Artificial Intelligence

The revolution changing the face of healthcare delivery

International health IT week in review: May 5

5 May 2024

Nuance DAX Copilot enterprise-wide, Google’s Med-Gemini, Walmart and UnitedHealth’s big fail in telehealth, LLMs not ready to automate clinical coding, UnitedHealth hack, is telehealth adding to EMR workload, nurses get bolshy with Kaiser Permanente over AI Intermountain expands AI copilot enterprise-wide Becker’s Health IT ~ Naomi Diaz ~ 02/05/2024 Intermountain will deploy Nuance’s DAX Copilot, […]

Blog: Our old mate the EMR still the bedrock of digital health

3 May 2024

There was some late breaking news in the wonderful world of digital health today when it was announced that the CEO of the Sydney Local Health District, Teresa Anderson, had been appointed to a new position leading a new agency grandly titled the NSW Single Digital Patient Record Implementation Authority. SDPR IA doesn’t exactly trip […]

Sydney LHD CEO to lead billion-dollar Single Digital Patient Record implementation authority

3 May 2024

Long-term Sydney Local Health District CEO Teresa Anderson has left the somewhat strife-torn organisation and has been appointed head of a newly announced Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) implementation authority, set to oversee the roll-out of the $1 billion Epic EMR to the whole of NSW. Dr Anderson led the inner-city LHD that includes one […]

HIMAA workforce summit: Clinical coding, AI and the state of the nation

3 May 2024

Artificial intelligence, computer-assisted clinical coding systems and the ability of technology to allow people to work from home (WFH) were some of the hot topics at the Health Information Management Association of Australia’s (HIMAA) clinical coding workforce summit held in Sydney yesterday. Workforce pressures are a long-standing problem for the profession and are felt in […]

HIMAA workforce summit: Taskforce to consider the future of clinical coding and AI

2 May 2024

A Clinical Coding and AI Industry Taskforce is being established by the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) to develop a national industry guideline for the development and adoption of AI to the clinical coding process. HIMAA has released an expression of interest calling for people and organisations who are interested in helping develop […]

WA Virtual ED to expand into mental health and geriatrician-led virtual care

2 May 2024

The Western Australian government will provide an extra $47 million to expand the WA Virtual Emergency Department (WAVED) and include a new mental health co-response model to provide support to people in crisis in their homes. In addition to the $7.9 million for the mental health co-response model, the $47 million WAVED expansion package also […]

Stocktake of telehealth in NZ: not yet ready for business as usual

2 May 2024

A recent stocktake of telehealth use in New Zealand’s public hospitals shows a mixed-bag of telehealth readiness across the country, but creating more digital leadership roles won’t necessarily solve problems in the sector, the report’s authors say. The New Zealand Telehealth Forum partnered with Massey University to complete the Telehealth Use in Public Hospitals Stocktake […]

NZ Patient Summary and My Health Record integration progresses

1 May 2024

Integration between New Zealand’s recently expanded My Health Record and the existing NZ Patient Summary (NZPS) is in full swing, with availability of Te Whatu Ora – Health NZ’s Digital Services Hub APIs and a NZPS clinical view scheduled for July. As part Te Whatu Ora’s Hira program, the New Zealand Patient Summary (NZPS) will […]

My Aged Care system under review by new inspector-general’s office

1 May 2024

The newly established independent Office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care is reviewing the My Aged Care system to examine if it allows older people to access the aged care system in a timely manner. The new office, a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, is headed by former COTA […]

Gold Coast Health and Foxo partner through unified communications

1 May 2024

Gold Coast Health and Foxo have formed a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing patient care through the co-design of secure unified communications for improved patient journey and emergency department (ED) avoidance. The partnership will initially focus on reducing representations to Gold Coast Health EDs through the introduction of a General Medicine – Rapid Access Service […]

Consultmed to re-platform eReferral software on InterSystems’ IRIS for Health

30 April 2024

Referral management and automated workflow platform developer Consultmed is working with InterSystems to re-platform its solution on InterSystems’ IRIS for Health data platform. The aim is to accelerate and reduce costs of new integrations with electronic medical records and other clinical systems, including InterSystems TrakCare EMR, through a range of pre-built interfaces and support for […]

Alfred Health trials BrainEye eye-tracking technology for brain health

30 April 2024

The Alfred hospital has begun clinical trials of the BrainEye smartphone app, which can help screen for neurological abnormalities using a 60-second eye movement test. The study aims to recruit 500 participants across Australia with a variety of neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis (MS), who will have their brain function […]

Solid evidence sought for telehealth and health outcomes

29 April 2024

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is funding six projects to stimulate research into ensuring the quality and safety of telehealth, including one looking at the quality and sustainability of telehealth in residential aged care. Funding of $5 million has bee made available under the NHMRC’s targeted call for research (TCR) initiative, which […]

Insurer medical request solution Konnect NET launches in Australia

29 April 2024

Kiwi health insurance claims integrator Konnect NET has entered the Australian market, developing an Australian-specific version of its health data exchange system. Konnect NET, part of Clanwilliam ANZ, includes its SureMed solution, which manages insurance company medical requests and is used by all major insurers and GPs in New Zealand. According to Clanwilliam ANZ, SureMed […]

International health IT week in review: April 28

28 April 2024

Newsweek’s world’s best digital health companies list, Kaiser Permanente’s big data breach, Bayer uses Google AI to develop radiology apps, Microsoft’s AI lead puts Amazon cloud dominance on watch, text-based virtual care program, nearly 70% of docs enthusiastic about AI World’s Best Digital Health Companies 2024 Newsweek ~ Nancy Cooper ~ 25/04/2024 To help identify […]

Blog: Newsweek and the world’s weirdest top 400 list

26 April 2024

Pulse+IT was tootling around on the intertubes this week and came across what looked like a fabulous new resource from news magazine Newsweek, promising a list grandly titled the World’s Best Digital Health Companies, all 400 of them. We thought something sounded familiar about this list despite Newsweek’s promise that it is new, and then […]

Project NOVA rolls out across Awanui pathology network

26 April 2024

The roll-out of one of the largest national information systems in New Zealand’s laboratory sector has come to fruition with the final implementation of pathology provider Awanui’s Project NOVA. NOVA has seen the deployment of a single core information system for the organisation’s human pathology laboratories, which provide testing services for about 75 per cent […]

Calvary to deploy Salesforce for home care and residential services

24 April 2024

Calvary Health Care will deploy a Salesforce cloud-based customer relationship management solution for its home care services in advance of a longer term implementation throughout its residential aged care and hospital services in Australia. Salesforce will build a digital platform that Calvary hopes will transform connectivity across its business, hoping to improve the customer experience […]

Mercy Health piloting Baret role-based messaging solution

23 April 2024

Mercy Health is piloting the Baret role-based messaging solution across several departments at two of its Victorian hospitals. Baret is a secure, targeted role-based messaging solution for Microsoft Teams that was launched by FiveP in October 2021 to enable closed-loop communications between frontline hospital staff. It was developed in association with Austin Health, where plans […]

WA to expand PaTCH network across metro health services

23 April 2024

WA Health is expanding its new Patient Transport Coordination Hub (PaTCH) across metropolitan health services to streamline booking, scheduling and allocation of available non-emergency patient transport, having consolidated existing booking systems into a single process. WA Health’s shared services provider Health Support Services (HSS) has provided some of the technology for the new process, linking […]

Mater expands eConsultant service to eight specialties

22 April 2024

Queensland’s Mater Health has expanded the free eConsultant service it provides to rural and remote GPs, adding five new specialties in response to what it says is growing need. The eConsultant service is an electronic referral service that enables GPs to receive specialist advice about patients through an asynchronous secure messaging system. While the program […]

International health IT week in review: April 21

21 April 2024

Trust and genAI in healthcare, AI medical assistants and burnout, UK’s federated data platform, mental health tops telehealth usage, data privacy, Apple iPhones most-used commercial devices in healthcare, US VA Oracle Health EHR rollout to resume in 2025, 80% of US doctors employed by hospitals or corporate entities Most doctors, consumers need transparency to trust […]

Blog: Testing AI in the sandbox and in the real world

19 April 2024

It’s hard to escape AI as the hot topic in digital health news at the moment, what with clinical applications coming thick and fast for diverse disciplines such as ophthalmology and administrative applications in general and specialist practices such as medical scribes. Arguably Australia’s most promising and successful AI company is Harrison.ai, which started up […]

Healthpoint adds SNOMED CT to healthcare directory API

19 April 2024

New Zealand health technology company Healthpoint is integrating the SNOMED clinical terminology into the application programming interface (API) for its Healthpoint health and social services directory. The move will enable applications and users of the Healthpoint API to use standardised clinical terminology, which Healthpoint says will reduce the chance of misinterpreting a clinical need and […]

Opinion: Propelling healthcare forward with AI: collaborating to transform our systems

18 April 2024

On March 21, the world’s first global AI resolution was adopted by the United Nations, soon after the Artificial Intelligence Act was approved by the European Parliament. These regulatory developments promote a risk-based approach to ensuring safety and compliance with fundamental rights, while aiming to boost innovation. In Australia, the Department of Science, Industry and […]

Harrison and Annalise unite to accelerate AI-driven healthcare

17 April 2024

Sydney-headquartered healthcare AI start-up Harrison.ai has united with its joint venture radiology business Annalise.ai to form a combined company. Harrison.ai was established in 2018 and has raised more than $150 million in venture capital. It formed Annalise.ai in a joint venture with I-MED Radiology Network in 2020 to develop AI-based radiology diagnostic tools. Harrison has […]

WACHS looking for digital management solution for residential and community aged care

17 April 2024

The WA Country Health Service (WACHS) is in the market for an SaaS-based aged care-specific digital care management solution to help manage people living in state-run residential aged care facilities and clients receiving care in their homes. The solution will initially be implemented at the Karlarra House RACF in the Pilbara and for WACHS facilities […]

The San an early adopter of electronic anti-cancer guideline in EpiSoft

16 April 2024

The Sydney Adventist Hospital (the San) has used EpiSoft’s oncology management system to implement the NSW Cancer Institute’s new eviQ guideline for anti-cancer drug dosing in kidney dysfunction (ADDIKD). The evidence-based guideline aims to improve patient safety by standardising how kidney dysfunction is measured, providing a more appropriate dose recommendation compared to existing calculation methods. […]

Health IT vendors join forces for best-of-breed solution

16 April 2024

Four innovative healthcare software vendors have joined forces to develop a best-of-breed solution for specialist residential eating disorder recovery centre Wandi Nerida, operated by the Butterfly Foundation. The solution includes a digital medical record, patient administration system, eReferrals system and a digital front door for the 13-bed hospital, located on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, which offers […]

nib completes full migration to the cloud, invests further in AI and ML

16 April 2024

Health insurer nib Group has completed the migration of its on-premise workloads to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, closing the last of its seven data centres in Australia and New Zealand last month. nib began its cloud strategy back in 2015 and moved the core system of record for its corporate health insurance business […]

Single front door for smart workflows in MedicalDirector

16 April 2024

Telstra Health has enabled access to its entire suite of tools from its new Smart Connected Care range in the latest version of MedicalDirector, which it describes as a single front door for connecting care and streamlining workflows. The MedicalDirector version 4.3 upgrade includes Smart Research, which provides GPs with on-demand access to education content […]

DHF24: SHPA to release first practice standard for pharmacy informatics

15 April 2024

The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) will release what it says is the first standard for pharmacy informatics at the Digital Health Festival in Melbourne next month. The standard is aimed at supporting the implementation, adoption and maintenance of health information systems that ensure quality and safe use of medicines. It also includes […]

International health IT week in review: April 14

14 April 2024

Kaiser study on AI to triage patient messaging, US code of conduct for AI in healthcare, Justin Trudeau announces $2.4 billion for AI-related investments, virtual health platform for kids with paediatricians linked through EHR, Ontario ransomware attack fallout, cybersecurity listings on NYSE, digital devices for vulnerable people FierceHealthcare ~ Dave Muoio ~ 09/04/2024 Artificial intelligence […]

Blog: VC v TC: choose the modality that suits you, sir

12 April 2024

Telehealth was back in the news this week with the release of a great paper from the stellar team at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health, comparing the pros and cons of video conferencing (VC) versus telephone conferencing (TC) for telehealth consults. GPs have long asked whether there is any real evidence that […]

NLP harnessed for detecting thunderstorm asthma presentations from ED triage notes

12 April 2024

Researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne have used natural language processing (NLP) techniques to help detect potential thunderstorm asthma events from the triage notes in public hospital emergency departments. The research has the potential be able to be used to flag asthma-like presentations as soon as possible and allow the deployment of […]

Te Whatu Ora urges a cautious approach to AI in healthcare

11 April 2024

Proceed with caution: that’s the advice Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora staff are hearing when it comes to AI, with a warning that large language models (LLMs) and generative AI tools have not been validated as safe and effective for use in healthcare. The cautious stance comes off the back of a report […]

Hub-and-spoke Sarina Hospital opens live with Oracle ieMR

11 April 2024

The new 19-bed, $31.5 million Sarina Hospital in central Queensland has opened complete with the state’s Oracle Health (Cerner) integrated electronic medical record (ieMR). Sarina Hospital is part of eHealth Queensland’s hub and spoke project for the ieMR roll out in regional, rural and remote areas that is seeing the system implemented in small satellite […]

PenCS opens up chronic disease management module in Practice Cloud

10 April 2024

PenCS has launched a new chronic disease management (CDM) success module within its Practice Cloud digital health intelligence platform that can pinpoint and prioritise individuals at risk of developing chronic conditions for early identification and intervention and better manage those with chronic disease. CDM Success is part of PenCS’ new Practice Cloud platform launched in […]

Telstra Health appoints Janice Tan as clinical director

10 April 2024

GP and digital health expert Janice Tan has been appointed clinical director at Telstra Health, joining its clinical excellence team with a focus on clinical safety and culture across its primary care, community care and enterprise clinical excellence and growth portfolio. Dr Tan will continue to work as a GP across various locations in NSW, […]

Austin Health rolling out DC2Vue for sub-acute clinics and community care

10 April 2024

Melbourne’s Data Capture Experts (DCE) has won a contract to roll out its DC2Vue digital health platform for Austin Health for non-admitted patient management. The project kicked off last month and will see DC2Vue implemented across all of Austin Health’s sub-acute clinics and community-based programs, including community mental health and community aged care services. DCE’s […]

ADHA on track for August release of aged care clinical information system standards

9 April 2024

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has completed the first draft of its aged care clinical information system (CIS) standards project and is on track to release a final version by August, along with an implementation roadmap. ADHA is delivering the project on behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care in response to […]

Video conferencing more cost- and clinically effective than telephone: study

8 April 2024

Consultations delivered by video conferencing had equal or better clinical outcomes when compared to telephone-only conferences, and were also more cost effective despite higher incremental cost, a new Queensland study has found. The systematic review compared clinical, service and cost effectiveness of telephone consultations to video consultations and found video conferences were superior or equivalent […]

RACGP calls for breast screening to be added to NCSR after lung cancer

8 April 2024

Breast cancer screening services and their reminder and recall functions should be integrated with general practice systems, and breast cancer screening reports added to the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says. The call comes following the announcement last month that lung cancer screening records will be added […]

International health IT week in review: April 7

6 April 2024

SDOH data standards, Carequality interoperability network, Nvidia’s healthcare-focused tools, surgeons endorse telehealth, Change Healthcare mega-attack, US health IT strategic plan, Canada Health Infoway’s digital health survey, clinician-led AI validation network How Regenstrief and HL7 are driving SDOH data standards Health IT and EHR ~ Hannah Nelson ~ 04/04/2024 The Regenstrief Foundation has committed $4.4 million […]

Blog: Dr Google, Dr ChatGPT and a prompt engineer walk into a bar …

5 April 2024

Our dodgy headline for the week comes from a terrific new paper by the University of Queensland’s Bevan Koopman and Guido Zuccon on the major risks consumers are probably now taking when using generative AI to research their health conditions, much as search engines like Google were the boogeymen in the very recent past. The […]

Dr ChatGPT proves somewhat unreliable when prompted

5 April 2024

New research from the CSIRO and the University of Queensland on the accuracy of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and their use by consumers in finding healthcare information has shown that the accuracy of the information generated can prove unreliable, with different prompts decreasing accuracy and increasing risk. The study investigated what the authors […]

Dedalus renews iPM contract with Victorian DoH for another 10 years

5 April 2024

Healthcare technology vendor Dedalus has renewed its long-term patient administration system (PAS) contract with the Victorian Department of Health for another 10 years. The contract involves a master services agreement (MSA) covering the iPM PAS, which is widely used by hospitals throughout the state. Dedalus has had a partnership with the department for 20 years. […]

Podiatrists on front foot for allied health with Provider Connect Australia

5 April 2024

The Australian Podiatry Association (APodA) has become the first allied health peak body to register for Provider Connect Australia (PCA), the Australian Digital Health Agency’s business information service. Launched a year ago, PCA is now being used by 3638 healthcare services, double the amount that were registered six months ago. The system allows healthcare organisations […]

X-Lab completes pilot quality assurance program with Sonic Healthcare

4 April 2024

UK firm X-Lab has completed a pilot of its Labgnostic automated laboratory interoperability solution with two Sonic Healthcare laboratories as part of a project being run with quality assurance provider RCPA Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP). The project has trialled the automation of ordering and results reporting from RCPAQAP with Sonic’s Sullivan Nicolaides and Douglass Hanly […]

AI-powered companion robot trialled for the young and older

4 April 2024

Companion robot start-up Andromeda Robotics is about to start work with South Australian aged care provider Tanunda Lutheran Home to trial its Chat GPT-enabled robot Abi, adding to the more functional cleaning robots it has deployed for food and linen deliveries. Andromeda last year announced it was trialling Abi – which uses a mix of […]

TasScript real-time prescription monitoring set to go live

4 April 2024

Tasmania is to become one of the last jurisdictions to connect to the national real-time prescription monitoring (RTPM) program when it switches on TasScript next month, having been the Australian pioneer in implementing a RTPM system 15 years ago. TasScript will replace the DORA interface used by pharmacists and some prescribers since 2009. TasScript is […]

Cloud-based IBD clinical management system going global

2 April 2024

The worldwide roll out of a clinical management system tailored for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is picking up pace, with IBD charity Crohn’s Colitis Cure (CCCure) signing up its first subscription member to the Crohn’s Colitis Care (CCCare) clinical management system, built and trialled in Christchurch, New Zealand. CCCare is an IBD […]

Digital Health CRC granted 18-month extension to finish vital projects

2 April 2024

The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) has been granted an 18-month extension to its funding agreement to see out its 44 ongoing R&D projects, with a new end date now set for December 31, 2026. The CRC was established in 2018 with government funding of $55 million over seven years, matched by cash and […]

InterSystems adds vector search to IRIS for next-gen AI

2 April 2024

InterSystems has added a new vector search function to its IRIS cloud data management platform that will allow users to add semantic search and generative AI capabilities into their applications. InterSystems says vector search will allow users to query data based on semantics – the meaning of the data – rather than the data itself. […]

From ‘collect data many times, use once’ to ‘collect once, use it multiple ways’

2 April 2024

The Department of Health and Aged Care will release the final version of its Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy in the next few months, accompanied by an action plan that will be updated regularly and will connect with the other digital strategies released in the last year covering the wider healthcare sector. The strategy […]

Transparency watchdog off the leash to ensure FHIR standards integrity

28 March 2024

An independent watchdog committee has been established to oversee FHIR standards development in Australia and ensure transparency and integrity in the process, chaired by FHIR founder Grahame Grieve and consisting of a host of FHIR experts. The Australian FHIR Coordination Committee (AFCC) will also be dedicated to supporting the Australian FHIR Management Framework, a draft […]

ITAC 2024: iAgeHealth sees early evidence of virtual benefits

28 March 2024

Virtual care and workforce provider iAgeHealth has scored some early runs with its new model of remote care, seeing big reductions in avoidable hospital admissions and improvements in early recognition of deterioration in the first six months of commercial availability. Established by aged care provider McLean Care in 2023 after two years of trials, iAgeHealth […]

ITAC 2024: BaptistCare on the AI journey with Copilot and chatbot

27 March 2024

Aged care provider BaptistCare plans to roll out a chatbot it has developed to interrogate policy and procedure documents to the whole organisation following a recent trial, and has also been experimenting with Microsoft’s Copilot AI companion, which is now being used by 300 people in the organisation. BaptistCare CIO Daniel Pettman told the ITAC […]

ITAC 2024: Aged care data explained: What’s under the bonnet

27 March 2024

The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) has published an explainer for the multiple digital health and aged care strategies released since 2023, providing a guide to how they fit together and what gaps still remain. The Aged Care Data: Explainer has been written by DHCRC director Isobel Frean to help shine a light on […]

Best Practice launches Best Health Booking online booking management solution

25 March 2024

Best Practice Software is launching its Best Health Booking online booking management solution, which has been designed to give Bp Premier users real-time visibility in the Bp Premier appointment book for practice teams and in Best Health Booking for patients. Best Health Booking integrates with Bp Premier, Bp SMS and the Best Health app to […]

Shexie joins forces with Facere AI for advanced AI workflow solutions

25 March 2024

Medical specialist practice management system vendor Shexie has partnered with workflow AI company Facere AI to bring tailored AI features and products to Shexie’s product suite, including its flagship Platinum PMS. Facere specialises in AI-powered workflow automation software that integrates into existing health workflows and aims to reduce the excessive administrative workload that burdens healthcare […]

ITAC 2024: Digital maturity, star ratings and their effects on the quality of care

25 March 2024

Mounting evidence is showing that increases in the digital maturity of aged care organisations has a measurable effect on the quality of care they provide, including reductions in UTIs and antibiotic use and a reduction in the severity of poorer quality care. Evidence also shows that star ratings do work in improving understanding of whether […]

ITAC 2024: How to build a best practice healthy ageing ecosystem

25 March 2024

Global community interest company ECHAlliance has launched a health ageing thematic ecosystem, aiming to provide a platform for the aged care sector to gain resources, best practices, knowledge and innovations on a global scale. The development of the ecosystem has been led by ECHAlliance US ambassador Jon Warner, who will be presenting at the ITAC […]

International health IT week in review: March 24

24 March 2024

Google’s healthcare AI ambitions, Oracle rolling out AI and simplifying data exchange, Mayo Clinic program to validate digital solutions, US firm sues Ontario Health for data storage policy, NHS England’s Palantir problem, AI and radiologists, NHS Scotland’s nationwide LIMS, online GP registration, public-interest technology Google’s healthcare AI ambitions: New model for personal health coaching and […]

Blog: Sparks fly when FHIR meets generative AI

22 March 2024

There was a great turnout for the healthcare standards gang this week as HL7 New Zealand and HL7 Australia jointly hosted a simultaneously live-streamed symposium on interoperability that got everyone FHIRed up. The symposium provided a super update on progress implementing FHIR into the real world, and also gave us a glimpse of what may […]

Most large ANZ healthcare organisations are planning to play with FHIR: report

22 March 2024

A survey of large healthcare organisations in Australia and New Zealand has found that 13 per cent of respondents currently use a FHIR-based interoperability platform and just over 55 per cent are in the planning stages of deploying the international standard. However, a significant number of respondents say they will not shift to FHIR as […]

Royal Flying Doctor Service opens 24/7 virtual emergency care centre

21 March 2024

The Royal Flying Doctor Service has opened a virtual emergency centre in the South Australian outback town of William Creek, deploying Visionflex’s telehealth modules with medical devices to provide 24/7 emergency medical care in what RFDS says is an Australian first. RFDS SA/NT has also deployed one of its specially constructed and prefabricated modular units […]

Opinion: Advancing artificial intelligence in healthcare in Australia

21 March 2024

The rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is increasing the urgency to ensure Australia’s digital health community is equipped to lead the adoption of AI in a safe, responsible and effective way. This AI revolution is already impacting healthcare pathways from screening to diagnosis, treatments and personalised therapeutics, with implications for ethics, patient safety, […]

New Zealand’s new My Health Record to align with NZ Patient Summary

21 March 2024

New Zealand’s recently launched My Health Record, which currently provides consumers with access to their immunisation history, will have new capabilities added from next week including the ability to view and update demographics, and shortly to view dispensed medicines and drug allergies. An app to give consumers mobile access to My Health Record is also […]

Canberra Antenatal Care rolls out digital patient pathways

20 March 2024

Private antenatal shared care provider Canberra Antenatal Care has deployed Personify Care’s digital patient pathway platform, designed to alleviate the administrative burden of traditional paper-based systems and help patients make well-informed decisions about their care. Through the new digital platform, patients can now access all necessary information and complete assessments and consents online before their […]

Digital hospitals, clinician satisfaction and patient experience

19 March 2024

New Australian research exploring the clinician and patient experience of digital hospitals has found a positive overall satisfaction level reported by clinicians, but a dearth of studies concerning patient experience means satisfaction levels are difficult to gauge. Researchers from the University of Queensland’s new Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC) and Centre for Health Services Research […]

Alcidion partners with Novari Health for advanced patient flow management

19 March 2024

Patient flow management solution provider Alcidion has signed a strategic partnership with referral and waiting list management vendor Novari Health to offer a combined patient journey management solution to health services in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK. Both companies market cloud-based, modular solutions that are being jointly offered to enhance patient flow management […]

PenCS schedules monthly QI programs through Health Calendar on Practice Cloud

19 March 2024

Health informatics platform developer PenCS has released its ready-made digital Health Calendar feature in its brand new Practice Cloud platform, offering a GP-designed framework for QI programs over a 12-month cycle. Health Calendar includes 13 quality improvement programs that PenCS says can potentially boost gross MBS billings by $126,970 per full time GP per year, […]

Extra funds double capacity for Victoria’s Virtual ED

18 March 2024

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) operated statewide by Northern Health will expand its capacity to more than 1000 people a day following a $235 million funding injection by the state government. The VVED first launched in November 2020 offering a nurse-led triage service and specialist advice for GPs. It then expanded to provide care […]

International health IT week in review: March 17

17 March 2024

Virtual wards, John Halamka on clinical LLMs, Epic bundle of AI use cases, Salesforce’s Einstein copilot, Philips and AWS partner on digitised pathology, Google’s Vertex AI search for healthcare, fallout from TPP SystmOne developer’s racist comments, UK’s £3.4b “digitise every hospital” promise, hospital-at-home reduces ED presentations by 50% Convert clinicians to digital wards by allowing […]

Blog: Big guns show off their AI chops at HIMSS

15 March 2024

The huge HIMSS annual conference and exhibition was on in Orlando, Florida this week and the news was almost completely dominated by announcements about how the big guns were incorporating AI into their software, particularly generative AI. One that caught the eye was academic publishing giant Elsevier, which announced late last year that it was […]

CareRight joins forces with Coviu for EMR-telehealth integration

15 March 2024

Telehealth service Coviu has been integrated with the CareRight web-based platform to provide a seamless way of managing patient records and facilitating telehealth consultations. Developed by Adelaide’s Clintel Systems, the CareRight platform includes an integrated patient administration system, electronic medical record and billing and claiming capabilities, and is used in a variety of clinical settings, […]

NSW Health expands virtual rural generalist service to southern NSW

14 March 2024

Five towns in southern NSW now have access to the virtual rural generalist service (VRGS) pioneered by Western NSW LHD, offering both virtual and in-person medical coverage to rural and remote emergency departments. The new service offers 24-hour virtual medical support, specialty-level advice, critical care expertise, transport, logistics and coordination support, as well as fatigue […]

Claroty releases ‘clinically aware’ threat detection module in Medigate platform

14 March 2024

Cyber-physical systems protection company Claroty has released an advanced anomaly threat detection (ATD) module within its Medigate platform, aiming to help healthcare organisations prioritise threats to connected medical devices, IoT and building management systems. The ATD module, launched this week at HIMSS in Florida and available now in Australia and New Zealand, promises “clinically aware” […]

Royal Melbourne to trial geolocating smartphone app for thunderstorm asthma

14 March 2024

The major metropolitan Melbourne hospitals are taking part in a five-year study using a smartphone app to pinpoint the allergens and triggers that cause thunderstorm asthma, with the hope of tailoring prevention and treatment options to individuals. Led by Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) researchers, the CARISTA (Creating A Risk assessment biomarker tool to prevent Seasonal […]

Hunter New England PHN offering game changer grants for digital health

13 March 2024

The Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network (HNECC PHN) is investing $1 million in projects, pilots and programs that use digital health technologies to provide improved models of care in the primary care sector. The grants are aimed at improving the region’s access to primary healthcare and can include telehealth services, health-related […]

GPNZ signals end to GP2GP medical record transfer system

13 March 2024

General Practice New Zealand is working with Te Whatu Ora to mitigate short-term risks caused by the GP2GP patient record transfer system, with a view to a long-term replacement of the ageing system with newer technologies being implemented under the Hira program. GP2GP was first developed by practice management software vendors in 2011 as the […]

Financial viability of aged care sector a barrier to innovation: taskforce

12 March 2024

The precarious financial state of the residential aged care sector is a barrier to innovation, including innovations that would allow providers to improve quality, a new report says. The final report of the Aged Care Taskforce said improved financial viability and sharing best practice would enable more innovation, including IT systems for physical and clinical […]

Clanwilliam officially launches ANZ division

12 March 2024

Healthcare technology and services group Clanwilliam Group has officially launched a new ANZ division to bring together its four technology brands under one division. Clanwilliam ANZ includes secure messaging vendor HealthLink, medical information request platform for insurers Konnect NET, pharmacy software market leader Toniq and anaesthesia private practice software Medical Business Systems. Clanwilliam Group made […]

Zedmed adds secure send function, MyMedicare support in latest update

12 March 2024

Practice management system vendor Zedmed has added a new ‘Secure Send’ feature in its latest update that uses email or SMS to send invoices, documents and referrals, including radiology and pathology referrals, to patients and payers. Zedmed has has also added an electronic signature capability for letters and referrals, as well as support for the […]

International health IT week in review: March 10

10 March 2024

UK’s £4.2bn digital transformation plan, budget includes £3.4 for NHS IT, cautious welcome from leaders, Salesforce launches Einstein Copilot for healthcare, Nuance DAX Copilot and Epic, implications of Change Healthcare ransomware attack, Elsevier’s generative AI-driven version of ClinicalKey Chancellor targets £36bn productivity boost with £4.2bn digital transformation plan Computer Weekly ~ Bryan Glick ~ 06/03/2024 […]

Blog: Another country, another budget, another promise on health IT

8 March 2024

Those in the health IT industry who have been around the blocks a few times will have raised an eyebrow at UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s speech [political content removed] this week ushering in his second and last budget before the election, and probably his last budget full stop. Mr Hunt insisted on […]

InterSystems releases search-based assistant for TrakCare EMR

8 March 2024

InterSystems has launched a new interactive navigation tool for its TrakCare electronic medical record that allows clinicians to search by predictive text or voice for relevant patient information in a patient’s medical record. TrakCare Assistant is now available as part of the mobile enabled user interface in the current version of TrakCare and can sort […]

AlayaCare rolling out AI and data intelligence tools for home care sector

8 March 2024

Aged, community and disability care software specialist AlayaCare is working with residential aged and home care providers in Australia to introduce the AI and large language model (LLMs) technology its AlayaLabs research and development arm has developed, including solutions for optimising the home care workforce and to improve client outcomes. AlayaCare’s platform uses LLMs and […]

Magentus goes with Google Cloud to develop gen AI solutions for medical specialists

6 March 2024

Healthcare technology firm Magentus has chosen Google Cloud to help it develop AI solutions, including generative AI and large-language models (LLMs) such as Gemini and MedLM for its medical specialist users, as well as other Google Cloud technology for pathology, oncology, and radiology customers. Magentus says is building a centralised and secure foundation for customer […]

Tend adds more bricks and mortar as one-third of consults now offered digitally

6 March 2024

Primary care provider Tend Health has finalised the purchase of South Island general practice group Better Health’s 17 medical centres, with plans to integrate Tend’s technology platform and digital-first model of care across the group. Tend took a 50 per cent stake in Better Health in 2022, adding to its three medical centres in Auckland. […]

Sparked marks progress with core data for interoperability open for comment

5 March 2024

The team from the Sparked FHIR accelerator has released a draft of the first release of the Australian Core Data for Interoperability (AUCDI), which comprises a standardised set of data groups and elements for interoperable health information exchange. AUCDI is being developed along with an AU Core FHIR implementation guide as part of the Sparked […]

PenCS launches cloud-based data insights platform with built-in QI programs

4 March 2024

PenCS, the maker of the PenCAT suite, has launched a new cloud-based digital health intelligence platform called Practice Cloud, designed to enable general practices and Aboriginal member services to interrogate practice clinical and financial data. Practice Cloud includes built-in dashboards and quality improvement programs that support annual CPD hours, along with Pen’s risk of hospitalisation […]

MedAdvisor to develop conversational AI medications assistant platform

4 March 2024

ASX-listed medication adherence platform MedAdvisor has partnered with US-based AI assistant developer Brand Engagement Network (BEN) to develop a new conversational AI-powered medication advisor platform. The platform is being designed to enable support to be provided to patients on a 24/7 basis and replace chatbots, using conversational AI to enhance the patient experience and provide […]

ACCC gives the go-ahead to Westpac’s acquisition of HealthPoint

4 March 2024

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose Westpac’s proposed acquisition of electronic health claims processing business HealthPoint, allowing it to join rivals including NAB’s HICAPS in providing private health insurance claiming services. Westpac announced in November that it wanted to buy HealthPoint application, which was first developed by CSC over a decade […]

International health IT week in review: March 3

3 March 2024

Irish digital health strategy, HL7 FHIR Accelerator projects and Sequoia, modernising Scotland’s health system with digital, shared EPR procurement fails, how AI and FHIR can help reduce sepsis mortality rates, Regenstrief updates LOINC, children’s hospital data up for ransom, Global Initiative on Digital Health Digital health strategy to be published by end of March Irish […]

Blog: Bit of biffo and bomb throwing over NZ’s ugly baby

1 March 2024

Emotions were running high at the Digital Health Association’s (DHA) AGM in Auckland this week, held on the day that the new government rammed through legislation disestablishing the Māori Health Authority Te Aka Whai Ora, to obvious dismay at the meeting. Some long-standing tensions over the direction of digital health within Health New Zealand – […]

AHW 2024: Generative AI in healthcare masterclass on the menu at Australian Healthcare Week

29 February 2024

A masterclass on how to select vendors, consultants and partners for successful AI implementations in healthcare is on the menu at the upcoming Australian Healthcare Week, being held in Sydney on March 20 and 21. The masterclass will accompany a new AI in Healthcare stage at the event, along with a new Healthcare 2040 stage […]

QH looking for automated clinical coding solution for “code it once, code it right” policy

29 February 2024

Queensland Health has issued an invitation to offer (ITO) for an automated clinical coding solution to replace its existing system with a single statewide instance that integrates with clinical and administrative electronic record systems. The new system is expected to be able to handle the eventual transition to ICD-11 and to include AI, machine learning […]

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