Again, in the last week, I have come across a few reports and news items which are worth passing on.
These include first:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/health-ehealth-ahic
Australian Health Information Council
The Australian Health Information Council (AHIC) represents the end user and provides advice to Health Ministers on Health IM & ICT matters.
On 27 November 2003, the Australian Health Information Council (AHIC) was established to provide advice to Health Ministers on the long term directions and national strategic reform issues for information management and information communications technology through the Australia Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC).
The AHIC’s key focus is the provision of independent advice to help inform decision-makers about national priorities and the requirements of the end-user. AHIC provides a mechanism for external stakeholders to provide input into the decision making processes.
The AHIC provides advice to AHMAC in consultation with the National Health Information Management Principle Committee (NHIMPC).
This page provides access to key documents in relation to AHIC. These documents include:
AHIC Terms of Reference
The AHIC TOR was created in 2006 and defines the role of AHIC, including terms of appointment, roles and responsibilities of members and office bearing constituents.
Terms of Reference and Business Rules April 2007 (PDF 156 KB)
AHIC Membership
Lists the current members of the Australian Health Information Council.
AHIC Preliminary Strategic Plan
This preliminary, working document is still under development. During June 2007, this preliminary plan was endorsed by AHMAC with approval for public release, noting that further revisions are to be made.
Preliminary Strategic Plan (PDF 211 KB)
AHIC Communiqués
These communiqués were publicly released in April and June 2007. It is anticipated that communiqués will be released within a reasonable timeframe following each AHIC meeting.
AHIC Communiqué April 2007
AHIC Communiqué June 2007
Page last modified: 08 August, 2007
…..( see the URL above for other related contents article)
I came upon this page a few days ago. It is interesting that there was no press release or whatever alerting the e-health community to a draft strategic plan!.
Those who have an interest in health information networking should also visit the URL below.
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/e-Health-3-ecomm
Registration of Interest for Health Information Exchange
Call for Registration of Interest for Health Information Exchange
The Minister for Health and Ageing, The Hon Tony Abbott MHR, recently announced the Australian Government’s intention to develop one or more comprehensive, sustainable and replicable model(s) of electronically connected healthcare delivery.
To facilitate this development, the Australian Government is seeking registrations of interest from organisations or consortia interested in providing secure, health information sharing system(s) across a range of health care providers in a particular region or community. These providers should include general practice, aged care, hospitals, diagnostic providers and other health professionals.
This registration of interest will be followed by an Industry Briefing at which registered parties will have an opportunity to seek clarification of and have input to the project requirements.
Organisations wishing to register their interest must complete and submit a Registration of Interest form available below. Once completed this form must be emailed or posted to reach the address below by 3pm, 22 October 2007.
Registration of Interest (PDF 31 KB)
Registration of Interest (RTF 1574 KB)
Email: ehealth@health.gov.au
Postal: eHealth Branch
Department of Health and Ageing
GPO Box 9848
MDP 1
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Page last modified: 27 September, 2007
Second we have:
157/07
Wednesday 3 October 2007
Australian Government assists the Flying Doctors to access essential medical information through the latest broadband technology
The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, announced that the Royal Flying Doctor Service is the beneficiary of $2.7 million in Australian Government Clever Networks funding for their eHealth for Remote Australia project.
“eHealth for Remote Australia, will give the Flying Doctors access to the essential medical history information of more than 750,000 Australians living in remote and isolated areas of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
“The project will make medical histories, allergy, immunisation, current medications and other health information available to all Royal Flying Doctor Service clinicians or other authorised health professionals helping to treat people in rural and remote areas,” Senator Coonan said.
“The funding will enable health professionals from the Royal Flying Doctor Service to provide better health care for people in rural and remote Australia,” Senator Coonan said.
“The Royal Flying Doctor Service will have the right information available for the right person, in the right place at the right time to enable assessment to be made during flight and preparations to be made on the ground to receive the patient.
“Mobile access to the electronic medical record system will also provide the benefits of financial savings, better risk management and improved recruitment and retention of health professionals,” Senator Coonan said.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia will lead the project in partnership with SingTel Optus Pty Ltd, Alphawest Services Pty Ltd, Intel Australia Pty Ltd and Cisco Systems Australia Pty Ltd.
“The Australian Government recognises it is not what broadband ‘is’ but what it can deliver that is important for Australia. Through the $113 million Clever Networks program the Government is stimulating the creation of broadband-enabled technologies and applications that have the potential to improve in a very significant way the health and education outcomes in rural and remote Australia,” Senator Coonan said.
Consortium partners will match the funding from the Australian Government.
More information about Clever Networks is available at www.dcita.gov.au/clevernetworks
----- End Release
I find it fascinating that it is possible to create and provide what amounts to a Shared Electronic Health Record for the RFDS but that it can’t be done for the rest of the Australian Population. Note yet again we seem to have the Communications Minister involved in e-Health Policy. Very odd indeed and symbolic of the lack of progress coming from those who are meant to be doing e-Health Policy.
I wonder just what will come out of all this – after the election the project may not seem quite so viable.
I wonder has this apparent solution considered NEHTA’s standards etc?
Third we have:
IBA Health gets approval for iSOFT buy
October 5, 2007 - 11:24AM
IBA Health Ltd has won shareholder approval for its $411 million (STG166.3 million) takeover of British-based iSOFT Plc, meaning it will secure an investment of up to $300 million from listed cash-box Allco Equity Partners Ltd (AEP).
AEP's investment was conditional on the success of IBA's takeover attempt on iSOFT.
AEP has also committed a STG25 million ($A62 million) short term loan facility to partly assist the refinancing of iSOFT's debt.
The amount of AEP's commitment will be affected by whether iSOFT shareholders elect to accept cash or IBA shares as consideration for the offer.
IBA's chances for success in its bid improved late last month when a rival bidder from Germany, CompuGROUP Holding AG, dropped out of the race.
IBA said iSOFT shareholders had voted "overwhelmingly" to approve its offer.
…..( see the URL above for full article)
It very much looks like this is all over. Now we will see it the merger / purchase can be made to work
Fourth we have:
For these startups, patients are a virtue
Sites with spirit of Web 2.0 encouraging people to share thoughts on illnesses, doctors
Monday, October 1, 2007
Health care startups are modeling themselves after YouTube and social networking sites such as MySpace in an effort to connect patients with each other and help them navigate overwhelming amounts of medical information available online.
-- At DailyStrength.org, people can choose among 500 support groups - from celiac disease to pulmonary fibrosis - create an online journal to chronicle their disease and send electronic hugs to other members.
-- The new ZocDoc.com lets patients book physician and dentist appointments online, similar to the way OpenTable.com allows diners to make online reservations for restaurants.
-- RateMDs.com takes a page from consumer rating sites like Yelp and RateMyTeachers.com - a popular site that allows students to "grade" teachers and administrators - by allowing patients to anonymously praise or pan their doctors.
Americans have searched for medical information online since the Web's early days, but the numbers are growing. Now 160 million U.S. adults have at one time or another searched for health information online, up from 136 million in 2006 and 117 million in 2005 - a 37 percent increase over two years - according to a telephone survey Harris Interactive conducted in July.
…..( see the URL above for full article)
This is an interesting discussion of the leading Health 2.0 sites at present. Well worth a read to get a feel for the next wave – if that is what it turns out to be.
Further coverage of Health 2.0 is found here:
October 03, 2007
Health 2.0: It's Not a Noun, It's a Verb, a Movement
by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn
Sept. 20, 2007, will go forward as the birth date of Health 2.0. A standing-room-only crowd debated the challenges of data liquidity, consumer engagement, provider technology adoption and the value of searching for health information online.
Just a year ago, the concept of Health 2.0 was not as familiar or concrete. In fact, when Matthew Holt, writer of "The Health Care Blog" and co-founder of the Health 2.0 conference, gave a presentation in a small conference room in San Francisco last year on the very idea, he received mostly blank stares. But then someone walked into the room and "got" it. That someone was Dr. Indu Subaiya of Etude Scientific. The two further brainstormed the concept of Health 2.0 and decided to partner up and launch a conference on the subject. I sit on the Health 2.0 conference advisory board and helped with the planning.
In the initial planning stages, Holt and Subaiya thought the conference could attract about 100 attendees. But Holt, a longtime health forecaster, got it wrong, very wrong. By the time the conference was held, buzz about it was so hot that it generated an overflow crowd exceeding 400 venture capitalists, technology developers, health-impassioned bloggers and a very small number of health providers, the bulk of whom paid to attend.
…..( see the URL above for full article)
Lastly we have:
http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/3084/austria_named_best_healthcare_system_in_the_eu
Austria named best healthcare system in the EU
03 Oct 2007
Austria has the best healthcare service in the European Union, a survey by watchdog Health Consumer Powerhouse has found.
The Euro Health Consumer Index is an annual ranking of national European healthcare systems across five areas that are key to the consumer: patients’ rights and information, waiting times for common treatments, care outcomes, the generosity of the system and access to medication.
Included in the patients’ rights and information section were questions relating to e-Health, focusing on how extensively each country uses Electronic Patient Records in primary care.
The report says that EPR use can be considered a litmus test for a countries e-Health readiness. “A full EPR gives the potential to have the “virtual patient” in one spot, so that better care services can be provided at fewer appointments – a win-win situation for everybody involved.”
Just six countries scored well on e-Health – Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
By contrast eleven countries scored poorly on e-Health – Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia were not evaluated for e-Health.
The annual survey by Health Consumer Powerhouse looked at the healthcare situation in all 27 member states plus Switzerland and Norway, providing detailed analysis for each county and suggesting improvements that should be made. The survey has been carried out annually since 2005.
....( see the URL above for full article)
The report provides a useful summary of a broad brush assessment of where e-Health is moving in the European Union.
All in all an interesting start to the week!
More next week.
David.
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