Artificial Intelligence

The revolution changing the face of healthcare delivery

Blog: National AI in healthcare plan gets three thumbs up

24 November 2023

Yes, our headline is a dodgy DALL-E joke but it’s also a reflection of the trust deficit in consumer-grade AI as the ChatGPT revolution continues almost a year to the day it was released, and in light of the extraordinary shenanigans that have taken place at GPT developer OpenAI over the last week. For those […]

AI.Care 2023: Mater building in-house MaterGPT app

23 November 2023

Queensland’s Mater Health has built its own MaterGPT app internal to the organisation’s ecosystem as a safe alternative for its clinicians and other staff to use. The app currently includes capability to interact with Mater’s policies and procedures and it is also experimenting with chat over any documents and an add-on for Outlook to help […]

AI.Care 2023: AI co-pilot harnessed to transform clinical coding

23 November 2023

Consulting firm Accenture is working with a large hospital in NSW to put into production an artificial intelligence co-pilot to augment the clinical coding process. The technology is aimed at improving the accuracy and efficiency of clinical coding and to improve productivity, with overseas experience showing it could achieve up to a 30 per cent […]

AI.Care 2023: Australian view on generative AI in primary care

22 November 2023

While the adoption of generative AI tools in healthcare is moving faster than regulation, they are still very much in their nascent stage in primary care in Australia, with transcription, patient intake, triage and scheduling the primary use cases. And while GPs say they are open to AI in their work, they are say they […]

AI.Care 2023: Citizens’ jury convened for consumer view of AI in healthcare

22 November 2023

A citizens’ jury convened by the University of Wollongong to provide an Australian consumer perspective on AI in healthcare has recommended the development of a charter for AI that respects the rights of both patients and clinicians when using the technology. The citizens’ jury idea uses deliberative democratic methods devised by political scientists in the […]

AI.Care 2023: Roadmap for a national policy agenda for AI in healthcare

22 November 2023

The Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAAiH) has released a roadmap for AI in healthcare that it says delivers a “critically needed, coordinated national approach” to developing a policy agenda over the next two to five years. Major recommendations include the establishment of a National AI in Healthcare Council, the development of a […]

Opinion: Re-framing the artificial intelligence in healthcare debate

21 November 2023

Decades into the future, when we finally have autonomous flying cars and intelligent nanobots vanquishing cancer cells in our bloodstream, one date is likely to be mentioned by cyborg historians taking kids on augmented-reality museum tours. 30 November 2022 was the day ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI, and in so doing, brought artificial intelligence (AI) […]

AI.Care 2023: AI models to improve automated chest x-ray diagnoses

21 November 2023

New research from the CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) has identified methods for improving artificial intelligence diagnosis of heart and lung conditions using x-ray. According to the researchers, current methods of AI x-ray report generation use an “encoder” to read the x-ray images, and “decoder” to produce a report. However, there hasn’t been research […]

DoHAC spruiking MyMedicare for general practice in aged care incentive

20 November 2023

The Department of Health and Aged Care is tasking primary health networks (PHNs) with getting aged care residents signed up to MyMedicare in advance of the introduction of the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive (GPACI) next year. PHNs are being asked to work with residential aged care providers to support patient registration, particularly with […]

International health IT week in review: November 19

19 November 2023

Canadian hospitals to completely rebuild ransomed systems, NHS England digital funds diverted to pay for doctors’ strike, Northern Ireland’s EMR cost, medical transcription data theft, online prescription data theft, pulse oximeter racial bias, Alexa for telemedicine Hospitals hit by ransomware will rebuild systems Canadian Healthcare Technology ~ Staff writer ~ 15/11/2023 All five southwestern Ontario […]

Blog: AAAiH roadmap for safe AI should be embraced, but generative AI is where it’s at

17 November 2023

Pulse+IT will be out in force at the AI.Care conference in Melbourne next week, where we hope to learn some very important things about the safety and ethics of AI in healthcare. While we are very keen indeed to hear from learned speakers about AI applications in radiology, pathology and other complex medical systems, what […]

AI.Care 2023: national plan for AI in healthcare to launch

16 November 2023

Recommendations for a national plan for the safe and ethical use of artificial intelligence in healthcare will be launched at the AI.Care conference in Melbourne next week. Developed by the Australian Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAAiH), the report’s recommendations have been devised to drive a national policy agenda for Australia’s safe and ethical use […]

Smart pressure injury and resident monitoring platform rolled out for aged care

16 November 2023

Valley View Residence is rolling out Lenexa Medical’s breakthrough pressure injury prevention technology at its 64-bed residential aged care facility in Colley, Western Australia. LenexaCARE is a pressure injury management system that assists clinicians and carers by providing targeted real-time monitoring for patient position, enabling personalised pressure injury prevention. It uses a high-tech fabric-based sensor […]

Cubiko launches MyMedicare Dashboard to streamline voluntary patient enrolment

16 November 2023

Practice intelligence platform Cubiko has developed a new module that will allow general practices to streamline the implementation of the federal government’s new MyMedicare voluntary patient enrolment scheme. Cubiko’s MyMedicare Dashboard will allow users to directly import CSV lists of registered patients from MyMedicare listed in Services Australia’s Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) into Cubiko. […]

McLean Care launches plug-and-play telehealth solution for aged care

15 November 2023

Residential aged care provider McLean Care has launched a new telehealth service providing 24/7 access to registered nurses and allied health professionals through an integrated solution providing diagnostic devices such as the Silhouette wound management solution. The new iAgeHealth service has been trialled for two years by McLean Care in association with Deakin University, including […]

MedAdvisor to enhance PlusOne for Qld pharmacy scope of practice trial

15 November 2023

ASX-listed medication management software vendor MedAdvisor has won a Pharmacy Guild-funded contract to adapt its PlusOne software platform to allow community pharmacies to participate in northern Queensland’s scope of practice pilot. The Queensland branch of the Pharmacy Guild went to market in March this year for an IT solution with prescribing capability to support the […]

Royal Perth go-live of enterprise medical imaging platform completes $127m project

14 November 2023

Royal Perth Hospital went live last month with WA’s Enterprise Medical Imaging Platform (EMIP), the last of nine hospitals that has adopted the new Canon Medical-delivered system. The EMIP is the centrepiece of WA’s medical imaging replacement program (MIRP), led by Health Support Services (HSS), which has seen the implementation of advanced imaging capability through […]

Good usage stats emerge from ACT Health’s DHR one year on

14 November 2023

ACT Health is reporting good results from the implementation of its Digital Health Record (DHR) a year ago this week, with both staff and consumers actively using the system. The $200 million+ system was switched on across ACT public health services on November 12, 2022, in a big bang go-live of what is the most […]

SFT-23: Beyond the pandemic: telehealth and sustainable hybrid models of care

14 November 2023

Making telehealth sustainable in the time after the pandemic is one of the main themes of the upcoming Successes and Failures in Telehealth (SFT) conference, with keynote speakers tackling issues of sustainability, access and health equity. SFT-23, hosted by the University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (COH) in partnership with the Australian Telehealth Society, […]

RACP calls for return of specialist phone consults, funding for VC packages

13 November 2023

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has called on the government to reinstate MBS item numbers for phone-based specialist consults and to retain current video-based initial specialist consults. It has also called for funding for video consultation technology packages, and is also recommending the government look at supporting the establishment of an eConsult model […]

MediRecords gets set to launch email on demand

13 November 2023

Cloud-based EMR software vendor MediRecords is soon to go live with its email on demand feature, which will allow suers to send emails directly from their system without having to swap between applications. The feature is part of its new universal communications bar released with MediRecords 2.0 in August, and also provides shortcuts to SMS, […]

International health IT week in review: November 12

12 November 2023

Palantir decision on UK FDP imminent, Northern Irish baby’s digital record a first, doctor CEOs, Ireland’s poor ranking for digital health policies, RPM works but costs more, Ontario hospitals hack drags on, medical transcription hack affects Chicago, all Nova Scotians offered virtual care, EHR documentation burden and telehealth Palantir to be named as winner of […]

Blog: Best of breed systems in the era of one size fits all

10 November 2023

In a week where we learned that the full cost of the contract NSW Health has signed with Epic to implement the very ambitious single digital patient record was a mammoth $1 billion over 10 years, it was interesting to see that best of breed solutions are fighting it out against the behemoths and winning […]

Genie Solutions integrated into Magentus health tech team

9 November 2023

Medical specialist software vendor Genie Solutions has completed its integration into Australian health tech company Magentus, with its Genie and Gentu solutions becoming part of Magentus’ practice management division. Magentus also has a clinical system division comprising its pathology, radiology, oncology and maternity solutions, along with patient safety and health informatics offerings. Magentus was formerly […]

Dominello to lead advisory group on myGov digital roll-out

9 November 2023

Former NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello will lead a new advisory group on improvements to government services site myGov. Mr Dominello, who promoted the development of a new patient app for NSW Health that will list real time information on emergency department waiting times, has also recently been appointed chair […]

Peninsula Health live with Smart Health Renal clinical information system

9 November 2023

Melbourne’s Peninsula Health has rolled out an innovative renal clinical system from Smart Health Solutions that includes single sign-on, integration with the health service’s EMR and patient administration system and allows letters and reports to be sent to GPs and specialists with a click of a button. Smart Health Renal is now live in two […]

Artists' impression: Victorian Health Building Authority.

Hills emerges from administration with big plans to re-establish name

8 November 2023

Patient engagement and nurse call system vendor Hills Limited has emerged from administration and will continue to service existing contracts and customers, as well as setting its sights on enhancing its core technology. The formerly ASX-listed company was placed into administration in June following the loss of a multi-million dollar court case over a disputed […]

MediSecure switched off for electronic PBS prescriptions

8 November 2023

General practices still connected to MediSecure for electronic prescribing will find the service has been switched off from November 9 and they will no longer be able to create new eScripts, or cancel or delete scripts previously generated in MediSecure. The move comes as six weeks after the September 30 deadline for connecting to the […]

Information commissioner acts against ACL over Medlab breach

7 November 2023

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has begun civil proceedings against pathology provider Australian Clinical Labs over a 2022 breach of patient data at subsidiary Medlab Pathology. The OAIC is claiming that ACL “seriously interfered” with the privacy of millions of Australians by failing to take reasonable steps to protect their personal information […]

SA’s electronic chemotherapy prescribing solution live in Adelaide

7 November 2023

South Australia’s statewide chemotherapy prescribing solution has gone live at Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide, following a pilot roll-out at Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service in July. The solution uses the iQemo system from UK company iQHealthTech, which is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Altera Digital Health, formerly known as Allscripts. It […]

AI.Care conference to tackle AI’s effect on health workforce, regulation

7 November 2023

The ethics and medico-legal considerations of AI in healthcare is the main theme of the AI.Care conference being held in Melbourne at the end of November. Organised by the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH), the conference will include practical discussions of AI solutions as well as regulatory issues and broad discussions of the ethics […]

Westpac enters electronic health claims and payments market with HealthPoint purchase

6 November 2023

Westpac has joined rivals NAB and Commonwealth Bank in taking a direct foothold in the electronic health claims and payments market, entering into an agreement to buy electronic health claims processing business HealthPoint. HealthPoint is an alternative to HICAPS for health fund claiming and provides non-terminal services for private health claims through a partnership with […]

$1 billion price tag for NSW’s Epic single digital patient record

6 November 2023

The price tag for NSW Health’s replacement of its predominantly Cerner-based electronic medical records with a single digital patient record from US vendor Epic is just over $1 billion. The price applies to software and services over the next 10 years and encompasses the replacement of several instances of Cerner’s Millennium EMR and Orion Health’s […]

NZ rural after-hours telehealth service awarded to Ka Ora consortium

6 November 2023

A consortium of three telehealth providers has been awarded the contract to run a rural after-hours telehealth service for New Zealand for the next three years. The new service has been co-commissioned by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand and the Maori Health Authority Te Aka Whai Ora to reduce barriers for rural communities […]

International health IT week in review: November 5

5 November 2023

India’s digital personal data protection act, Ontario hospitals still on code grey, Palantir and NHS England’s FDP, US Medicaid paying for four virtual care modes, Dubai’s digital transformation journey, patients choosing apps and portals to access medical records, Canada can save $500m a year through ePrescribing India is piloting ambitious digital health initiatives while neglecting […]

Blog: Audit trails mean curiosity kills your job prospects

3 November 2023

Who knows what was going through the mind of the Melbourne hospital pharmacist who decided to take a peek at the medical records of a staggering 7000 people they were not involved in the care of. Even over four years that’s a hell of a lot, and as far as we are aware that number […]

Alfred Health pharmacist dismissed for snooping on medical records

2 November 2023

Alfred Health has confirmed it has dismissed a staff pharmacist after they were caught accessing patients’ and some colleagues’ records in its electronic medical record without a clinical reason to do so. More than 7000 patients have been contacted by Alfred Health that their medical records were viewed by a healthcare worker not directly involved […]

AMA negative on lifting seven-day delay for My Health Record test reports

2 November 2023

The Australian Medical Association has come out against lifting the default seven-day delay for test reports on the My Health Record system, saying the policy proposal needs more fine-tuning if it goes ahead. While it accepted that immediate access to results will provide more information to patients, the AMA warned that it could also lead […]

Genie Solutions launches interoperable eBookings solution with Healthscope

1 November 2023

Medical specialist software vendor Genie Solutions, part of the Magentus group, is rolling out a new interoperable eBookings solution with Healthscope hospitals that will allow private specialists and private hospitals to coordinate operating theatre bookings for procedures. eBookings will enable all procedure and patient information to be securely shared from the Genie or Gentu practice […]

NQPHN supporting roll out of Inca integrated care platform

1 November 2023

Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) has developed new resources to support its roll-out of the Inca shared health record and care planning solution from Precedence Health Care. NQPHN has funded general practices in the region to use Inca for its First Nations continuous quality improvement (CQI) program. It is now providing an extra year […]

IFHIMA 2023: Health information management and the ACT’s single digital record

31 October 2023

ACT Health’s implementation of the Epic electronic medical record has been lauded as a stellar implementation of the technology, known locally as the Digital Health Record (DHR), but like all EMR roll-outs it was a challenging project, not the least for the health information management (HIM) workforce. HIMs are still grappling with these challenges, including […]

IFHIMA 2023: Beamtree partners Lean for integrated clinical coding solution

31 October 2023

ASX-listed AI decision support and clinical data analytics technology vendor Beamtree has extended its partnership with Saudi Arabian health solutions firm Lean to combine the two companies’ hospital coding product offerings to support automation of the coding process. Beamtree is heavily involved in audit and automation of clinical record classification using the Australian health classification […]

IFHIMA 2023: Digital health adoption in primary care and the COVID effect

30 October 2023

There are three roads to ruin for politicians, former French president Georges Pompidou famously said: sex, gambling and technicians. The most pleasant way to ruin is through sex, he opined, the quickest way is through gambling, but the surest way is through technicians. That might be an unusual way to address a conference of what […]

IFHIMA 2023: Strategies for HIMs when dealing with hybrid EMRs

30 October 2023

While Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) successfully implemented the Sunrise patient administration system and electronic medical record at its two big hospitals, it still has to deal with a large amount of paperwork, including more than 700 paper forms used by an assortment of medical specialties. How to manage the transition from paper records […]

IFHIMA 2023: Sallyanne Wissmann becomes permanent HIMAA CEO

30 October 2023

Interim CEO of the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA), Sallyanne Wissmann, has taken on the role permanently. Ms Wissmann was acting CEO following the departure of former CEO Jae Redden in July. A former HIMAA president and board member, Ms Wissmann spent 20 years in various health information management roles at Mater Health […]

International health IT week in review: October 29

29 October 2023

Palantir’s bid for NHS federated data platform, UAE launches AI in healthcare centre, Ardian takes extra stake in Dedalus, Kenya’s Digital Health Act, Indian path lab leak, NHS England’s £300m tender for digital pathways framework, governance and guardrails for AI What does Palantir want with NHS data? Unherd ~ Steve Boggan ~ 27/10/2023 Palantir, in […]

Blog: Real momentum for national interoperability plan

27 October 2023

It’s not often that Pulse+IT finds itself getting overly enthusiastic about things in general, but we do admit to feeling unusually positive about developments in interoperability, especially since the MedInfo conference in July and the launch of Australia’s national healthcare interoperability plan. We’ve written about quite a few of these over our 17 years covering […]

Opinion: Healthcare must establish parameters for safe and ethical use of AI

26 October 2023

Ongoing advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have consolidated the technology’s position as the latest frontier in digital health. Indeed, AI has the potential to be a major disruptor and enabler of quality, accessible healthcare, provided it is deployed ethically, safely and through a human-centric approach. Readers will be aware of the potential for AI technologies […]

Microsoft to invest $5 billion in cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Oz

26 October 2023

Microsoft will invest $A5 billion in expanding its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Australia over the next two years, and will also introduce a healthcare industry-specific data solution in its new Microsoft Fabric analytics platform. The data centre investment is the single largest investment in Microsoft’s history in Australia. It includes a pledge to […]

“Substantial” hospital avoidance with Alfred Health’s COVID-19 community pathway

25 October 2023

An evaluation of Alfred Health’s COVID19 community pathway (AH-CCP) initiative, which used a digital health tool designed by Arden Street Labs to track and triage patient symptoms remotely, may have resulted in substantial hospital avoidance over its two years in operation. The evaluation, funded by the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) and carried out […]

interRAI geriatric assessment tools far outperform alternatives: report

25 October 2023

Two comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) tools developed by the interRAI collaborative network are the best performing systems for community and residential aged care on the market, a new report has found. The interRAI Home Care (HC) and interRAI Long Term Care Facility (LTCF) systems, a version of which has been mandated for all aged care […]

Sharing by default: delivery of health interoperability plan in full swing

25 October 2023

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) will release quarterly updates on the ambitious goals of the national healthcare interoperability plan following the recent creation of the independent Council for Connected Care (CCC), and in light of the federal government’s commitment to a “share by default” policy on health information sharing. The CCC was announced at […]

IFHIMA 2023: Health information management and primary care

24 October 2023

The role of health information management in primary care will be a major topic at next week’s International Federation of Health Information Management Associations (IFHIMA) congress in Brisbane, along with how to handle scanned, hybrid and digital medical records. The implementation of ICD-11 will be high on the agenda, as will health information management workforce […]

PowerHealth to roll out clinical costing solution across South Island

24 October 2023

Telstra Health joint venture PowerHealth Solutions will roll out its PowerPerformance Manager (PPM3) clinical costing solution across New Zealand’s South Island. The new contract is an extension of an agreement with the former Southern District Health Board (SDHB) signed in 2021, but older versions of PPM have been used by the former Canterbury DHB, now […]

Hunter New England to pilot Single Digital Patient Record from 2025-26

23 October 2023

The Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) will be the pilot site for NSW Health’s massive Single Digital Patient Record (SDPR) project from 2025, which will see the replacement of nine instances of the state’s electronic medical record platforms, along with patient administration and laboratory information management systems with a statewide solution from EMR […]

Providers report high use of clinical software in aged care

23 October 2023

Contrary to accepted wisdom, aged care providers have reported high levels of use of clinical software across their organisations, but they also report a lack of interoperability between their systems and others, especially with other healthcare provider technology and government systems. And in a welcome sign, half of all aged care providers using clinical systems […]

International health IT week in review: October 22

22 October 2023

Canadian health data charter, digital prescribing target missed in UK, large language models and patient privacy, Saudi Arabia’s health information exchange plans, regulating AI, Microsoft adds Cloud for Healthcare data and AI enhancements Ottawa mulls ensuring patient access to their data Canadian Healthcare Technology ~ Staff writer ~ 18/10/2023 Holland said another priority will be […]

Blog: The value of virtual care, and how to pay for it

20 October 2023

Pulse+IT was out in force at Victorian Healthcare Week this week, where we were yet again blown away by some of the extraordinary progress being made in digital health, particularly in virtual care. Of real note were two presentations from Western Australia, where virtual care is becoming a necessity over such a vast land mass. […]

VHW 2023: Co-HIVE planned for emergency transfer prevention for aged care

19 October 2023

Perth’s East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) is in the planning stages of a new co-HIVE outreach for aged care, extending its Health in a Virtual Environment (HIVE) initiative to local residential aged care facilities and potentially providing an emergency transfer prevention line through remote assessments from geriatricians. EMHS is also in the early stages of […]

VHW 2023: Health NZ’s four-point plan for AI and machine learning

19 October 2023

Te Whatu Ora’s data and digital team has put together a governance framework and a large language model policy, built a trusted research environment and developed a separate production system called the algorithm hub as part of its four-point plan to operationalise AI and machine learning within New Zealand’s newly united healthcare system. The strategy […]

VHW 2023: Austin Health plots integration of Baret messaging app with EMR

18 October 2023

Melbourne’s Austin Health is moving into the second phase of its roll-out of the Baret role-based communication app having successfully retired more than 300 pagers and eliminated paging for urgent clinical reviews. The second phase will include rolling out task management, role-based chat groups and integration with Austin’s Oracle (Cerner) EMR, which will involve urgent […]

VHW 2023: Inside the WACHS Clinical Command Centre

18 October 2023

The Western Australian Country Health Service (WACHS) is adding a new acute patient transfer coordination centre to the range of virtual care services it offers from its Clinical Command Centre, which WACHS uses to coordinate care across 2.5 million square kilometres and half a million patients. Having started as the Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) a […]

Tasmania boosts outpatients services and eReferrals for digital transformation program

17 October 2023

The Tasmanian Department of Health has added a new communications hub to its outpatient central services, aligning the service with the new eReferrals program it has rolled out statewide. The Outpatient Central Services team and eReferrals initiative are part of the first tranche of the department’s Digital Health Transformation program, which is investing $150 million […]

MRAC puts the dampener on asynchronous GP telehealth services

17 October 2023

The committee conducting a post-implementation review of MBS-funded telehealth services has recommended that despite some lobbying, no new MBS items should be created for asynchronous care such as writing referrals, filling out forms or reviewing reports. Instead, the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC) has recommended the Department of Health and Aged Care should consider how […]

NSW Ambulance expands Virtual Clinical Care Centre capacity

16 October 2023

NSW Ambulance is expanding the capacity of its statewide Virtual Clinical Care Centre (VCCC), which diverted 12,000 patients from emergency departments in 2022 and is now operating 24/7. The NSW government has launched a recruitment drive to boost clinical and medical secondary triage capability, including registered nurses and registered paramedics for triage, along with clinical […]

Data Capture Experts appoints chief digital health officer

16 October 2023

Former Bendigo Health director of ICT architecture and applications Danny Lindrea has joined healthcare software solution provider Data Capture Experts (DCE) as its new chief digital health officer. Mr Lindrea has 15 years’ experience in the digital health industry, having led deployments of new hospital transition technologies, cloud platforms, integration platforms, digital medical records, electronic […]

Early warning system trialled for extreme heat health

16 October 2023

Griffith University is recruiting people aged over 65 living in south-east Queensland for an in-home trial of an individualised early warning and monitoring system for heat stress. The extreme heat and older persons (Ethos) project is using small sensors to monitor home temperatures and humidity, and harnesses a heat-health algorithm to identify risk profiles. The […]

International health IT week in review: October 15

15 October 2023

Palantir expected to win NHS £480m FDP contract, Cedars-Sinai’s AI and telehealth app, NHS virtual wards, FDA’s digital health advisory committee, “retailization of healthcare”, Surescripts’ monopoly, US VA interoperability pact to share patient care data NHS Trust medical directors asked to publicly back FDP Digital Health News ~ Jon Hoeksma ~ 12/10/2023 The medical directors […]

Blog: Practices take the first bite of MyMedicare

13 October 2023

The government’s new MyMedicare voluntary patient enrolment system had a few minor technical glitches when it launched to patients on October 1, but considering few patients were enticed to sign up in the first place it doesn’t seem to be a big deal in the scheme of things beyond getting the RACGP’s knickers in a […]

Virtual assessment for pregnancy concerns adds to SA’s child and adolescent services

12 October 2023

South Australia’s Women’s and Children’s Health Network has launched a 12-month pilot of a new service allowing women to receive an urgent assessment from an experienced midwife via video link. The first of its kind in Australia, the pilot follows a successful trial allowing South Australian women with symptoms of early pregnancy loss or who […]

Remote patient monitoring pilots include co-created response pathways

12 October 2023

New Zealand’s Māori Health Authority Te Aka Whai Ora is running four pilots of remote patient monitoring (RPM) in rural areas that include the ability to co-create and plan response pathways with healthcare providers. Te Aka Whai Ora has invested $NZ2.3 million into four whānau-led pilots in remote rural areas to test the effectiveness of […]

CFEP Surveys launches real-time patient feedback tool for practices

11 October 2023

Healthcare surveys specialist CFEP Surveys has launched a real-time patient feedback digital solution called Active Insights to provide organisations with real-time patient experience data and insights. Launched this week at the Australian Association of Practice Management conference, Active Insights is a web-based application that allows practices to analyse and understand what is going well in […]

Clintel to deploy CareRight for QUT health clinics

11 October 2023

Digital health software provider Clintel Systems will deploy its CareRight solution to Queensland University of Technology to provide a fully integrated end-to-end PAS, EMR and billing and claiming solution for the university’s network of outpatient clinics and teaching clinic environments. The QUT health clinics have been providing health services for the community, student training and […]

RCPA trialling lab interoperability solution for quality assurance

10 October 2023

The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia’s (RCPA) quality assurance arm is trialling an automated laboratory interoperability solution from UK firm X-Lab for its external quality assurance requirements. RCPA Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) provides external quality assurance (EQA) for pathology laboratories. The project will trial the automation of EQA ordering and results reporting from RCPAQAP […]

SA Health now live at first site with eReferrals for outpatient clinics

9 October 2023

SA Health has gone live at the first site of its statewide referral management system, with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital now able to accept electronic referrals to outpatient clinics. Royal Adelaide Hospital and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital are due to start accepting eReferrals from the end of this month, followed by the other metropolitan […]

40pc of general practices sign on with MyMedicare: Butler

9 October 2023

Around 2600 general practices have registered with the government’s new voluntary patient enrolment service MyMedicare, representing nearly 40 per cent of the 6500 practices in Australia, Health Minister Mark Butler said. Practices have been able to register for MyMedicare through Services Australia since July 1, with patient registration beginning on October 1. It is open […]

International health IT week in review: October 8

8 October 2023

NHS England’s £480m federated data platform, Qakbot alive and quacking, 2 in 5 Native Americans visit ER due to diabetes complication, Ireland’s national ED system, online tracking tool rules for hospitals, Nottingham University Hospitals caught in unsent letters debacle, France’s digital safety bill Privacy groups focus on national data opt-out as FDP tender concludes Digital […]

Blog: Telehealth policy continues to chop and change for primary care

6 October 2023

Welcome to national Telehealth Awareness Month, where we celebrate the great gains in virtual care over the last few years while still grappling with the archaic nonsense that has kept the sector back for two decades now. Fantastic stuff! Telehealth Awareness Month kicked off with this very nice opinion piece by Chris De Sair from […]

Bulk-billed telehealth requirements nothing new: DoHAC

5 October 2023

The Department of Health and Aged Care has not made any new laws requiring general practices to fill out forms for patients during telehealth consultations in order for them to be bulk billed. The clarification follows online complaints from several GPs saying the requirements were a “bureaucratic nightmare” that will discourage practices from bulk-billing telehealth […]

Victorian Healthcare Week: How health information exchanges work

5 October 2023

Victoria’s ambitious but somewhat controversial statewide health information exchange (HIE) project will be under the spotlight at the 11th annual Victorian Healthcare Week being held in Melbourne later this month. Victoria is currently implementing an HIE to allow the sharing of pathology data across the Victorian public healthcare system, bringing together records from Victoria’s disparate […]

ACCC gives eRx go-ahead for data transition as MediSecure CEO departs

4 October 2023

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) plans to grant authorisation to Australia’s two prescription exchange services to allow them to collaborate on transferring prescription data to now-sole provider eRx. The interim ruling, to be finalised this month, comes after protracted negotiations about the Department of Health and Aged Care’s sole provider model for prescription […]

Healthdirect adds live captioning to video call service

4 October 2023

Healthdirect Australia has added live captioning to its healthdirect Video Call service to assist hearing-impaired patients during telehealth appointments Live captioning is available to all healthdirect Video Call users and is in operation at more than 11,000 clinics. Captioning can be activated by the clinician at the press of a button. According to Healthdirect Australia, […]

Opinion: Telehealth: Advance Australia Fair

3 October 2023

Telehealth is a powerful tool in the fight against health inequality. It enables precious healthcare resources to be distributed across vast distances and reduces the burden on patients and the heath system. As we mark Telehealth Awareness Month, we have an opportunity to explore the immense transformative potential embedded within telehealth. This innovative technology can […]

SJoG to roll out Charm oncology solution across hospital network

3 October 2023

St John of God Health Care plans to roll out Magentus’ Charm Evolution oncology information system as the centralised oncology patient record across its hospital network. The move follows a successful pilot at St John of God Subiaco Hospital’s cancer centre in 2022, and will now be implemented at St John of God’s hospitals in […]

Study into personal injury rehab platform for motor vehicle accidents

2 October 2023

The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) is helping to fund a study into the potential of a digital engagement platform for patients recovering from motor vehicle accidents. The project will look at the Leap4ward virtual health coach platform, which aims to teach participants skills to overcome unhelpful thoughts and behaviours that affect recovery. Leap4ward […]

Rocky start for MyMedicare from unexpected PRODA glitch

2 October 2023

An unexpected extra step for practices to set up MyMedicare access through Services Australia’s PRODA system has caused a few headaches in the first two days of the system’s launch, although it is understood few patients have tried to register. Patients were able to register themselves for the voluntary patient enrolment system from October 1, […]

International health IT week in review: October 1

1 October 2023

MOVEit hack snares Nuance, Mercy and Microsoft’s AI moves, generational gaps in telehealth appreciation, generative AI copilots, US hospital’s $65m bill for ransomware attack, NHS trust’s EMR blamed for missing discharge summaries, virtual nursing and sitting Google launches Fitbit Charge 6 with new health capabilities MobiHealthNews ~ Jessica Hagen ~ 28/09/2023 Utilizing AI and machine […]

Blog: Powerful legacy of recommendation 68 on aged care

29 September 2023

Digital health in aged care was back in the news this week with the release by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare of its 10-year plan to the collection and quality of data on dementia prevalence and incidence, including initiatives to link dementia onset data to clinical records. It must be said that reading […]

Silverchain signs up with Israeli vendor Datos Health for remote monitoring platform

28 September 2023

Home and nursing care provider Silverchain has signed an agreement with Israeli remote care vendor Datos Health to provide a patient care app and remote monitoring platform for Silverchain’s virtual care in the home service. The move follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s Sheba Fund for Health Services and Research, headquartered […]

Banker named as new chair of ADHA

28 September 2023

Long-time Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) board member Lyn McGrath has been named as the new chair of the agency’s board. Ms McGrath has a background in retail banking, having spent over 11 years with the Commonwealth Bank and Bank of Queensland, and is currently a non-executive director of several companies, including Challenger Bank and […]

GoodSAM expands in SA for first aid-trained members of public

27 September 2023

South Australians with first aid training can now sign up to receive smartphone notifications about cardiac emergencies near them, with the state’s ambulance service expanding the GoodSAM system. The GoodSAM (Smartphone Activated Medic) app integrates with ambulance dispatch so when a 000 call is received for a cardiac arrest and an emergency ambulance and paramedics […]

SafeScript NSW opens access to interstate practitioners

27 September 2023

The NSW real-time prescription monitoring system is now open for registration to practitioners who work outside the state but have a patient who lives in NSW or who receives treatment from NSW practitioners. Interstate access is a one of a range of enhancements to SafeScript NSW, which was rolled out across the state in May […]

Dedalus APAC adds ORBIS EMR to growing product suite

26 September 2023

Global healthcare IT solutions vendor Dedalus has officially launched ORBIS in the Australian and New Zealand markets, adding the electronic medical record to its growing product portfolio in the region. The launch of ORBIS follows the introduction of the Swiftqueue outpatient scheduling solution and the amPHI electronic pre-hospital care record (ePCR) solution last year, and […]

Te Whatu Ora MidCentral upgrades to Miya Precision in the cloud

26 September 2023

New Zealand’s Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua MidCentral District has upgraded to Alcidion’s cloud-managed service for its Miya Precision platform, a first for Alcidion’s New Zealand customer base. MidCentral first installed Miya Precision in 2018 and was the first organisation worldwide to implement the platform. It has allowed the former district health board […]

Orion partners with Pieces for auto-generated patient summaries

25 September 2023

Auckland-based healthcare software vendor Orion Health has partnered with US AI developer Pieces Technologies to add Pieces’ AI technology to Orion’s newly launched Orchestral health intelligence platform. Pieces specialises in using its AI to automatically generate patient summaries directly in the patient lists in electronic health records. The technology is available through EMR vendor Epic’s […]

AIHW releases national dementia data improvement plan

25 September 2023

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released a 10-year plan aimed at improving the collection and quality of data on dementia prevalence and incidence, including initiatives to link dementia onset data to clinical records. Data improvement activities under the plan will include creating guidelines for collecting dementia data in aged care assessments, […]

Tend Health launches nationwide ‘online walk-in’ GP service

25 September 2023

Primary care provider Tend Health has gone nationwide with its online “walk-in” primary care service, which offers 10-minute GP telehealth consults for immediate, non-emergency needs through its mobile app. Tend Health – which offers in-person GP consults at its bricks-and-mortar clinics in Auckland, the Bay of Plenty and the South Island – is aiming the […]

International health IT week in review: September 24

24 September 2023

Virtual nurse sitting, generative AI in Meditech EMR, Cisco buys Splunk, NHS CIOs focus on shared care records, Canada’s digital health drug repository, TPP/SystmOne boss under the hammer over political donations, Oracle’s generative AI tool for EMRs KLAS: State of virtual sitting and nursing market insights 2023 HIT Consultant ~ Syed Hamza Sohail ~ 21/09/2023 […]

Blog: EMR giants all eyeing up generative AI

22 September 2023

We’re still not convinced that the rebranding is working for Oracle Health, the division of Oracle formerly known as Cerner Corporation and one of the three or four big ole legacy electronic medical record vendors that still dominate the EMR market after 40 years in the business. Oracle held its CloudWorld conference earlier this week […]

« Previous 1 … 12 13 14 15 16 … 83 Next »