One of our priorities through the partnership is to more clearly communicate requirements for standards for national acceptance across public and private health and social care.”

Australia has an ambitious plan to connect health care by 2027. The Agency and HL7 are working together to ensure the digital health standards required to enable the movement of consumer health information through a connected healthcare system are robustly developed, easily adopted, widely available, well maintained and effectively governed.

Here is the link!

https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/australian-digital-health-agency-signs-agreement-with-hl7-australia-to-help-connect-australias-healthcare-system

You need to read closely and have some historical perspective to realise just what BS this really is:

What on earth does it mean? “Australia has an ambitious plan to connect health care by 2027” Talk about chasing a mirage!

A little background here reminds us that Digital Health  Standards Development is in a bit of a hole:

Look at this current page!

Standards Catalogue

IT-014 : Health Informatics

The list covers 2 Obsolescent and 5 Superseded Standards – all from 2005 or earlier.

Here is a link:

https://www.standards.org.au/standards-catalogue/sa-snz/health/it-014?status=superseded

Ob course all the activity was rather blown up by NEHTA and the ‘Tiger Teams’ around 2012 and basically never recovered!

For the present HL7 Chair to say “This agreement is testament to the world class standards development community we have in Australia,” is fantasy as most of the Australian expertise has not been supported of fostered within Australia for near on a decade. Yes we have some experts who know heaps but most have gone into their shell (or overseas) for a good while!

The ADHA has to fund, nurture and support a few oldies and a new generation of experts to get anything real going and it will not be quick! The world has moved on a good way with FHIR etc. and this expertise needs to be grown and supported for an extended period.

Basically the DOH / NEHTA / ADHA did not know what they had until they lost it – and a lot of the goodwill and trust that existed there. An apology might not be a bad idea!

The direction is dead right but the spin is just offensive.

David.

 

AusHealthIT Poll Number 646– Results – 28th August, 2022.

Here are the results of the poll.

Does Australia Need The Proposed Uber Health (Patient Transport) Service?

Yes                                          6 (13%)

No                                          39 (87%)

I Have No Idea                        0 (0%)

Voters: 42

A clear vote suggesting we really don’t need  Uber Health

Any insights on the poll are welcome, as a comment, as usual!

A fair number of votes. and a clear outcome. 

0 of 42 who answered the poll admitted to not being sure about the answer to the question!

Again, many, many thanks to all those who voted! 

David.

 

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links –27th August 2022.

Here are a few I came across last week.

Note: Each link is followed by a title and 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

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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/data-exchange-challenges-impede-electronic-public-health-reporting

Data Exchange Challenges Impede Electronic Public Health Reporting

Over 70 percent of hospitals experienced at least one major challenge with electronic public health reporting, according to 2019 ONC data.

By Hannah Nelson

August 19, 2022 - The healthcare industry must focus on increasing electronic health information exchange (HIE) to ensure the availability of timely data for public health efforts, according to an ONC data brief.

Survey data from 2019 found that more than 70 percent of hospitals experienced at least one major challenge with electronic public health reporting.

Additionally, less than one in five primary care physicians—and about a quarter of pediatric and internal medicine primary care physicians—reported electronically sharing data with public health agencies.

“It is important to note that ONC’s analysis did not report on physicians’ overall levels of public health reporting—which often occur through manual, paper-based methods—nor does it reflect recent levels of electronic public health reporting which may have improved during the pandemic,” ONC officials Chelsea Richwine and Vaishali Patel emphasized in a HealthITBuzz blog post.

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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/crisis-management-system-to-support-the-988-suicide-lifeline

Crisis Management System to Support the 988 Suicide Lifeline

A new, data-driven crisis management system to support the three-digit suicide prevention hotline and improve care delivery has been launched.

By Shania Kennedy

August 18, 2022 - Healthcare technology solutions company Bamboo Health has developed a behavioral and mental health crisis system designed to support the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and improve care delivery. The solution is currently live in two states, and more states will be launching the system in the coming months.

Mental health in the US has become a growing population and public health concern in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic served to exacerbate these concerns further. During the pandemic, patient demand for mental healthcare surged, but access barriers persisted for many patients seeking care.

The federally mandated 988 hotline is one attempt to improve the American behavioral and mental health crisis care system, designed to transform the system as 911 did for emergency medical services. The three-digit number was officially launched in July as an easier-to-remember alternative to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Individuals can call, text, or chat 988 during a behavioral or mental health crisis to be routed to the nearest local crisis center to receive help, including crisis counseling, resources and referrals, or mobile crisis unit dispatch. However, concerns about crisis center capacity and hotline usage, which is expected to triple within the first year.

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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/08/government-launches-evidence-discrimination-medical-devices-technologies/

Government calls for evidence on discrimination in medical devices

The government has launched a call for evidence to discover if and how medical devices and technologies may be discriminatory and widen inequalities in healthcare.

Jordan Sollof – 15 August, 2022

As part of an Independent Review on Equity in Medical Devices, led by Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead, the government is aiming to tackle healthcare inequalities by collecting new evidence on how medical devices and technologies may be biased against patients of different ethnicities, genders and other socio-demographic groups.

The call for evidence will be open for eight weeks, with the hope of hearing from those who work most closely with medical devices such as oxygen measuring devices, infrared scanners and related software and hardware including databases and instructions.

This applies across a device’s entire lifecycle from evaluation to marketing and implementation to identify potential biases at each and every stage.

Professor Whitehead, chair of the independent review, said: “We aim to establish where and how potential ethnic and other unfair biases may arise in the design and use of medical devices, and what can be done to make improvements.

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https://www.fdanews.com/articles/209068-medwand-device-gets-510k-clearance

MedWand Device Gets 510(k) Clearance

August 19, 2022

MedWand Solutions has received 510(k) marketing clearance from the FDA for its MedWand telemedicine device for remote clinical exams.

The handheld device features sensors that detect multiple vital signs including core temperature, blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate, among other measurements. It also includes an electrocardiogram feature that has not yet been cleared by the agency.

The company said it will immediately launch the MedWand Evaluation Kit which includes the device and a tablet computer that is pre-configured for access to the cloud-based VirtualCare telemedicine platform.

The company also plans to launch two other products that use the newly cleared device, the MedWand Mobile Clinic and the MedWand Remote Clinic.

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https://www.digitalhealth.net/2022/08/industry-news-in-brief-67/

Industry news in brief

The latest Digital Health News industry roundup features the formation of Visiba Care’s UK Advisory Board, recognition for ORCHA and Royal Perth Hospital in Australia introducing electronic prescriptions.

Jordan Sollof – 19 August, 2022

Visiba Care announce formation of UK Advisory Board

Swedish virtual care platform provider, Visiba Care, has announced the appointment of their UK advisory board. The board has been created to provide expert insight, intelligence and knowledge and to ensure Visiba Care can respond to the needs of the UK’s current and future healthcare system.

Chaired by Mike Bell, chair of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, the board brings together experts from across the healthcare sector.

Current members of the advisory board include:

  • Jake Arnold-Forster, co-founder at Carradale Futures
  • Dr Nav Chana, national PCH clinical director at the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC)
  • Dr Marc Farr, chief analytical officer at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
  • Martin Godfrey, general practitioner and governing body member at Lambeth Clinical Commissioning Group

Liverpool City Region shows appetite for supporting healthtech start-ups

Lorna Green, CEO of LYVA Labs, a non-profit organisation that supports early-stage healthtech start-ups in the Liverpool City Region, has highlighted the area’s appetite for supporting budding start-ups in the healthtech space and the importance of giving them support in funding and beyond.

In January of this year, LYVA Labs secured its first allocation of funding of £7.5million from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority – five million to ringfence into start-ups and 2.5million to fund the team and expert advisors.

The company works with entrepreneurs and businesses that are at the ‘idea stage’ of their business journey, helping them access the funding and resources needed to progress a concept to a functioning product or service.

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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/ehealth-exchange-crisp-shared-services-announce-tefca-qhin-intentions

eHealth Exchange, CRISP Shared Services Announce TEFCA QHIN Intentions

CRISP Shared Services, which provides infrastructure for five statewide HIEs, intends to be the first participant in eHealth Exchange’s anticipated QHIN.

By Hannah Nelson

August 18, 2022 - eHealth Exchange has announced its intention to apply as a Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN) in the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).

CRISP Shared Services, which provides health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure for five statewide HIEs, intends to be the first participant in eHealth Exchange’s anticipated QHIN.

“eHealth Exchange has long been a cornerstone of CRISP Shared Services’ ability to share data with organizations across the region, state, and country, including with the federal government,” Brandon Neiswender, acting chief executive officer for CRISP Shared Services, said in a press release.

“Given its long history advancing interoperability and advocating for patients, we know eHealth Exchange will be the right partner to help us navigate this next step in nationwide data sharing.”

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https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/visibly-now-seeing-eye-eye-fda-brings-online-vision-test-back-market?

Visibly, now seeing eye-to-eye with the FDA, brings online vision test back to market

By Andrea Park

Aug 17, 2022 12:19pm

In a somewhat paradoxical twist, a few extra minutes of screen time can now actually help, rather than hurt, your eye health.

That eye-catching claim has become a reality courtesy of the FDA, which recently gave the go-ahead to an eye test that requires only a smartphone and a computer and can be performed from the comfort of a user’s own home, according to an announcement this week from Visibly, the maker of the online test.

After helping a user set up the test—which includes adjusting the computer’s volume and brightness and any surrounding lighting, as well as finding a place to stand approximately 10 feet away from the screen—the computer and smartphone work in tandem to guide them through the exam. As the computer displays various letters and symbols, users enter their responses on the mobile app, adding and removing corrective lenses and covering each eye as directed.

The test—called the Visibly Digital Acuity Product, or VDAP—takes around six minutes from start to finish, after which time the results are automatically sent to a physician in the user’s region for review. The doctor returns a prescription within 24 hours, though Visibly notes on its website that most arrive within just two hours.

Users can access the test directly through Visibly’s website, and the company also partners with eyecare providers, telemedicine sites, insurance companies and more to embed the exam into their own offerings.

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https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-point-care-ultrasound-devices-speed-diagnostics-and-support-health-equity

How point of care ultrasound devices speed diagnostics and support health equity

The handheld technology is gaining in popularity and offers many benefits to providers, including improved outcomes, a physician imaging expert says.

By Bill Siwicki

August 18, 2022 08:40 AM

Dr. John Martin, chief medical officer at Butterfly Network

Photo: Butterfly Network

Ultrasounds are among the most used imaging in healthcare. But some in the health IT industry see an alternative way of conducting ultrasounds that they say can help with issues from staffing shortages to health equity.

Dr. John Martin is chief medical officer at Butterfly Network, an ultrasound platform vendor. He sees point of care ultrasound (POCUS) devices as the future of this school of imaging.

We interviewed the doctor to discuss the future of POCUS, the role artificial intelligence can play with POCUS, and the use of POCUS to address health equity.

Q. You suggest that in a couple of years, POCUS will be widespread across healthcare organizations as an affordable, scalable way to improve and speed up diagnostics. How do they work, and what factors do you see driving the adoption of these devices?

A. In many care scenarios, the ability to reduce the time it takes to make a better clinical decision is critical. In the past, healthcare providers followed the path of "history, physical, pause," and thereafter a clinician decided whether a patient should get imaging.

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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/08/18/commonwell-meditech-tefca-and-qhins/

CommonWell, MEDITECH, TEFCA, and QHINs

August 18, 2022

John Lynn

The topic of TEFCA and QHINs has been an extremely important one in the world of healthcare IT and particularly when it comes to healthcare interoperability.  In many ways, it’s setting the national infrastructure for healthcare interoperability going forward.  So, we should be paying attention.

As we continue to learn about how the industry is responding to TEFCA and which organizations are planning to apply to be a QHIN, we thought it would be valuable to sit down with CommonWell and a CommonWell member, MEDITECH, to learn more about their thoughts on TEFCA and CommonWell’s choice to apply to be a QHIN.  In the video interview below, Mike Cordeiro, Director Interoperability Market and Product Strategy at MEDITECH, and Paul Wilder, Executive Director of CommonWell Health Alliance share their insights on these important topics.

Before we dove into the topic of TEFCA and QHINs, I asked Wilder to share about CommonWell and their relationship with EHR vendors.  Cordeiro also shared MEDITECH’s perspective on working with CommonWell.  They both shared what it’s like to work alongside multiple competing vendor voices where they are working collaboratively towards the goal of interoperable health data.

Then, we dove into how CommonWell is approaching TEFCA and what Wilder described as the obvious decision for CommonWell to apply to be a QHIN.  He also shares how the EHR members of CommonWell will benefit from CommonWell being a QHIN.  Cordeiro shared how MEDITECH’s client base will be able to take advantage of the benefits CommonWell supporting TEFCA will provide implementers like MEDITECH.  This is a slightly different approach than EHR vendors like Epic and NextGen which have said they plan to apply to be a QHIN.  However, it seems like both approaches will have similar benefits to end users.

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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/va-digital-healthcare-playbook-highlights-health-it-optimization-case-studies

VA Digital Healthcare Playbook Highlights Health IT Optimization Case Studies

Phase one of the VA Digital Healthcare Playbook highlights projects that have helped improve health information exchange and health IT usability.

By Hannah Nelson

August 17, 2022 - Phase one of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Digital Healthcare Playbook identifies health IT case studies that are helping transform patient care.

The guide, created in collaboration with the Digital Medicine Society, intends to drive digital transformation and encourage multidisciplinary collaboration.

VA notes in the playbook that current challenges to health IT usability include physician dissatisfaction with EHRs, overregulation, isolated data silos, and incompatible systems.

For instance, MercyOne, an accountable care organization (ACO) with over 400 service locations, had several disparate data sources lacking a common standard.

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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/audio-only-telehealth-effective-in-treating-underserved-patients

Audio-Only Telehealth Effective in Treating Underserved Patients

A recent study found a mere 6.5 percent difference in satisfaction rate between audio-only and video-based telehealth in treating older and underserved patients.

By Mark Melchionna

August 17, 2022 - While exploring methods for virtually treating older and underserved patients, a study from the American Journal of the Medical Sciences found that audio-only telehealth produced similar benefits and was not inferior to video-based telehealth.

These findings come as industry leaders work to assess the efficacy of audio-only and video-based telehealth.

In this study, researchers gathered a diverse group of participants; 43 percent were Black, and 68 percent were women. They also considered factors such as age and insurance status when drawing conclusions.

The study occurred through a clinical trial, where all participants were randomly assigned to have their next visit occur through either phone or video-based platforms. The central unit of measurement was visit satisfaction rate, reported on a ten-point scale. Researchers noted noninferiority data based on whether patient satisfaction between the telehealth methods exceeded a -15 percent margin.

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https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/15/23306368/home-blood-pressure-apps-cuff

Apps don’t make at-home blood pressure monitoring better

They don’t give an additional boost from a non-smart device

Managing blood pressure at home is already difficult, and syncing blood pressure equipment up to an app doesn’t make the process any better, a new study found. In this case, just like many others, technology isn’t a good replacement for medical support.

Millions of adults in the United States have uncontrolled blood pressure, and high blood pressure can put people at risk for heart disease and stroke. Helping people manage their blood pressure is a major goal for health systems — but just sending someone who has high blood pressure home with a cuff isn’t particularly helpful, research shows. What does help is pairing people’s at-home blood pressure tracking with education support programs, regular counseling about medications from pharmacists, or systems that send regular updates to doctors.

Those types of add-ons, though, are expensive and time-consuming. Apps, on the other hand, are cheap and quick — and some blood pressure cuffs now come with paired apps that can interpret the results and make recommendations.

The new study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, divided over 2,000 patients with high blood pressure into two groups. The people in one group were sent an OMRON blood pressure monitor, and the people in the other group were sent the same monitor along with instructions to set up the OMRON Connect smartphone app.

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https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/how-the-responsible-use-of-ai-can-create-safer-online-spaces/

How the responsible use of AI can create safer online spaces

Aug 16, 2022
Steve Durbin

Artificial Intelligence

·         AI algorithms have massive implications for human life and the wider society.

·         Ethical dilemmas surrounding AI include digital disparities and its weaponization.

·         Autonomy should be balanced with human oversight while the responsible use of AI should be elevated, so it can be leveraged to tackle discrimination.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an everyday reality and business tool spurred by computer advancement, data science and the availability of huge data sets. Big tech companies – Google, Amazon and Meta – are now developing AI-based systems. The technology can mimic human speech, detect cancer, predict criminal activity, draft legal contracts, solve accessibility problems, and accomplish tasks better than humans. For businesses, AI promises to predict business outcomes, improve processes and deliver efficiencies at substantial cost savings.

But there are growing concerns with AI, still.

AI algorithms have become so powerful – with some experts labelling AI as being sentient – that any corruption, tampering, bias or discrimination can have massive implications on organizations, human life and society.

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https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/topics/informatics-topic/electronic-health-records-and-genomic-data-not-yet-a-perfect-match/

Electronic Health Records and Genomic Data – Not Yet a Perfect Match

By Laura Cowen

Electronic health records (EHRs) – systems that control all hospital data – have been around since the early 1970s. One of the first, the Health Evaluation thru Logical Processing (HELP) system, was developed by medical informatics pioneer Homer Warner at LDS Hospital, now Intermountain Healthcare, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Warner’s system used medical logic to evaluate patient data and provide clinical decision support (CDS). With time it was refined to include more information, such as clinical laboratory and pharmacy data and cardiology and pulmonary function test results, and it is still in use today.

EHRs were initially developed and used by academic institutions, but in the 1990s, when hardware became more affordable and the internet led to the use of web-based systems, commercial EHR vendors gradually took over. Although these commercial systems now have huge capabilities, they currently struggle to support the increasing use of genomic data in medicine.

Identifying the problems with genomic data

The issue is widely recognized, so much so that the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) set up the EHR Interoperability for Clinical Genomics Data Working Group to assess the challenges and look for solutions to the current problems associated with incorporating genomic data into EHRs.

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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/hl7-da-vinci-project-recognizes-health-it-experts-as-community-champions

HL7 Da Vinci Project Recognizes Health IT Experts as ‘Community Champions’

The HL7 Da Vinci Project leadership created the Community Champions Program last year to celebrate stakeholders advancing interoperability across the industry.

By Hannah Nelson

August 16, 2022 - The Health Level Seven International (HL7) Da Vinci Project has named eight health IT experts its 2021 Da Vinci Community Champions.

The individuals represent the diverse membership of the HL7 Da Vinci Project, a collaborative multi-stakeholder effort comprised of health plans, hospital systems, accountable care organizations (ACOs), and health IT vendors.

As an HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) accelerator, the Da Vinci Project is working to accelerate interoperability standards to support value-based care, reduce clinician burden, and streamline clinical workflows.

Last year, the Da Vinci Project leadership created the Community Champions Program to recognize and celebrate the problem solvers advancing interoperability across the industry.

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https://patientengagementhit.com/news/closing-digital-divide-requires-more-than-patient-access-to-health-it

Closing Digital Divide Requires More Than Patient Access to Health IT

Healthcare providers need to close the loop scheduling appointments and addressing digital health literacy in order to truly close the digital divide.

By Sara Heath

August 16, 2022 - It’ll take more than improving patient access to health IT to close the digital divide, according to a new assessment from the VA’s Office of Inspector General.

The OIG report found that a program aiming to close the digital divide successfully distributed health IT to veterans in need, but actual patient utilization was low. Despite expanding patient access to the health IT needed for things like video consults, the digital divide remains, the OIG report concluded.

The digital divide is an emerging social determinant of health that got a lot of time in the spotlight during the first period of the COVID-19 pandemic. As healthcare organizations shuttered their door to in-person medical care, patient access to telehealth increased.

But not everybody saw the same telehealth access; income-based and racial health disparities in telehealth utilization and access plagued health equity efforts and underscored a digital divide nationwide.

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https://healthitsecurity.com/news/zero-trust-adoption-reaches-record-high-in-healthcare

Zero Trust Adoption Reaches Record High in Healthcare

Okta found that 58% of surveyed healthcare organizations started implementing Zero Trust initiatives this year, compared to just 37% last year.

By Jill McKeon

August 16, 2022 - Zero trust adoption is gaining significant traction in the healthcare sector this year, Okta discovered in its latest report on the state of zero trust security.

In Okta’s 2021 report, just 37 percent of surveyed healthcare organizations had started implementing zero trust initiatives. This year’s report observed a 21 percent increase in healthcare organizations that have already begun implementing zero trust initiatives.

Additionally, 96 percent of healthcare respondents said that they already have or are planning to implement a zero trust initiative in the next 12 to 18 months, compared to 91 percent last year.

Zero trust relies on the idea that no device or user is automatically trusted before being scrutinized by a set of strict authentication processes. Rather than a single technology or strategy, zero trust is a collection of cyber defenses that examine threats within and outside of a network perimeter.  

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https://ehrintelligence.com/news/va-releases-digital-healthcare-playbook-to-improve-patient-care

VA Releases Digital Healthcare Playbook to Improve Patient Care

The guide will help healthcare leaders navigate digital healthcare solutions to better patient care, streamline operational efficiencies, and lower costs, VA official stated.

By Sarai Rodriguez

August 15, 2022 - The Veterans Affairs Department has released Phase One of its Digital Healthcare Playbook, which identifies available digital healthcare solutions that can help the US healthcare system transform patient care delivery.

Through this guide, created in collaboration with the Digital Medicine Society, the VA intends to drive digital transformation, encourage multi-sector/multidisciplinary collaboration, enable an inclusive research environment, and overall improve patient outcomes.

“This is all about trying to find the best strategy and … eliminate the blockers that exist for VA and private sector to collaborate on digital health,” Arash Harzand, the chief medical advisor for digital health at the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem, said in a statement to Nextgov.

Harzand explained that the playbook would serve as an industry guide to what the VA wants in new healthcare technology devices and an internal department analysis of the current software landscape.

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https://healthitanalytics.com/news/ai-pain-care-tool-may-increase-access-reduce-costs-for-chronic-pain-patients

AI Pain Care Tool May Increase Access, Reduce Costs for Chronic Pain Patients

A cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for chronic pain, personalized for patients using artificial intelligence, achieved similar results as standard therapies.

By Shania Kennedy

August 15, 2022 - New research published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that an artificial intelligence (AI)-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for chronic pain (AI-CBT-CP) had similar outcomes to standard CBT-CP, which could result in increased access and reduced costs.

According to the study, CBT-CP is an effective alternative to opioids for chronic pain management. However, CBT-CP requires multiple sessions with a therapist, and there are not enough therapists to provide these services due to the ongoing clinician shortages and healthcare workforce issues. Because therapists are scarce, many patients have severely limited access to CBT-CP or fail to complete their treatment.

With relatively few other options available, many chronic pain patients may turn to opioids. Opioid prescription and misuse have come under scrutiny amid the ongoing opioid epidemic. Some research suggests that opioid overdoses increased significantly over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clinicians have advocated for enhanced patient-centered care for chronic pain patients for years,  and this research contributes to those efforts. To determine if AI-CBT-CP is a viable alternative to its standard counterpart, the researchers compared the performance of both interventions in 278 patients with chronic back pain from the Department of Veterans Affairs health system.

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https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/telehealth-supported-medication-abortion-services-during-pandemic

Telehealth Supported Medication Abortion Services During Pandemic

Telehealth-enabled care models created new options for medication abortion services for those who lacked access during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.

By Mark Melchionna

August 15, 2022 - To ensure continued access to care amid restrictions that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, many clinics turned to telehealth to provide medication abortion services, which proved to be highly effective, according to a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

It is a well-known fact that the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted healthcare delivery. Like many other types of care, reproductive healthcare and abortion services became significantly more difficult to obtain during this time.

The study evaluated how US clinics used telehealth abortion services as well as the efficacy level of these services and the patient benefits.

Researchers collected data from 14 clinics, interviewing a total of 20 clinical staff members. The practice settings included independent primary care practices, specialized family planning clinics, telehealth-only web-based clinics, and primary care clinics within health systems.

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https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/study-medicare-remote-patient-monitoring-use-surges-during-pandemic

Study: Medicare remote patient monitoring use surges during pandemic

Researchers found remote patient monitoring use among Medicare beneficiaries increased from 91 claims per 100,000 enrollees in February 2020 to 594 claims per 100,000 enrollees in September 2021.

By Emily Olsen

August 11, 2022 03:52 pm

Remote patient monitoring use soared among Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine

The study reviewed traditional Medicare claims from Jan. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2021, looking for remote patient monitoring (RPM) CPT codes. That included new codes introduced in 2019 for tracking general physiological data. Researchers then compared general RPM use during the pandemic to continuous glucose monitoring, a more specific case with different CPT codes.

They found general RPM use increased from 91 claims per 100,000 enrollees in February 2020 to 594 claims per 100,000 enrollees in September 2021, representing a 555% jump. During the same time, CGM use increased only 42%. 

The study also analyzed how these RPM services were being used and by which practitioners. During the pandemic, 63.1% of general RPM was provided by primary care clinicians. Meanwhile, 19.7% was provided by cardiologists and 4.1% was offered by pulmonology specialists. 

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https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2022/08/15/the-challenges-of-offering-free-devices-to-patients-lessons-learned-from-the-vas-41000-device-program/

The Challenges of Offering Free Devices to Patients – Lessons Learned from the VA’s 41,000 Device Program

August 15, 2022

John Lynn

When you think about digital health, many people take for granted that the patients are going to have the devices and connectivity to be able to do things like telehealth visits and remote patient monitoring (RPM).  While the number of people who have both is large, there’s still a significant section of patients who don’t have access to one or both of these things.  Plus, these are often some of the most vulnerable people who need healthcare the most.  Bridging that technology gap that often includes a health equity gap is a real challenge.

This was illustrated well in a VA program which would issue devices to veterans to be able to take part in virtual visits.  The goal of the program was to bridge the digital divide that existed for many veterans who didn’t have the right device or connectivity to receive virtual care.  Considering the VA is basically a self insured employer when it comes to veteran care, it makes sense that they would want to do as much healthcare as is clinically possible via virtual care and that they’d want to overcome the digital divide to offer the best care to all veterans.

According to a recent OIG report, the program was successful to a degree, but fell well short in a number of important areas.  When it comes to issuing the devices to patients, the program was quite successful as they put 41,000 devices in patients hands in the first three quarters of 2021.  That’s a large number of devices to distribute to patients.

Unfortunately, it seems like these devices were not always used to connect to the intended video telehealth visits.  Only an estimated 20,300 (49%) of patients issued a device actually did a video telehealth visit.  That’s a lot of patients with devices that never used them for patient care.  What’s even more shocking is that 10,700 of the patients who got devices never even had a video telehealth visit scheduled.  That means about 10,000 patients who had a video telehealth visit scheduled decided not to go.  I’ll admit that I don’t know the VA’s cancellation rate which may be higher since their care is essentially “free” for veterans, but I’d have to think that a 25% cancellation rate on telehealth appointments is high even for the VA.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/15/artificial-intelligence-health-care-00051828

Artificial intelligence was supposed to transform health care. It hasn’t.

Machine learning could improve medicine by analyzing data to improve diagnoses and target cures, but technological, bureaucratic, and regulatory obstacles have slowed progress.

By Ben Leonard and Ruth Reader

08/15/2022 03:55 PM EDT

Investors see health care’s future as inextricably linked with artificial intelligence. That’s obvious from the cash pouring into AI-enabled digital health startups, including more than $3 billion in the first half of 2022 alone and nearly $10 billion in 2021, according to a Rock Health investment analysis commissioned by POLITICO.

And no wonder, considering the bold predictions technologists have made. At a conference in 2016, Geoffrey Hinton, British cognitive psychologist and “godfather” of AI, said radiologists would soon go the way of typesetters and bank tellers: “People should stop training radiologists now. It’s just completely obvious that, within five years, deep learning is going to do better.”

But more than five years since Hinton’s forecast, radiologists are still training to read image scans. Instead of replacing doctors, health system administrators now see AI as a tool clinicians will use to improve everything from their diagnoses to billing practices. AI hasn’t lived up to the hype, medical experts said, because health systems’ infrastructure isn’t ready for it yet. And the government is just beginning to grapple with its regulatory role.

“Companies come in promising the world and often don’t deliver,” said Bob Wachter, head of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “When I look for examples of … true AI and machine learning that’s really making a difference, they’re pretty few and far between. It’s pretty underwhelming.”

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Enjoy!

David.

Friday, August 26, 2022

Yet Again It Seems The Federal Government Is Failing In Developing And Managing The Health IT Systems We Need.

This appeared last week:

Health criticised for error-prone Australian vaccination data

By on

Lacked assurance, IT controls with outsourced providers.

Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout was hampered by poor data quality and oversight in the IT systems used by the Department of Health and Aged Care to manage vaccinations.

According to a report published by the Australian National Audit Office yesterday, data quality was a major issue, with error rates in some systems as high as 14 percent.

Data accuracy was hampered by the large number of users of the systems, and a lack of oversight by Health.

“Health has not formally reviewed the data entered into any of the systems … This has resulted in undetected and undisclosed inaccuracies in the data”, the auditor said.

After the delays experienced in vaccine approval, Australia began engaging the industry in late 2020, allocating funds in the December MYEFO  that year.

In May 2021, Services Australia rehosted the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) onto a private cloud, to cope with expected demand.

Other systems were outsourced to various providers: Salesforce ran the Vaccine Administration System (VAS) which handled ordering; Salesforce and AWS operated the Covid-specfic Covid-19 Vaccine Administration System CVAS; and Accenture managed reporting dashboards. 

In February 2021, Accenture also implemented the delivery-side Vaccine Data Solution (VDS) which handled logistics and reported vaccine coverage.

The audit is critical of Health’s management of the data project: “Health put in place effective monitoring and reporting arrangements using the best available data.

“However, it did not undertake sufficient reporting against targets, and it does not have adequate assurance over the completeness and accuracy of the data and third-party systems”.

The auditor expressed concern for confidentiality, integrity and availability of data.

“Health relies on point of time assessments, contractual obligations and management statements from entities. These are not sufficient to demonstrate that IT controls have been implemented and were operating effectively over the vaccine rollout.

More here:

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/health-criticised-for-error-prone-australian-vaccination-data-584111

There is more coverage of the report here:

Health caned over vaccine systems data: Auditor

Justin Hendry
Editor

The federal Department of Health failed to obtain assurance from third party providers like Salesforce and Amazon Web Services that outsourced vaccine administration systems had adequate IT controls in place, an audit has revealed.

The oversight means the department cannot be certain of the “completeness and accuracy of the data” in the systems, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) said in a report into the vaccine rollout first flagged in August 2021 and tabled on Wednesday.

Health is now planning to undertake an independent review of its “IT controls and application of its internal quality assurance framework” in a bid to obtain greater assurance over its externally managed systems.

According to the report, the department used several key systems to manage and monitor the ordering of vaccines during the rollout including the COVID-19 Vaccine Administration System (CVAS) and the Vaccine Data Solution (VDS).

The CVAS, a Salesforce and Amazon Web Services-based system for managing the “ordering, allocation, delivery and receipt of COVID-19 vaccines and record any wastage,” was introduced in March 2021.

Data from CVAS, as well as the existing Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) and Vaccine Administration System (VAS) is surfaced in VDS, which was brought online by Accenture in February 2021 to “provide reports on vaccine delivers and immunisations”.

Since Accenture was awarded the contract to develop and maintain the VDS, the contract has ballooned from $6.7 million to just under $23.5 million, a quadrupling in value.

But despite having systems in place to monitor the vaccine rollout, the ANAO said there is no “assurance that third parties have IT controls in place to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data” in outsourced systems.

More here:

https://www.innovationaus.com/health-caned-over-vaccine-systems-data-auditor/

The direct link to the report is found here:

https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/australia-covid-19-vaccine-rollout

The Audit Office put it this way:

Recommendations

Recommendation no. 1

Paragraph 3.25

The Department of Health and Aged Care establish processes, including during public health emergencies, to ensure it regularly obtains and reviews assurance over the data quality and IT controls in place in externally managed systems on a risk basis, including IT security, change management and batch processing.

Department of Health and Aged Care response: Agreed

Recommendation no. 2

Paragraph 3.55

Before 31 December 2022, the Department of Health and Aged Care conduct a comprehensive review of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout which:

  1. invites contribution from all key government and non-government stakeholders;
  2. examines all aspects of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout;
  3. identifies what worked well and what did not; and
  4. makes recommendations to the Australian Government about opportunities for improvement in the event of a future vaccination rollout.

Department of Health and Aged Care response: Agreed

----- End Quote.

The bottom line is that the Health Department has no clue in managing external IT contractors and really needs to lift their game in this area. After the length of time we have seen similar issues and comments you would have imagined such activities would be a core skill – but it seems not – and we, the poor taxpayer – keep funding the bureaucratic incompetence!

It feels like this is just a game that will go on forever!

David.

 

Is The Present ADHA CEO Going To Be Called To Give Evidence At The RoboDebt Royal Commission?

Given her previous role(s) at the Department Of Human Services / Services Australia, in the relevant period, it will be interesting to see?

See her details here:

https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/amanda-cattermole-psm

She was a much bigger fish 2-3 years ago than she seems to be now!

David.