Technology and digitisation have a critical to role to play in transforming an aged care system that can be scaled to meet the needs of the 1.2 million Australians who currently use the system, new research from the RMIT-Cisco Health Transformation Lab in Melbourne has found.
The report – Transforming aged care: towards a future in which digitisation drives respect and connection – was developed in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which highlighted to role of technology in improving care for older Australians.
Consulting firm Accenture has been awarded a $100m, three-year extension to its contract with the Australian Digital Health Agency to continue as the national infrastructure operator (NIO) for the My Health Record system.
The contract is in addition to the initial eight-year contract thought to be worth over $500m, which was extended by $42.7m in 2019 for two years to June 2022. It will now be extended to 2025 in a deal worth $100,246,893.60.
3M to offload healthcare business, Rhapsody owner Lyniate merger, Teladoc’s woes similar to Amazon, HL7’s genomic data interoperability project, remote monitoring initiative for heart failure, Oracle vows to get VA's $16b EHR back on track after threats to shut it down, audio v video telehealth and digital literacy, GP-specialist communication gaps, telehealth for maternity
3M to spin off healthcare business
Canadian Healthcare Technology ~ Staff writer ~ 03/08/2022
The healthcare business, in which 3M will retain a stake of 19.9%, will focus on wound care, surgical supplies, oral care and healthcare technology. The company expects to complete the spinoff by the end of 2023.
We’ve been watching the progress of the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ EHR modernisation project for quite a few years now, fascinated by what is a mammoth undertaking at a frankly quite extortionate cost. The $US16 billion project was controversial from the beginning, with an aged and yet beloved bespoke system called VistA ripped out to make way for Cerner’s Millennium EMR across numerous VA hospitals and health facilities, linked to the Department of Defense and the US Coast Guard.
The first small sites went live Ohio and Washington in 2020 and immediately ran into problems, which in turn has delayed proposed implementations at larger sites. Concerns have also been raised the price tag for the 10-year project may double or even triple and rival the GDP of a small country. This has led to intense speculation that if the problems aren’t fixed, the whole project may be scrapped.
Long COVID could provide an ideal national model for what is being termed the Patient Anywhere Specialist Everywhere (PASE) model in New Zealand, allowing patients to receive multi-disciplinary care no matter where they are.
The PASE model has been outlined in a recent white paper by the NZ Telehealth Forum as a concept “where the right care can be provided at the right time by the right person”.
Data routinely captured in residential aged care facility electronic management systems can be used to quantify the types and rates of adverse incidents, a new study has shown.
The study found that aged care providers generally collect data on a broader range of adverse incidents than those that are mandatory under the Australian National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator program and this data has the potential to help understand wider trends in adverse incidents.
The Australian Digital Health Agency’s first chief digital officer, Steve Issa, has left the organisation after three and a half years.
An agency spokesperson said Mr Issa had left for personal reasons. His role will be filled temporarily by technology, planning and delivery manager Holger Kaufmann while the position is advertised.
Sydney’s St Vincent's @ Home service will be expanded to provide palliative care ‘home in the hospital’, providing support for its community palliative care team by ensuring daily check-ins with the patient and their support network as well as physical in the home care.
It is an expansion of St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney’s Hospital in the Home (HITH) program, which includes virtual care services for outpatients that began in late 2020.
Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) has received funding from NSW Health to trial the Inca shared care planning system from Precedence Healthcare to try to improve communication between GPs, consumers and mental health services.
Inca, formerly known as cdmNet, is a web-based chronic disease management and shared care planning system that is integrated with most general practice clinical and practice management software in Australia, including Best Practice, MedicalDirector and Zedmed.
It helps GPs to create Medicare-compliant general practice management plans (GPMPs) and team care arrangements (TCAs) and provides real-time access for care team members to share reports, case notes and other patient details.
Melbourne-based Global Health has signed a contract with Gippsland’s Latrobe Community Health to roll out its masterCare EMR, third-party integration and ReferralNet secure messaging systems.
Latrobe Community Health operates over 50 sites including a GP clinic in Melbourne, nursing services, counselling and psychology, nutrition advice, occupational therapy and podiatry, a range of home care services and the Gippsland Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS).
The ACT government will invest more than $50 million to support the implementation of its ambitious Digital Health Record project, which is due to go into operation this year.
The funds will support the roll out of the $151m Epic system, which includes a state-of-the-art EMR as well as a new patient administration and laboratory information system.
Victoria’s Werribee Mercy Hospital has become the second health service in Victoria to implement the myBeepr clinical communication platform, following a major implementation at Western Health last year.
Werribee Mercy decided to implement the system to reduce the reliance on LAN-paging for non-urgent communication, mitigate social media use at work and provide a unified method of communicating and sending clinical photos.
Obstetrics and gynaecology specialist Steve Robson and GP Danielle McMullen have been elected president and vice-president respectively by the Australian Medical Association.
Queensland-raised Professor Robson has been in practice in Canberra for 20 years and is in his fifth term on the AMA ACT board. He is also an AMA federal councillor and previous president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
The Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network (The PHN) is delivering $1.6 million in digital health grants to local general practices, allied health practices and residential aged care facilities as part of its Health-e Together initiative.
RACFs were also offered a telehealth specific grant featuring a $5000 telehealth bundle which included a specially developed telehealth trolley, which is being rolled out to 80 per cent of the facilities in the region.
The Australian government will launch a targeted text message campaign in August to remind more than a million disability support pension recipients and carer payment recipients about accessing a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose as well as the availability of antiviral treatments.
The text message campaign will be targeted and the messages have been developed following consultation with people living with disability and their carers, the government says.
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand (HNZ) plans to fund bespoke rural telehealth services (RTHS) in a rapid roll-out designed to alleviate pressures on rural general practices and enhance rural community access to primary care services.
The project will be overseen by a national steering group that includes HNZ, the Maori Health Authority (MHA) and the newly established Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network and will provide a number of services, including telehealth locum GPs along with in-clinic, after hours, at home and urgent care services.
A clinical trial of a New Zealand-developed smartphone app and virtual reality platform has shown it can help people with phobias and anxiety about heights, spiders, flying and dogs when paired with a virtual reality headset and cognitive behavioural therapy.
The trial, led by Cameron Lacey from the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, studied phobia patients using a headset and app-based treatment technology from Christchurch-based oVRcome, which has also developed a program for children frightened of needles.
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Internal email outlines changes to Oracle Cerner EHR business unit
EHR Intelligence ~ Hannah Nelson ~ 22/07/2022
Upon its acquisition, the Cerner EHR business is now called Oracle Health, one of Oracle’s global industry units (GIUs).
Oracle exec testifies before Senate on EHR modernization
Healthcare IT News ~ Nathan Eddy ~ 26/07/2022
The Electronic Health Record Modernization program initiated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is among the most complex IT projects in history, with a timeline stretching over a decade and carrying, at present, at least, a $16 billion price tag.
The first sitting week of the new Australian parliament got off to a roaring start on Monday, with some very fresh faces looking very pleased with themselves and a pretty good vibe that this parliament might be a little more constructive than the small target promised before the election.
Most pleasing was the fast-tracking of legislation to reform the Aged Care Act, which was one of four big issues canvassed by the new government this week. The legislation had of course been written before the election but the previous government’s legislative incompetence meant it was gathering dust on the shelf. Two bills got their second reading yesterday and the reforms are set to sail through pretty quickly.
Australian telehealth software vendor Coviu has added new functionality to its virtual care platform, deciding to expand its offering to enhance telephone-based telehealth, which is the dominant modality in general practice in Australia and New Zealand.
Coviu’s new unified telehealth platform for synchronous consultations includes video, phone, text and group consultations, enabling group therapies and multi-disciplinary team meetings that standard video conferencing applications have so far only provided limited functionalities.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has recorded a significant increase in views and uploads to the My Health Record from consumers and healthcare providers since the pandemic struck, particularly in the last year as immunisation and pathology results are automatically added.
Since June 2020, documents uploaded to My Health Record increased by 37 per cent, and since June 2021, consumer views of the record have increased by nearly 300 per cent.
ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole (pictured) told the ITAC conference in Sydney recently that the COVID pandemic was behind the increase in use as the My Health Record system, formerly known the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR), turned 10.
EMR vendor InterSystems has opened a specialist New Zealand office in Auckland’s Newmarket to better serve local customers as its TrakCare patient administration systems rolls out at Auckland City Hospital and Starship Children’s Hospital.
The office is headed up by Brian Biggs, director of customer relations and sales for New Zealand.
The newly elected federal government is soon to begin a user audit of the myGov system, the interface between the government and consumers for access to My Health Record, Medicare and the NDIS.
The audit was an election promise released in April by now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Government Services and the NDIS, Bill Shorten. The duo said the audit will take a fresh look at how well myGov is performing for the public when it comes to reliability and functionality for a user-friendly experience.
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