Here are a few I have come across this week.
Note: Each link is followed by a title and a paragraph or two. 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 payment.
General Comment:
Well it seems the clearing of the decks before the election is well and truly underway! We have a time-table for health reform, a cancelling of the internet filter for now and lots of NBN activity – to say nothing about advertising for an e-Health CIO for the Department of Health.
The pace of all this – in the middle of winter – suggests something is really afoot!
For myself all I really would like is to see a coherent plan for e-Health, or the lack of it as an election issue. Dream on I guess!
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http://www.smh.com.au/national/fears-health-reform-plans-being-rushed-through-20100708-102bq.html
Fears health reform plans being rushed through
MARK METHERELL
July 9, 2010
The federal government's release of a detailed plan to deliver health reform has triggered criticism from health groups that the complex changes are in danger of being rushed through with little input from consumers.
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, which has supported the reforms, has voiced concern that the reform time frames might be ''unrealistic'' and said it was disappointed at the lack of consultation with consumers.
The association's chief executive, Prue Power, said the most critical element in implementing the new structure of local hospital networks and Medicare locals, and one which had not yet been detailed in the plan, was the integration of patient care between the community and hospital sectors.
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Reforms rushed, says Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
- Adam Cresswell, Health editor
- From: The Australian
- July 09, 2010
THE peak body for Australia's public hospitals has criticised the planned rollout of the federal government's health reforms.
And the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association has warned that some measures risk being introduced too fast while also criticising the transparency of the process.
A day after federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon released a detailed timeframe for implementing its reform program, the AHHA said some of the timeframes appeared "unrealistic", particularly for measures that depended on new systems for collecting information.
The AHHA said while it welcomed the document for making "concrete the government's commitment to genuine reform", it was also "disappointed" there was neither a formal mechanism to guide consultations, nor one to include consumer groups in the process. The lack of a formal evaluation plan for the changes also meant Australians "will not know whether or not the reforms have achieved their stated objectives", the AHHA said.
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http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/expert-claims-reform-think-tanks-biased
Expert claims reform think tanks biased
9th Jul 2010
ATTEMPTS by the Federal Government to overhaul the health system were flawed from the start, a health policy expert has argued, as the independent think tanks steering reform directions were loaded with industry figures unable to “think outside the box”.
Speaking at a health reform forum hosted by the Australian National University last week, Ian McAuley, a fellow of the Centre for Policy Development, said the Government’s advisory bodies, including the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, had too much representation by health industry insiders.
The bodies had failed to deliver a blueprint for a better integrated system, he said. Policies such as the controversial diabetes funding scheme focused on “coordinating existing disparate programs rather than re-designing programs themselves”.
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http://bayside-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/it-system-diagnosis-questioned/
IT system diagnosis questioned
10 Jul 10 @ 06:00am by Jon Andrews
SANDRINGHAM Hospital will get a controversial patient records system upgrade early next year.
The Cerner IT project, in place at the Alfred hospital since March, will be rolled out to Sandringham by early next year.
But the upgraded system, which records patients’ medical history, has been blasted by doctors.
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http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/mr-yr10-nr-nr140.htm
Release of Roadmap to Reform
7 July 2010
The timeline for the further delivery of better health and hospital services was today released by the Minister for Health and Ageing.
The Government’s ambitious plan to reform our health system is a complex and extensive task, particularly after so many years of neglect under the former Government. It is vital that the implementation of these extensive reforms is carefully planned and well-executed.
The Government’s implementation plan spells out the details as to when initiatives such as extra sub-acute beds, more doctors and more nurses will be part of our health system. It has clear, defined goals for improving the system to which the Government expects to be held accountable.
The plan is carefully structured to ensure that the planned improvements to our health system are delivered to provide better, more connected services for all hard working Australians.
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http://www.nehta.gov.au/media-centre/nehta-news/661-youth
Youth lead the adoption of e-health
The ‘net’ generation, spanning 13 to 33 year olds, has embraced technology as the norm and is expected to adopt e-health as just par for the course in their highly connected lives according to several leading youth health experts.
Jonathan Nicholas, Chief Executive Officer of the Inspire Foundation, the organisation behind the web-based mental health support service for young people, ReachOut.com said, “As an organisation that uses the internet to connect with young people, we see a number of benefits for young people flowing from the proposed e-health record.
“They have grown up archiving their life on social networking sites such as Facebook, so saving personal data into web environments is neither alien, nor something they fear. To the contrary, they expect to be able to access their information when they need it, and save it into a secure, centralised location.”
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/timetable-confirms-2012-e-health-date-339304399.htm
Timetable confirms 2012 e-health date
By Josh Taylor, ZDNet.com.au on July 8th, 2010
in brief The Federal Government has formally laid out a two-year timetable for delivering e-health to all Australians.
In a statement released yesterday, Health Minister Nicola Roxon outlined the government's "roadmap to reform" in health over the next two years, including the government's plans for an e-health portal. Roxon had previously indicated that she expected the delivery of the online portal that would allow patients access to their e-health records to take around two years, but in her statement yesterday she set a more exact deadline of July 2012.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352600/telstra_gps_e-health_agreement/?eid=-255
Telstra, GPs in e-health agreement
Telstra plays a card in the e-health game, signs MOU with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- AAP (Computerworld)
- 09 July, 2010 07:49
The nation's GPs and Telstra have reached an agreement on the roll-out of "critical first step" e-health reforms.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the telco giant, outlining a range of hi-tech services to be brought online from next year.
The first would allow the nation's 17,200 GPs to access health care applications, diagnostic tools and an array of other clinical and administrative software programs using a "single log-on" web service.
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http://www.zdnet.com.au/act-hospitals-buy-intensive-care-system-339304385.htm
ACT hospitals buy intensive care system
By Colin Ho, ZDNet.com.au on July 8th, 2010
Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital in the Australian Capital Territory will be adopting a new, $1.7 million digital information management system following an announcement yesterday by ACT Health Minister Katy Gallagher.
Delivered by Vision Software Solutions, the information management system will enable paperless management of patient records in the ICUs.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352643/victorian_ict_industry_successes_awarded_by_aiia/
Victorian ICT industry successes awarded by AIIA
AIIA CEO, Ian Birks, sees government engagement as key to Victoria excellence in IT
- Chloe Herrick (Computerworld)
- 09 July, 2010 12:01
Government engagement has been key to the success of the ICT industry in Victoria of late, according to Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) chief executive officer, Ian Birks, but other states are catching up.
Speaking to Computerworld Australia, Birks, said the thriving industry in Victoria could be attributed to financial and innovation input from the State Government.
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eHealth
- iCare Solutions Pty Ltd. iCare Solutions Aged Care electronic health record – winner
- Saeid Nahavandi – Multi-Point Haptics for Next-Generation Medical Procedures and Training – merit
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http://www.cio.com.au/article/352367/isoft_claims_healthsmart_win/?eid=-601
iSOFT claims HealthSMART win
E-health giant shrugs off troubles to complete Victorian healthcare project
- Renai LeMay (CIO)
- 07 July, 2010 15:54
iSOFT announced it had completed the rollout of new patient management systems in mid-June to Victorian hospitals under Victoria's delayed HealthSMART project begun back in 2003, as financial problems continue to plague the Australian e-health giant.
The overall HealthSMART project was initiated under the Bracks Labor government back in 2003 with a pricetag of $323 million and a due date of 2007. It has since had another $37 million pumped into it, with the due date gradually extending — several years ago it was slated to be finished in 2009.
The iSOFT implementation reflects one substantial chunk of the project — other vendors involved include US-based Cerner and InterSystems subsidiary TrakHealth. iSOFT won an open tender for its portion in December 2005.
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iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) Secures A$30 Million Equity Line Of Credit Facility With YA Global
Sydney, July 7, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - iSOFT Group Limited (ASX:ISF) today announces that it has secured a A$30 million equity line of credit facility with US-Based Investment Fund YA Global Master SPV Ltd (YA Global).
iSOFT secured the facility in order to provide flexibility in cash management. It will initially be used to replenish cash balances drawn down to fund acquisitions and other capital investments undertaken during the 2010 financial year.
Under the terms of the facility, iSOFT may, at its discretion, issue shares to YA Global at any time over the next 60 months, up to a total of A$30 million. iSOFT may draw down these in tranches of up to A$2.5 million, although this may be varied by agreement with YA Global.
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http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/6062/three_more_lorenzos_by_autumn
Three more Lorenzos by autumn
08 Jul 2010
Three more trusts will go-live with Lorenzo Regional Care Release 1.9 over late summer and early autumn, the Department of Health has told E-Health Insider.
The early adopter sites - Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - have all had significant delays to their go-live dates, after waiting for University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust to go live earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the DH said: “The Department of Health understands these three early adopter trusts are planning to deploy Lorenzo Release 1.9 over late summer and early autumn.
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Health firm secures $30m credit facility
- Michael Bennet
- From: The Australian
- July 09, 2010
LIFE isn't getting any easier for iSOFT, but that could be exactly what potential suitors are hoping for.
Within weeks of chief executive Gary Cohen copping a few embarrassing margin calls, the health IT outfit this week unveiled a strange-looking $30 million credit facility with little-known US investment fund YA Global Master. iSOFT plans to use the credit to replenish cash used to fund acquisitions and can pay back the borrowing over the next five years through equity issues. YA will probably get a good price too, with iSOFT yesterday clarifying it would issue shares via a generous formula. iSOFT shares have plunged about 75 per cent so far this year after some disappointing first-half results and fears of a poor full year. There are murmurs of Primary Healthcare and private equity sizing up the group.
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http://press-releases.techwhack.com/56887-isoft-9
iSOFT wins A$1m electronic health record deal with India’s AMRI
Sydney – 7 July 2010 – A $1 million contract with Advanced Medicare Research Institute (AMRI) Hospitals for an electronic health record (EHR) for six of its hospitals in India has been won by iSOFT, after a competitive tender.
Replacing an outdated hospital information system, iSOFT’s Enterprise Management gives AMRI a single, integrated EHR and 700 concurrent users ready access to patient and clinical information to improve efficiency and the quality of care.
The solution is being installed at three hospitals now and three more that have yet to be identified by AMRI. The three hospitals are at Mukundapur, Salt Lake, and Dhakuria, in the state of West Bengal.
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Queensland health payroll not fully tested
- UPDATED: Fran Foo
- From: The Australian
- July 06, 2010
QUEENSLAND Health had a back-up plan but it failed when its botched payroll and human resources system went live in March, a damning report finds.
The failure left thousands of workers with little or no pay.
Warnings by SAP, IBM and others to properly test the system were not heeded because it was considered too great a task. From the outset, Health, as the main user of the new payroll system, was not kept in the loop, reported Queensland Auditor-General Glenn Poole.
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Queensland Health pay woes may affect public service
- Anna Caldwell
- From: The Courier-Mail
- July 06, 2010
THE same systemic problems that led to the full-scale Queensland Health payroll debacle pose a risk to many more state government financial transactions including payment of thousands of public servants across a range of departments.
A damning report by Auditor-General Glenn Poole has found that financial disaster resilience – the ability to continue paying people in the face of a complete system failure – is lacking across the Government with insufficient safety nets in place over all three shared service agencies.
This means that thousands of public servants employed by the Government are potentially exposed to a crisis like the QH payroll.
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Auditor-General Glenn Poole warns payroll disease may spread
- Jared Owens
- From: The Australian
- July 07, 2010
PAYROLL blunders like the one in which Queensland Health workers were underpaid for months may spread in the state's public sector.
In his annual report, the Auditor-General Glenn Poole also criticised the government for allowing contractors to complete paperwork out of sequence and inadequately safeguarding against conflicts of interest. The report noted some systems used by CorpTech, the government's corporate IT agency, were due to become unsupported by 2013. There was therefore a "critical" need to consolidate CorpTech's systems, the report said.
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Qld AG releases second damning payroll report
AAP
The Queensland Auditor General has released another damning report warning the state government is at risk of financial security failures that could result in a further payroll debacle.
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Experts cool on thermal imaging for breast cancer
- Janelle Miles
- From: The Courier-Mail
- July 06, 2010
HEALTH authorities are warning women about thermal imaging clinics offering breast-cancer screening, saying free mammograms are more effective in detecting tumours at an early stage.
The emergence of thermography clinics has Queensland Health, the Cancer Council Queensland and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons concerned.
Brisbane breast surgeon Ian Bennett said thermography was a primitive form of imaging not much better for detecting breast cancer than self-examination.
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Online ID fraud losses explode to $1.3bn a year
ASHER MOSES
July 6, 2010 - 7:00AM
One in 10 Australian internet users have lost money to online identify fraud over the past year with losses totalling $1.286 billion, according to the VeriSign Online Fraud Barometer figures released today.
The findings represent a significant increase on the figures reported in June by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which surveyed Australians in 2007 and found that just over 800,000 had been victims of personal fraud. Back then, combined losses were $977 million.
VeriSign's figures suggest 1.37 million Australians, or 10 per cent of internet users, have fallen victim to online fraud in the past year. The results are based on a survey of 2510 Australians aged 18 years and over conducted in June this year by Galaxy Research.
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http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/352086/nbn_could_opt-out_tasmania_premier/?eid=-6787
NBN could be opt-out in Tasmania: Premier
Tasmanian Premier, David Bartlett, told a Senate estimates hearing that an opt-out model is feasible for the NBN
- Renai LeMay (Computerworld)
- 05 July, 2010 11:52
Tasmanian State Premier David Bartlett has committed to ask the Tasmanian NBN Company whether it would be feasible for Tasmanians to be required to opt-out from having the planned optic fibre cables connected to their premises -- reversing the current policy where they are required to opt-in.
"When I next meet with Doug Campbell, the chair of TNBN Co, I am happy to raise it with him and ascertain whether it has been considered," Bartlett said in a parliamentary estimates committee last week in response to questions on the matter from opposition MP Michael Ferguson.
"I do not think it is the Government's to consider; effectively it is TNBN Co's to consider ... I think your logic in simplistic terms sounds reasonable but I would not know what various legislative or other regulatory impacts on that logic there might be. It might be that governments do not have the power to just connect anything to any house and if you do not like it you had better have opted out," Bartlett added.
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22 questions you need answered on the national broadband network
July 3, 2010
When it comes to internet, it's all about connections, writes David Humphries.
1. How does NBN differ from my existing internet connection? Current internet connections are based on copper networks, which do not have sufficient capacity for video services. The network will operate mainly on optical fibre, a thin glass or plastic strand that carries light from lasers shone down the fibre and detected by receivers at the other end.
2. Why change to an NBN connection? Quality in relation to security, privacy, reliability and speed, the advantages are most noticeable with video services. The network will be be 50 to 100 times faster.
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NBN to be the 'gateway to better services'
- From: AAP
- July 05, 2010
FAST broadband will improve health, education and the environment, a national think tank will hear in Brisbane today.
Terry Cutler, chair of the ATC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, said attention should shift from infrastructure to public benefits now that a deal had been struck with Telstra on the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
On June 20, after protracted talks between the government and Telstra, an $11 billion deal was struck for Australia's biggest telco to lease its infrastructure to NBN Co, the company that will build and run the network.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/labor-ups-nbn-trial-sites/story-e6frgakx-1225889317373
Labor ups NBN trial sites
- Andrew Colley
- From: The Australian
- July 08, 2010
THE Gillard government has rushed ahead with its NBN plans even though the project will be cancelled if it loses the next election.
Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy yesterday announced that the government would soon unveil at least 20 more mainland NBN construction sites.
"It's full steam ahead with the NBN. We recently announced the agreement with Telstra, and we're very close to announcing the next 20 or so mainland sites where we will be connecting and the trucks will start rolling,'' Senator Conroy said.
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National broadband network cost could balloon. says chief
- Michael Owen
- From: The Australian
- July 10, 2010
THE cost of funding the national broadband network construction is unknown and could balloon NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley says.
The man in charge of the federal government's nascent national broadband network said the "nation-building project" was potentially a bottomless pit when it came to funding and he had no idea what the cost would ultimately be.
"When it comes to cost you always have to ask at what point do you stop? It's a very long-term project -- money will be out into this network for years and years and years, as it is upgraded," Mr Quigley said.
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Gillard to stick with web filter despite disquiet
ARI SHARP COMMUNICATIONS CORRESPONDENT
July 8, 2010
THE Prime Minister will push ahead with controversial plans for a mandatory internet filter despite acknowledging public concerns that it will interfere with ''legitimate use''.
In Julia Gillard's first comments on the filter since becoming Prime Minister, she told ABC radio in Darwin that the proposal was an effort to control the ''dark side'' of communications technology.
''Images of child abuse, child pornography - they are not legal in our cinemas,'' she said yesterday. ''Why should you be able to see them on the internet? I think that that's the kind of moral, ethical question at the heart of this.''
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ISP filtering legislation on the way
- Fran Foo and Andrew Colley
- From: Australian IT
- July 07, 2010
THE federal government hopes to introduce legislation to enable its controversial internet filter by the end of the year.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the legislation would be this year "sooner rather than later''.
Timing for the web filter legislation, which has earned the ire of ISPs and internet freedom advocates, depends on the date for the looming federal election and whether Labor wins office.
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Internet filter 'won't protect kids'
ARI SHARP
July 9, 2010
PROTECTING children online could be harder with a mandatory internet filter in place, a coalition including state schools, librarians and key players in the internet industry has warned.
The recently formed Safer Internet Group argues that the federal government's proposed filter is a simplistic solution to shielding children from harmful content on the internet.
''We believe that real online safety can be delivered without the implementation of a mandatory internet filter, which locks parents and the industry out of keeping kids safe online,'' the group wrote in a submission to a parliamentary committee on cyber safety.
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Filtered Internet for 70% of web users under government deal
National Internet content filtering delayed for a year
- Darren Pauli (Computerworld)
- 09 July, 2010 12:27
Up to 70 per cent of Australians will have filtered Internet access under a deal between Telstra, Optus, iPrimus and the Federal Government, Communications Minster Stephen Conroy said today.
Under the deal, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will impose web content filtering for their customers and in turn the Federal Government will postpone its national mandatory Internet content filtering scheme for a year.
The Federal Attorney-General‘s office will also review the filter blacklist - or refused classification content - to be administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
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http://www.theage.com.au/national/gillard-dodges-flak-on-filter-20100709-1046r.html
Gillard dodges flak on filter
DAN HARRISON
July 10, 2010
AS JULIA Gillard clears the decks for an election that could be called as soon as next weekend, she has moved to limit the political fallout from Labor’s controversial plans to filter internet pages by putting the proposals off indefinitely.
The politically motivated deferral — which the opposition immediately branded a ‘‘humiliating backdown’’ — follows other recent policy reversals, softenings and adjustments as the government rushes to allay the concerns of various constituencies before the poll.
The latest U-turn is Ms Gillard’s new asylum policy, embracing offshore processing.
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Enjoy!
David.
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