Artificial Intelligence

The revolution changing the face of healthcare delivery

In-built dementia assessment tool for GPs

25 March 2014

Best Practice has added a built-in dementia assessment tool as part of the latest update to its clinical and practice management software. The tool has been designed to assist in the measurement, recording and reporting of patient information relating to dementia risk through a risk assessment prompt. It includes information for daily living, dementia risk […]

Simple technology to deliver telehealth in the home

25 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Flinders University is trialling the remote provision of palliative care, aged care and rehabilitation therapies for older people under its Telehealth in the Home project. In addition to a research focus on enhancing clinical services, the project is investigating how consumer-grade technologies such […]

Zedmed to allow multi-disciplinary sharing of progress notes

24 March 2014

Clinical and practice management software provider Zedmed is set to launch a new function called Clinician GroupShare, which will give users the option to restrict access to progress notes across different clinical groups. Currently in beta testing, the new feature is designed for multi-disciplinary settings. Zedmed sales and marketing manager Rosemary Lloyd said Clinician GroupShare […]

Telehealth moves to the browser

24 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Telehealth provider GP2U recently released a new version of its iPhone app with in-built WebRTC functionality and is now using the technology to conduct video conferences between GPs, specialists and patients through its website. The company is also getting ready to make its […]

Regulations and rail gauge problems holding up ERRCD roll-out

20 March 2014

A host of legal and practical impediments are behind the slow roll-out of the promised Electronic Recording and Reporting of Controlled Drugs (ERRCD) system, which aims to provide real-time surveillance and reporting of schedule 8 drugs. Last week, the Victorian branch of the AMA called on its state government to implement the system as a […]

Best Practice aims high with summit 2014 edition

20 March 2014

Clinical and practice management software vendor Best Practice has released its latest update, with features including full Tyro integration and assisted registration functionality for the PCEHR, along with a view of the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR). Best Practice showcased the new version at its Bp Sunshine Summit on the Sunshine Coast last weekend, […]

Next step for Fred IT is pharmacy in the cloud

19 March 2014

Pharmacy software specialist Fred IT will launch what it says is Australia’s first cloud-based dispense and management solution in the second half of this year, following trials with a number of beta pharmacies. Called Fred NXT, the new solution will be a single, integrated system for dispense, point of sale, professional services and retail management. […]

FOI request for PCEHR review refused

19 March 2014

The Department of Health has refused Pulse+IT’s request for a copy of the report from the Royle review into the PCEHR, lodged under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. The review, conducted by UnitingCare’s Richard Royle, AMA president Steve Hambleton and Australia Post’s Andrew Walduck, was established in early November and the panel’s report was […]

Urgent action needed on real-time drug monitoring system

18 March 2014

AMA Victoria is calling on the Victorian government to implement the Electronic Recording and Reporting of Controlled Drugs (ERRCD) system, which the federal Department of Health says is operational and ready for all states and territories to use. AMA Victoria has joined other state bodies in urging the jurisdictions to act, asking for an allocation […]

Healthdirect begins pricing data collection for My Aged Care

18 March 2014

Healthdirect Australia will shortly begin contacting residential aged care providers to collect details of their maximum accommodation prices to be published on the My Aged Care website. Healthdirect, a state and federally funded health information service that manages My Aged Care on behalf of the Department of Social Services (DSS) as well as the National […]

Boosting the uptake of telehealth

18 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. The volume of telehealth services delivered has not met expectations, and just installing technology does not raise uptake on its own. Telehealth can be boosted by developing new models of care, building clinician acceptance, and expanding to include chronic disease management in the […]

PCEHR review report release “sooner than later”

17 March 2014

The federal government’s review into the PCEHR is likely to be released sooner rather than later, according to the review panel’s chair, Richard Royle. Mr Royle, executive director of UnitingCare Queensland, told the Connect digital health summit in Melbourne on Friday that while the review was in the hands of the government, it was caught […]

Reining in the herd: mobile devices in mobile hospitals

13 March 2014

It might be technology that belongs back in its supposed heyday of the 1980s and that should have since been swamped by alternative devices, but the old-fashioned pager still has a role to play in healthcare – the acute care sector, in particular – and it doesn’t seem likely to be leaving us soon. In […]

Opinion sought on layout of cumulative pathology reports

13 March 2014

Clinicians are being asked for their opinions on the design and layout of pathology reports as part of the Pathology Information, Terminology and Units (PITUS) project. A survey has been designed to gauge clinical opinion on the layout of pathology reports, particularly the question of identifying the most recent result in cumulative reports. The PITUS […]

Understanding the business of online care

13 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Technology itself is no longer a barrier for the vast majority of telehealth services in Australia. What remains a barrier is the many issues faced when scaling telehealth services up to a sustainable model. By factoring the true costs of telehealth, you will […]

Amcal signs up to medAdvisor meds compliance system

12 March 2014

Sigma Pharmaceuticals, owner of the Amcal and Guardian chains of pharmacies, has signed on to use the new MedAdvisor patient medications compliance program, joining Chemmart, PharmaSave and Terry White. MedAdvisor is a digital platform including an iOS and Android app and a web app that provides patients with a list of prescription medications and allows […]

Zedmed releases v23 with assisted PCEHR registration and NPDR

12 March 2014

Zedmed has launched version 23 of its clinical and practice management software, featuring an in-built assisted registration tool for the PCEHR and the ability to send scripts to the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR). Zedmed is the third primary care software vendor to release the two new PCEHR functions, joining Communicare and Genie, which […]

Telehealth research goes commercial for aged care

11 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. A Queensland-based research team that has developed protocols to support geriatric care using telehealth has established a new commercial business called RES-e-CARE for residential aged care facilities. Taking a high-tech approach to telehealth in aged care is considered essential for frail and often […]

Medicines in older people clinical audit receives accreditation

11 March 2014

NPS MedicineWise’s clinical e-audit on medicines-related problems in older people has received accreditation for CPD points for participating GPs. The ‘Medicines in older people: review and rationalise’ audit is recognised for the quality prescribing incentive of the Practice Incentive Program (PIP). GPs can also earn 40 QI&CPD points from the Royal Australian College of General […]

$10m to plant the seed for better aged care through ICT

11 March 2014

A one-off investment of $10 million from the federal government will help the aged care industry to implement a plan for better ICT services across the sector, enabling it to introduce new models of care, improve productivity and reduce waste, the Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC) says. The council, which last week launched […]

Tasmanian hospitals connect to PCEHR, WA to follow

10 March 2014

Tasmania’s four major public hospitals are now connected to the PCEHR and are uploading discharge summaries, with Western Australia shortly to go live as well. The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has listed Royal Hobart Hospital, Launceston General Hospital, North West Regional Hospital and Mersey Community Hospital on its schedule of public hospitals linked to […]

Test results acknowledgement system gets a perfect response

10 March 2014

A study of an electronic test result acknowledgement system in use at a hospital in Brisbane has shown that of the thousands of tests conducted over a year, all of the test results were viewed by clinicians, the majority within 24 hours. While the study could not be compared to rates of viewing or follow-up […]

eHealth, telehealth and overcoming the hype cycle

6 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Looking back at the last decade or two of eHealth and telehealth in Australia and around the world, one question is whether eHealth has delivered on its promise. Unfortunately, in many respects the answer is no. This year, we need to find a […]

HIMAA calls on Curtin to reconsider axeing of master’s degree

6 March 2014

The Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) has called on Curtin University to reconsider its decision to withdraw its graduate entry master’s degree in health information management (HIM). HIMAA CEO Richard Lawrance said the course was the only graduate entry health information management qualification by distance learning available in those states that offer no […]

Independent advice for practices to ImproveIT

5 March 2014

Bayside Medicare Local in Melbourne has set up a program to provide free, independent assessments of ICT capability for GPs, pharmacists and psychologists in its catchment. BML is working with community not-for-profit Infoxchange to conduct full assessments of individual practices’ ICT capabilities through the ImproveIT project, which was trialled last year with five general practices, […]

MBS co-payments could ensure sustainable telehealth market

5 March 2014

A new telehealth industry group has recommend that a co-payment capability be introduced to the telehealth MBS item schedule, as well as a broadening of the range of clinical services available under publicly funded home care packages and hospital in the home, to extend the use of telehealth and ensure a sustainable market. Launching a […]

Community Telco targets healthcare as first sector to natr

4 March 2014

Telecommunications company Community Telco will launch its new cloud-based video conferencing solution natr at the Australian Telehealth Conference (ATC) later this month. natr (pronounced ‘natter’) is a secure, managed solution using LifeSize’s UVC platform, amongst others, and a virtualised suite of video conferencing products including ClearSea for mobile devices. ClearSea is also available on the […]

Aged care looks for government investment in ICT

4 March 2014

The Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC) has called on the federal government to provide a one-off investment in the aged care sector to upgrade its ICT capabilities. Launching its Digital Care Services IT blueprint (pdf) in Canberra yesterday, the ACIITC – a joint venture between Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) and Leading […]

GP feedback sought for NSW Health eDischarge summary

3 March 2014

NSW Health is inviting GPs to provide feedback on what sort of structured information they would like to receive in discharge summaries from public hospitals. HealthShare NSW’s electronic medical record (eMR) team has worked with the Agency for Clinical Innovation and the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) to develop a standard discharge summary for handover to […]

Telehealth can help end health service rationing

3 March 2014

This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Telehealth is a secure, reliable and convenient way to deliver care to people who might otherwise not receive it. However, by limiting access to Medicare-funded telehealth, Australia has for the first time in effect rationed Medicare. It is an injustice that our ‘universal’ […]

Unsupported web browsers at fault with provider portal: DoH

27 February 2014

The Department of Health has rejected claims that there have been problems with the PCEHR provider portal, saying issues reported by several clinicians were caused by the use of unsupported browsers. As reported yesterday, clinicians who attempted to access the PCEHR through the provider portal say they have been unable to do so over the […]

Govt yet to commit to releasing PCEHR review

27 February 2014

The Department of Health (DoH) has confirmed it has received a copy of the Royle review into the PCEHR, but the government has not committed to releasing it publicly. In a Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra yesterday, Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash could not answer a question on whether it would be released publicly. […]

Problems plaguing PCEHR provider portal

26 February 2014

The healthcare provider portal into the PCEHR appears to have been experiencing major issues over the last few days and is now refusing to allow users to log on through any web browser. Clinicians attempting to access the provider portal are being told to try to use their iPads, despite the fact that provider access […]

Aged care industry to launch its vision for ICT

25 February 2014

The Aged Care Industry IT Council (ACIITC) and Accenture will launch a joint initiative in Canberra next week that will outline the assistance the government can provide to the industry to help plan and develop its technology capability. Called the Aged Care IT Vision, the initiative aims to ensure ICT is fully developed and implemented […]

Big data and building a bionic brain

25 February 2014

The Australian Academy of Science has released a report calling for an investment of $200 million over 10 years to build a computer system that has the capacity for thought and intelligent decision-making; in effect, a bionic brain. The report also calls for consideration to be given to the creation of a purpose-built storage system […]

Interactive website to showcase dementia research

25 February 2014

The Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation has launched an interactive website to showcase dementia research currently being conducted in Australia, including La Trobe University’s project that is looking at providing Australia’s first companion robot for home-based dementia care. The launch of the website coincides with the announcement of 29 research grants to young scientists, who […]

NASH project “still going backwards”

24 February 2014

A digital identity and authentication expert has described the need for individual clinicians holding National Authentication System for Health (NASH) security tokens to renew them by fax as “bizarre”, saying it showed the six-year long NASH project was going backwards. Stephen Wilson, principal analyst at Constellation Research, said a manual renewal system that still used […]

Personal data found on recycled hard drives

24 February 2014

Internal emails and attachments from a government medical facility that list personal contact details for medical staff have been found on randomly selected recycled hard drives in Australia. The Australian branch of the US National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), an industry group representing information destruction companies, recently commissioned forensic investigation firm Insight Intelligence to […]

Providing patients with a view of pathology results

21 February 2014

Adelaide-based eHealth technology expert Eric Browne has developed what he believes is the first method to take coded data from HL7 messages and render it into meaningful information that can be read by clinicians and patients. What began as a way to improve the quality and safety of HL7 messages has now developed into a […]

Medibank cancels $7.5m healthbook personal health record

20 February 2014

Health insurer Medibank has announced it is closing its personal health record healthbook, which was developed with $7.5 million in government funding as one of the Wave 2 sites for the implementation of the PCEHR. healthbook was one of nine projects announced in March 2011 for the second wave of funding for the Labor government’s […]

Agreement on scan rate as pharmacy moves to electronic claiming

20 February 2014

Community pharmacies will receive a small incentive payment to encourage them to boost the scanning rates for electronic prescriptions under an agreement between the Pharmacy Guild and the Department of Health. Pharmacies can receive at least $800 on meeting a target of scan rate of 15 per cent by next month, and $1200 if they […]

Clinicians have to renew PCEHR security token by fax

19 February 2014

Healthcare providers who applied for a National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) PKI certificate to participate in the PCEHR have begun receiving renewal notices for individual NASH tokens that require them to fax in an application form to Medicare. Former NEHTA clinical lead Mukesh Haikerwal has vented his frustration at receiving a renewal notice in […]

Inaugural participatory health conference to be held at HIC

19 February 2014

The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) is organising a new conference on participatory health, to run alongside the Health Informatics Conference (HIC) in Melbourne in August. The inaugural Participatory Health (PH) conference will be held alongside regular associated events such as the Digital Hospital Design Conference and those on Nursing Informatics, Indigenous Informatics and […]

Feros Care rolls out WiFi for telehealth, PCEHR and online bingo

18 February 2014

Aged and community care provider Feros Care has upgraded all of its residential aged care villages to the next generation WiFi standard, 802.11ac, which will allow the organisation to provide high-definition video conferencing and VoIP phones to every bedside and to further develop its telehealth capability. Having been one of the first to install a […]

Remote blood pressure monitoring to CATCH hypertension

17 February 2014

Country South SA Medicare Local is loaning home blood pressure monitors for free to patients referred by GPs to the Country Access to Cardiac Health (CATCH) program, which aims to improve cardiac rehabilitation in patients in the area who have had a cardiac event or uncontrolled hypertension. The CATCH program is a joint effort between […]

DocAppointments launches customised practice app service

17 February 2014

Online appointment booking provider DocAppointments is expanding the services it offers to general practices, including the ability to customise apps, better engage with patients by providing health information on a practice’s website and providing online presence management for busy GPs. DocAppointments founder, Tasmanian GP Calin Pava, said the customised app service was a direct request […]

Smart money on smart fabrics as a wearable sensor technology

14 February 2014

The booming field of wearable sensor technology to monitor and measure biometric signals is one being investigated by a number of start-up companies around the world as well as established players like Shimmer and Metria, but one New Zealand-based company is taking it a step further by developing smart textiles that act as the sensor […]

Creating safer software for designers and users

14 February 2014

The gulf between software application designers and end users is nowhere more apparent than in health IT, where systems can have an effect on life or death. A case study of an actual death that came about in part due to a breakdown in communication between software designers and clinicians will be used as part […]

Telstra sponsors Zed Tech to put film in a bag

13 February 2014

Melbourne-based radiology start-up Zed Technologies will use the resources provided by Telstra’s muru-D start-up accelerator program to develop My Film Bag, a new technology that will allow patients to easily access all of their radiology images when they are on the go. Zed Technologies is one of 10 start-ups chosen for the first round of […]

Animation technology adapted for better mobility

13 February 2014

A Queensland clinical research team is using computer animation technology to develop a three-dimensional model to view movement and gait in burns and stroke patients and those with acquired neurological disorders. The team from the Queensland Motion Analysis Centre (QMAC) at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, led by biomechanical engineer Robyn Grote, has worked […]

MedicAlert Foundation to launch online member portal

12 February 2014

Medical emergency information and identification service provider MedicAlert Foundation is building new functionality for its members that will allow them to view and add to the medical and other data the organisation keeps for them in the case of an emergency. The not-for-profit organisation has also joined the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) with a […]

Leecare rolls out PCEHR assisted registration, prepares for eMM

12 February 2014

Aged care software vendor Leecare Solutions has rolled out assisted registration functionality for the PCEHR in its Platinum 5.0 software, having received its notice of integration (NOI). The company is also preparing for the imminent launch of a new medications management module for its web-based software after extensive testing in pilot sites over the last […]

Cardiac app lets patients graph results and email to doctor

11 February 2014

A South Australian cardiologist has developed an app that allows patients with heart conditions to track, store and graph key data such as blood pressure, cholesterol, INR and medications and to send it through the app to their doctor. Called What’s Wrong with My Heart, the app has been designed by Alistair Begg of SA […]

eRx QR codes available from most prescriber software by April

10 February 2014

QR codes that can be scanned into patients’ smartphones through eRx’s new Express app will be able to be printed on scripts from the vast majority of GP software by the end of next month. The eRx Express app was launched late last year and allows patients to scan in their script through their smartphone […]

Australian telehealth: more pilots than Qantas

7 February 2014

Building for the future is the topic of the Australian Telehealth Conference (ATC 2014) in Melbourne next month, with the sustainability of Australia’s approach to conducting telehealth pilot projects under the microscope. The description of telehealth in Australia as having “more pilots than Qantas” is understood to have originated with telehealth expert Victoria Wade, clinical […]

Recommendations to advance eHealth education for clinicians

7 February 2014

The Department of Education’s Office for Learning and Teaching has published the final report of a project investigating how eHealth and clinical informatics capabilities are taught at an undergraduate and postgraduate level for students in medical, nursing and allied health courses. Led by Kathleen Gray and Ambica Dattakumar of the Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre […]

“Instagram for doctors” app launches in Australia

6 February 2014

A Canadian start-up company that has developed a free app for sharing medical images that some are calling “the Instagram for doctors” has officially launched it in Australia. Figure 1 is a free app for the iPhone that allows healthcare professionals to view, share and comment on medical images. The developers – Canadian critical care […]

Medical Director begins printing eRx QR codes on scripts

6 February 2014

Users of general practice software package Medical Director can now print scripts that include a QR code for the eRx Express app. The app allows patients to pre-order medicines through their Android, iOS or Windows smartphone by scanning in the QR code on the script. The patient then SMSs the script to their preferred pharmacy, […]

Consumer devices deliver telehealth in the home

5 February 2014

Flinders University is trialling consumer-grade technologies such as the iPad and Fitbit devices as part of a project that is testing the remote provision of palliative care, aged care and rehabilitation therapies for older people at home. Flinders University’s Telehealth in the Home project was one of the successful bidders for the Telehealth Pilots Program, […]

Medicines app can email meds list to healthcare providers

5 February 2014

NPS MedicineWise has launched a new app for Android and iOS that can be used to store or email a list of medications and to record medical test data. Called MedicineList+, the app can also handle multiple user profiles so parents and carers of older family members can keep track of more than one person’s […]

End in sight for telehealth on-board incentive

4 February 2014

General practices, medical specialists and aged care facilities that are considering setting up telehealth services under the federal government’s Telehealth On-Board Incentive will need to do so by June 30, when the program closes. Healthcare providers have until December 30 to submit claims that are eligible for incentive payments, but they will not be paid […]

Plan to allow adverse drug event reporting from medical software

4 February 2014

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has invited medical software vendors to take part in a project to build a web service to make adverse drug event reporting easier for doctors and other clinicians. The pilot project is due to run until April, when the TGA plans to make the web service available for free to […]

AIHW launches OzWelfare app to partner OzHealth

31 January 2014

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released an OzWelfare app for iPad and iPhone providing key facts and figures from the 2013 Australia’s welfare report. Like the OzHealth app launched last year, the data is a condensed version of the AIHW’s 13th biennial health report and is a comprehensive source of national […]

WentWest links LinkedEHR to HealthPathways

29 January 2014

Western Sydney Medicare Local (WentWest) has begun integrating its HealthPathways web-based clinical decision support portal into its recently launched LinkedEHR shared care planning system, which has been designed to facilitate better team care arrangements between GPs, specialists and allied health practitioners. Piloted in July last year, LinkedEHR allows local clinicians to create GP management plans […]

One-touch smartphone with motion analytics sets Indiegogoing

29 January 2014

Brisbane-based start-up company Ollo Mobile is getting ready to release a one-touch smartphone aimed at older people, having reached its target on crowd-funding site Indiegogo. Ollo Mobile is developing a voice-controlled smartphone called CloudPhone that also includes an accelerometer to detect falls, as well as lifestyle analytics that will allow family members to monitor an […]

Client record central to aged care assessments

29 January 2014

The National Aged Care Alliance (NACA) has released a discussion paper on aged care assessments and the aged care service system, recommending that an amended PCEHR be used as the central client record being developed as part of the Aged Care Gateway. The Gateway was developed by the Labor government after it was recommended by […]

Dr Info trials patient info look-up with after-hours GP service

28 January 2014

New Zealand health IT firm Dr Info is trialling its Care Insight urgent care system with a group of GPs running an after-hours service in NSW. Care Insight is a joint venture between Dr Info and secure messaging provider HealthLink that allows emergency department clinicians and after-hours medical services to quickly look up a patient’s […]

Digital health summit at Connect Expo

27 January 2014

A one-day conference on digital healthcare is one of six summits organised as part of the inaugural Connect Expo, being held in Melbourne in March. Sponsored by the Victorian government and supported by the Australian Information Industry Association and the Australian Computer Society, the expo is an ICT tradeshow with a focus on emerging digital […]

Guidelines required on use of medical apps and mobile devices

24 January 2014

Monash University researchers have called for the development of guidelines on the use of mobile devices and medical apps in clinical practice to ensure safety and quality. While there are many obvious benefits to mHealth applications, including access to information at the point of care and better communication between healthcare providers and patients, there are […]

NSW opens grants round for innovative medical technologies

23 January 2014

The NSW government has opened stage two of its grants program for new medical technologies under its NSW Medical Devices Fund. The first stage of the fund last year saw $10.3 million awarded to five medical device technologies, with a further $7.7 million available for round two. NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the second […]

After-hours meds delivery trial for Toowoomba

22 January 2014

A pharmacy in Toowoomba is trialling an after-hours prescription home delivery service with the financial assistance of the Darling Downs South West Queensland (DDSWQ) Medicare Local. In what is understood to be a first in Australia, patients will be able to order medications between certain hours in the evening on weekdays and weekends for delivery […]

Public hospitals uploading discharge summaries to PCEHR

22 January 2014

The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has compiled a list of public hospitals in Australia that are capable of submitting discharge summaries to the PCEHR. Almost 200 hospitals are listed, all but one of which are from Queensland, NSW and South Australia. In Queensland, which allows its hospital clinicians to view a patient’s PCEHR through […]

eHealth high on the agenda for health experts

21 January 2014

Fixing eHealth and the PCEHR, and using eHealth and telehealth in clinically safe and acceptable forms, are some of the most pressing health priorities in 2014, according to a survey of healthcare experts in the AMA’s Australian Medicine magazine. Australian Medicine asked seven healthcare advocates to identify five top priorities for the coming year. AMA […]

PCEHR undressed at eHealth hypothetical

21 January 2014

The ABC’s Norman Swan will host an eHealth hypothetical in early February, as a part of an event organised by Inner North West Melbourne Medicare Local (INWMML) for GPs, nurses and allied health practitioners. The event is at aimed at providing an informative discussion on the broad issues of eHealth as well as the PCEHR. […]

Software to test cognitive impairment at the point of care

21 January 2014

Computerised cognition testing software that uses an online deck of playing cards to detect early signs of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease can also gauge the nature and magnitude of the impairments. The Cogstate Brief Battery (CBB) is a set of validated tests developed by Australian company Cogstate that has been commercialised as […]

Seniors open to PCEHR with GP oversight

20 January 2014

A survey of the views of a group of older people in Bendigo about their willingness to accept the concept of the PCEHR showed that while the majority think it is a good idea, they still think GPs should oversee their records. The study, carried out in 2011 before the PCEHR was introduced by Paresh […]

No date set for response to PCEHR review

16 January 2014

Health Minister Peter Dutton is currently considering the report prepared by the Royle PCEHR review panel received just prior to Christmas, but has not committed to a date for the government’s response. Mr Dutton issued a brief statement on December 20 announcing he had received the report from the three-man panel, which was convened in […]

Second SA hospital goes live with EPAS

16 January 2014

Port Augusta Hospital has gone live with SA Health’s Enterprise Patient Administration System (EPAS) integrated electronic health record, the second hospital in the planned roll-out of the Allscripts-designed system. EPAS was implemented in Noarlunga Hospital in August, along with four GP Plus centres, SA Ambulance headquarters and a palliative care unit at the Repatriation General […]

WA to extend virtual ED telehealth service

16 January 2014

Western Australia is expanding its Emergency Telehealth Service (ETS) to the state’s Goldfields region as part of plans to have most WA Country Health Service hospitals using the system by 2015. ETS began as a pilot program in eight Wheatbelt hospitals in 2012, and has since extended to 28 predominantly small hospital EDs in the […]

Rural Health Channel to go off air

15 January 2014

The Rural Health Education Foundation (RHEF) has been forced to close its doors and cease operating the Rural Health Channel, with the not-for-profit organisation saying it was no longer financially viable following a reduction in government-contracted work. The RHEF has been in operation since 1995, and in May 2012 began broadcasting the Rural Health Channel […]

SA publishes IT governance, secure messaging standards

15 January 2014

Standards Australia has published a new standard to assist organisations with appropriate governance frameworks for large IT projects, as well as three standards and one technical specification for secure messaging. The new AS/NZS 8016 is not eHealth-specific but is based on an ISO corporate governance model. Project editor and member of the Standards Australia technical […]

Clinical e-audit for medicines in older people

14 January 2014

NPS has developed a new clinical e-audit for GPs to review their medicines management of patients over the age of 75 who are on five or more medicines as well as an antipsychotic, benzodiazepine or opioid. The online clinical audit is aimed at helping GPs to implement a systematic approach to review older patients’ medicines […]

Telehealth moves into retirement living

14 January 2014

Independent living provider RetireAustralia is rolling out a real-time monitoring service to residents of its 26 independent living villages in association with telecommunications carrier Frontier Networks. The company will initially offer high-speed broadband capability to provide online entertainment and village management services via wireless internet and IPTV, and is also planning to provide 24-hour health […]

Best Practice prepares for next release

13 January 2014

GP clinical and practice management software vendor Best Practice is aiming to increase its market share this year, appointing a dedicated product manager and preparing for the next version of the software, which will include an in-built assisted registration function for the PCEHR and a view of the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR). Best […]

HISA gears up for big data, telehealth conferences

13 January 2014

The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) is closing off submissions for its Big Data conference this Wednesday as it prepares for the Australian Telehealth Conference (ATC 2014), a collaboration between seven of Australia’s leading health and telehealth organisations. Big Data 2014 will be held in Melbourne from April 3 to 4, with topics including […]

Challenges in interoperability with endoscopy information system

10 January 2014

In 2013, a state-wide endoscopy information system (EIS) based on ProVation MD software was rolled out across endoscopy units in public hospitals in NSW. The system is able to interface with the various instances of patient administration systems used in NSW, predominantly Cerner and CSC’s iPM, as well as the Cerner and Orion electronic medical […]

GP2U goes live with WebRTC video conferencing app

9 January 2014

Telehealth provider GP2U has released a new version of its iPhone app with in-built WebRTC functionality, and is also using the technology now to conduct video conferences between GPs, specialists and patients through its website. WebRTC is a developing telecommunications standard that will allow people to conduct video conferences and transfer images and documents in […]

Telehealth research goes commercial for aged care

8 January 2014

The Queensland-based research team that has developed protocols to support geriatric care using telehealth has established a new commercial business called RES-e-CARE, a teleheath service being offered to residential aged care facilities. Researchers from the University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (COH) and the Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine (CRGM), led by Len […]

Apps for your patients

8 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. There are a host of apps that doctors can use in collaboration with their patients, some good and some not so good. Here’s a quick look at some of the consumer-focused apps that doctors might recommend to patients for basic and in-depth use […]

Grampians takes a regional approach to dementia care

7 January 2014

Last year, Grampians Medicare Local in Victoria launched an online dementia pathways tool to support local primary care clinicians with timely referrals to specialist services and local support options for people with dementia. As part of the Grampians Region Community Aged Care Dementia project, the tool differs from others such as those used in NSW’s […]

Apps for practice and clinical use

7 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. The tidal wave of new apps keeps on coming, so Pulse+IT has put together a snapshot of some of the latest on the market for general practice and medical specialist use. This snapshot is not meant to be comprehensive, but to provide an […]

API for pre-validated Medicare claiming set for launch

6 January 2014

Melbourne start-up company claiming.com.au is about to launch a new technology platform that promises to make integrating Medicare billing with practice management software a much easier process. Claiming.com.au has developed an API it will market to general practice and allied health software vendors to allow them to easily integrate online claiming with Medicare and the […]

Maternity information system delivered in the cloud

6 January 2014

St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Melbourne has installed a maternity information system for electronic maternity assessments that is believed to be the first such system delivered in the cloud. The maternity system comprises several of Emerging Systems’ EHS clinical information system solution modules, of which some are maternity-specific such as assessments, labour and birth record […]

Snap or scan: apps for ordering prescriptions

6 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. For the first time in Australia, patients can pre-order their prescriptions from a pharmacy using a simple app on their mobile phones. There is currently a choice between two – Send a Script or eRx Express – which general practices might wish to […]

Medical apps and mobile health regulation

3 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. The explosion of apps for the medical and wellness sectors has been noted by many, and the problem of developers making medical claims about their apps is also a growing issue. Both the US FDA and Australia’s TGA have released guidance on what […]

Independent tech evaluation: pipe dream or worthwhile aim?

2 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Late last year, the Australasian College of Health Informatics (ACHI) put together a program evaluation subcommittee (PES), which the college hopes will in time become the peak national group for providing advice on the merit of eHealth implementations. One prime example is the relative […]

Health IT developers are health IT users too

1 January 2014

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Implementing IT standards for healthcare is a bewilderingly complex field, even for experienced programmers, as behind each standard is a host of theory that can prove confronting for those itching to get in and start work. Standards adoption needs to become more participatory […]

Patient care at the forefront of mobile health

31 December 2013

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. Ted Carner has lived an interesting life and has lived to tell many tall tales about it. Now practising as a dermatologist in Melbourne while teaching skin surgery, he is also one of the inventors of the PicSafe Medi clinical imaging app. Dr […]

Mobile health in the hospital

29 December 2013

This story first appeared in the November 2013 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine. The use of mobile technologies in clinical practice in the acute care sector has seen remarkable growth in the last few years. New and emerging technologies – such as the use of iPads in the operating theatre and Google Glass for surgical education […]

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