Artificial Intelligence

The revolution changing the face of healthcare delivery

Sysmex updates Eclair, releases new version of Delphic

12 July 2013

New Zealand-based clinical and laboratory information systems specialist Sysmex has released a new version of its Delphic LIS, featuring a swathe of new features including an imaging module, results search and a test referral manager with the aim of streamlining “the electronic loop”. Sysmex, which will be exhibiting at the Health Informatics Conference (HIC) next […]

Parkinson’s iTest app up for national iAward

11 July 2013

An innovative app designed to help people with Parkinson’s disease to keep track of their condition and share progress with their neurologists has won the student section of the WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Awards (WAiTTA), and will now go on to compete in the national iAwards next month. The Parkinson’s iTest app, designed by […]

GS1 to launch healthcare industry Recallnet

11 July 2013

Not-for-profit standards and barcoding body GS1 Australia will launch a healthcare industry version of its Recallnet system for product recall and withdrawal notifications for therapeutic goods in September. GS1 Recallnet Healthcare has been developed over three years by GS1 Australia in association with NEHTA, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), state and territory health departments and […]

DCA buys residential and community aged care suite from CSC

10 July 2013

Database Consultants Australia (DCA) has acquired the residential and community services division from CSC, including client contracts, staff and intellectual property. DCA has an established footprint in residential and community aged care with its The Care Manager (tcm) solution and a growing footprint in community care following last year’s acquisition of Aboriginal healthcare specialist Communicare. […]

Indigenous healthcare resources at the point of care

10 July 2013

The team behind the Indigenous HealthInfoNet web resource has recently launched ClinicalInfoNet, a web portal aimed at clinicians to assist them in the prevention and management of chronic disease among indigenous people. The resource is available for all primary and allied healthcare clinicians online or from within the PrimaryCareSidebar tool in Medical Director and Best […]

eHealth a priority for NHMRC primary care research

10 July 2013

The federal government will provide the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) with an extra $13.5 million for research into the primary care sector, with service models and eHealth two of the priority areas. As part of the NHMRC’s Better Health Partnership in Primary Care program, the council will fund primary care research projects […]

Quality improvement site for Medicare Locals

9 July 2013

The Improvement Foundation (IF) has launched a new site on its qiConnect web portal aimed at helping Medicare Locals to use healthcare data to enhance quality improvement within their regions. IF, which runs the Australian Primary Care Collaboratives (APCC) program and the eCollaborative, which aims to support general practices and health services to be ready […]

IHE Australia to showcase cross community access at HIC

8 July 2013

Standards-based interoperability organisation IHE Australia will provide a real-life demonstration of the movement of patients and data across the community and acute care sectors at its 2013 Interoperability Showcase, being held at the Health Informatics Conference (HIC) in Adelaide next week. Seven health IT vendors will come together to show how they can support health […]

Best Practice prepares to summit 2014

8 July 2013

Clinical software vendor Best Practice will hold its annual summit in Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in March next year. Best Practice decided not to hold a summit this year as resources were stretched working on PCEHR integration, but chief commercial officer Craig Hodges said the company was preparing some new ideas for next year’s […]

Medibank to integrate Arezzo clinical decision support

5 July 2013

Medibank Health Solutions has signed a contract with UK-based InferMed to integrate its Arezzo clinical decision support software into Medibank’s platforms. The Arezzo clinical decision support technology enables the design and creation of clinical pathways, guidelines and patient care protocols and is used in extensively in general practices in New Zealand. InferMed also signed a […]

Web-based resources provide pathways to healthcare

4 July 2013

Western Sydney is introducing a HealthPathways program for local healthcare providers, based on the system pioneered by the Canterbury Initiative in New Zealand and also up and running in the Hunter New England region of NSW. HealthPathways is a web-based information portal for a range of common conditions that is tailored for local healthcare practitioners […]

Personal stories in the journey to personalised medicine

4 July 2013

Most who attended would agree that the highlight of last year’s Health Informatics Conference (HIC) was Regina Holliday, the US artist who gave a keynote speech on her personal story of her family’s interaction with the healthcare system, and how it led to her becoming an advocate for patients and for health IT. This year, […]

Doctors opposed to full patient access to medical records

3 July 2013

The majority of Australian doctors say sharing health records electronically has a positive effect on reducing medical errors and improving the quality of diagnostic and treatment decisions, but that they were not in favour of allowing patients to have full access to those records. The findings are from of a global survey carried out by […]

Pharmacy in the ‘getting ready’ stage for PCEHR

3 July 2013

While the community pharmacy sector has long prided itself on its early adoption of dispensing software and the development of electronic transfer of prescription capability, it has not yet been on the priority list for other eHealth developments such as the PCEHR. That all appears to be changing now, with Medicare Locals moving into a […]

Feds and states agree to develop business case for eHealth

3 July 2013

The federal, state and territory governments have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing them to developing a nationally agreed business case for funding for eHealth beyond July next year. Current funding for eHealth initiatives such as the PCEHR – provided by the federal government – and for the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) – […]

EHRs in aged care: the good, the bad and the unintended

2 July 2013

A research team from the University of Wollongong investigating the experience of nursing staff in aged care facilities following the introduction of an electronic health record has followed up research from last year describing the benefits of the EHR with new research on the unintended adverse consequences they also experienced. The UOW team, led by […]

PCEHR promise yet to be fulfilled

2 July 2013

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) supports the concept of the PCEHR and the ability to share information with other healthcare providers. However, the PCEHR as it stands today is still proving overly complex for many practices. Targeted government support and more clinician involvement in the system would improve functionality and take-up by medical practitioners. Twelve […]

RACGP releases revised information security guidelines

1 July 2013

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has released its revised computer and information security standards (CISS) guidelines, which provide general practices with information and recommendations about contemporary security issues and help protect against potential loss of sensitive data. The intent of the second edition CISS is to provide a framework, accompanied by practical […]

Good uptake for telehealth in western NSW

28 June 2013

The federal government’s $15.7 million telehealth support program comes to a close this weekend, and while it is far too early to evaluate whether it has achieved its aims or not, for one Medicare Local area, the program has seen a good rate of uptake of telehealth provision. Western NSW Medicare Local (WML) was one […]

MediSecure to hook up to the NPDR

27 June 2013

Prescription exchange service MediSecure has announced it has signed a commercial agreement with NEHTA to integrate with the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR). The move will mean that both prescription exchange vendors, MediSecure and eRx, will now be able to link to the repository, which has been built as part of the national PCEHR […]

Referrer network at heart of coreplus as it builds SaaS ecosystem

27 June 2013

The allied health software system formerly known as OPMS (online practice management studio) has had a major makeover recently, with the company behind it venturing into new territory to build a community of third-party add-on partners, an Australia-wide network of referrers, and aligning itself with the national eHealth agenda. Intracore Online Solutions has rebranded OPMS […]

Medications app aims to make pharma easy for families

26 June 2013

A new pharmacy-focused app has been launched on the market aimed at helping parents to manage both the prescription and non-prescription medications of the whole family. The PharmaEasy app for the iPhone and iPad has been designed as a simple to use app to manage the family’s medications. Designed by Albert Thammavong and his Canberra-based […]

HISA calls for nominations for aged care informatics committee

26 June 2013

The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) is calling for nominations for the committee of its aged care informatics special interest group (SIG) for 2013-2014. HISA’s aged care SIG aims to promote the adoption of ICT, assistive technology and information management in ageing and aged care. Its current chairman is Associate Professor Andrew Georgiou of […]

DoHA to provide dosage data with brand name on PBS

25 June 2013

The Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) will provide the strength of ingredients for several multi-active drugs as part of their brand name in the July PBS schedule, a move it says will help overcome problems that have arisen after a change in the way medicines are listed. As Pulse+IT reported yesterday, several medical and […]

Alphabetical listing of drug ingredients on PBS a safety hazard

24 June 2013

Medical and pharmacy groups have written to the Department of Health and Ageing to demand it reverse a change to the listing of generic descriptors for multi-active medicines on the PBS, saying the change is causing problems with medical software and is potentially a serious safety issue. Representatives from the Australian Medical Association, the Pharmacy […]

One year on: update on PCEHR facts and figures

24 June 2013

Consumer registrations for the PCEHR reached 320,865 as of last week, with up to 8000 new registrations occurring each day, figures from the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) show. The department had hoped that registrations would reach 500,000 by June 30, but it seems that at the current rate, a total of 400,000 is […]

eRx to launch QR code scanning app for pharmacy

21 June 2013

eRx Script Exchange will launch its first smart phone app to connect consumers with its national eScripts network in October. The eRx Express app will allow consumers to scan and pre-order their medicines from their regular pharmacy or other pharmacy of choice. The app works by scanning the QR code that will begin to appear […]

CSC wins national rollout contract for MedChart in NZ

20 June 2013

CSC has won a five-year contract worth $NZ17 million to roll out its medication management solution MedChart to all 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) across the country. It has also won a second contract, valued at $NZ2.6 million over five years, for the implementation of its ePharmacy solution in New Zealand’s Midland region. CSC will […]

App for anxiety aims to relieve anxiousness on the go

19 June 2013

Melbourne-based clinical psychologist Mark Grant has developed a mobile app for people with stress anxiety that aims to help reduce levels of anxiety whenever and wherever they occur. The Anxiety Release app is based on non-verbal bilateral stimulation, an element of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapy used for people with post-traumatic stress […]

Healthcare in the home: using technology to deliver care

19 June 2013

This article first appeared in the May 2013 edition of Pulse+IT Magazine. The use of medical devices in the home and remote monitoring are proven technologies, but the barrier to wider use remains an economic one. Some devices are publicly funded but many aren’t. However, wider use of assistive technologies in the home can be […]

Sending out an SOS by watch phone for the elderly

18 June 2013

Sydney-based personal care technology company mCareWatch has released a mobile personal device for the elderly that is part wristwatch, part mobile phone, part emergency beacon. Aimed at the elderly living in their own homes as well as the independent living and residential aged care sectors, the SOS Mobile Watch looks like and actually is a […]

Apps for healthcare professionals

18 June 2013

This article first appeared in the May 2013 edition of Pulse+IT Magazine. The world of healthcare apps is opening up amazing opportunities for teaching, learning and improving patient care. As mobile technology becomes integrated into our day-to-day practice, new ideas for how to use mobile apps are emerging. Here are some of the best apps […]

“Flawed” data may overestimate GP-type patients in EDs

17 June 2013

The method used to calculate how many patients presenting to emergency departments may have been better off seeing a general practitioner consistently overestimates the proportion and should no longer be used for policy decisions, according to a new study. A team led by University of WA professor of emergency medicine and Fremantle Hospital ED physician […]

Telehealth at RCH is business as usual

14 June 2013

Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital has devised a three-year roll-out plan for its telehealth service with the aim of making video consultations “business as usual” throughout the hospital. RCH began offering telehealth services over 18 months ago, starting in neurology, respiratory, nephrology and allergy, and has since opened it up to a number of different medical […]

Canberra Hospital trials free public Wi-Fi

13 June 2013

The Canberra Hospital has begun a trial of free public Wi-Fi for patients and families, beginning in paediatric and acute rehabilitation wards with a view to a wider roll-out. ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, said paediatrics was specifically chosen to be a part of the initial stages of the trial to […]

mHealth – Snoops out!

13 June 2013

This article first appeared in the May 2013 edition of Pulse+IT Magazine. mHealth is a powerful and increasingly pervasive tool for healthcare professionals, but a lack of knowledge about security, privacy and the proper use of the technologies involved is a serious threat to the wider potential of mHealth for clinical care. Information systems, standards […]

How to choose a good healthcare app

12 June 2013

This article first appeared in the May 2013 edition of Pulse+IT Magazine. There are tens of thousands of healthcare apps out there and they seem to proliferate by the day. The majority are aimed at consumers, but for healthcare professionals, medical apps can be a wonderful resource. How, though, do you sift through the less […]

Govt to consider patient to GP telehealth on MBS

12 June 2013

The federal government has committed to considering an expansion of the Medicare Benefits Schedule for telehealth items this year, and has also promised to implement video consults for the after-hours GP Helpline and the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline. As part of an update to its national digital economy strategy, released by Communications Minister Stephen […]

Leecare PCEHR-compliant as aged care hooks up

12 June 2013

Aged care software vendor Leecare Solutions has been certified as PCEHR-compliant and granted production access to the national system. Leecare Solutions CEO Caroline Lee said users of the most recent version of its Platinum 5.0 software can now access residents’ PCEHRs, upload documents and download any existing documents in the system. Dr Lee said the […]

ICT complexity to delay opening of Fiona Stanley Hospital

11 June 2013

The planned opening of the $2 billion Fiona Stanley Hospital has been delayed by six months due to the complexity of the project, particularly its ICT system, the WA government has announced. WA Health Minister Kim Hames released a statement yesterday saying the hospital will now open in October 2014, rather than April as planned. […]

$10m ad campaign for Medicare and PCEHR begins

11 June 2013

The federal government has launched its long-awaited advertising campaign for the PCEHR, airing new television commercials spruiking it as part of a “Medicare For All” promotion that also includes information on Medicare Locals and the after-hours GP helpline. The existence of money for the campaign was revealed in the May budget, when $10 million was […]

ePrescribing systems reduce errors but not time with patients

10 June 2013

New research has shown that the use of ePrescribing systems in the acute care setting can prevent more errors than they cause, and that the introduction of electronic medication management has a negligible effect on time spent on patient care. Two papers published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) by […]

Contractors hired for PCEHR but Medicare Locals not happy

6 June 2013

The Department of Health and Ageing has confirmed that staff from health services organisation Aspen Medical have been deployed to over 250 healthcare sites including hospital lobbies and outpatient clinics to conduct consumer awareness activities and assisted registration for the PCEHR. Aspen Medical has been subcontracted by the PCEHR national change and adoption partner, McKinsey […]

PCEHR registrations hit 250,000 as hospitals come online

6 June 2013

Consumer registrations for the PCEHR have reached a landmark figure of 250,000, with 10,000 people signing up in one day this week, according to the Department of Health and Ageing. DoHA representatives told a Senate Estimates committee hearing in Canberra last night that while reaching the forecast figure of 500,000 by June 30 might be […]

PCEHR child development function links to mobile app

6 June 2013

Community nurses, paediatricians and maternity hospitals as well as GPs are being encouraged to interact with the PCEHR with the introduction of the new Child Development function. The Child Development component uses much of the work developed by the Greater Western Sydney Wave 2 site, including the My Child’s eHealth Record mobile app released last […]

Send a script by phone to the pharmacy

5 June 2013

A NSW pharmacist has developed an iPhone app that allows consumers to take a photo of their prescription and SMS it to their pharmacist, where it can be dispensed at a convenient time to both. Part of a broader range of smartphone and web-based apps that Wollongong pharmacist Fabian McCann hopes to integrate within pharmacy, […]

Kinect for home monitoring and tablet for Parkinson’s

4 June 2013

Two Edith Cowan University student projects have been nominated as finalists in the 2013 WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Awards (WaiTTA), one for the development of an app for people with Parkinson’s disease and the other for using Kinect for Xbox for in-home monitoring. ECU computer science honours student Laurence Da Luz has developed software […]

MMRGlobal heading down under

4 June 2013

The US company that is claiming the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) may have infringed on its patents for personal electronic health records is planning a trip to Australia, announcing it had retained a local legal firm to represent its interests. MMRGlobal has launched legal action against a number of companies in the US, including […]

Child health app released as PCEHR registrations grow

3 June 2013

The federal government has released the first app that can interact with the PCEHR as registrations for the system climb past 215,000. The new My Child’s eHealth Record app has been based on the app designed by Deloitte and NSW Health as part of the Greater Western Sydney Wave 2 site that has created an […]

Calvary and CSC partner to use PCEHR for end of life care

3 June 2013

Healthcare provider Little Company of Mary Health Care and software provider CSC are working together to develop new ways of sharing essential information to better manage end of life care for patients in the Calvary network of hospitals and palliative, aged, community and home care services. The plan is to develop an electronic solution using […]

HealthLink begins SMD commissioning process

31 May 2013

Secure messaging network provider HealthLink will begin the process of Secure Message Delivery (SMD) commissioning in general practices from tomorrow. Practices that have applied to take part in the eHealth Practice Incentives Program (ePIP) need to have SMD commissioned by August 1 to remain eligible for payments. HealthLink’s national eHealth manager, Nikki Breslin, said SMD […]

Out of the box platform for mental health initiatives

30 May 2013

Software vendor Intrahealth has released a platform of integrated software products called com.unity to support mental health initiatives in Australia. com.unity combines Intrahealth’s Profile practice management system with Accession web portals for patients and external care providers and Profile iOS, a native mobile application for the iPad and iPhone. Intrahealth general manager Craig Longstaff said […]

Australia still at first stage of health analytics journey

30 May 2013

If you think of health analytics as a journey with four key stages – capture, share, understand, and act – Australian healthcare organisations will quickly tell you they are still at the first stage of that journey. It also becomes clear why, despite capturing huge volumes of patient data, healthcare organisations are not getting the […]

IDNT Online goes on the dietitians’ menu

29 May 2013

The IDNT Online documentation system for dietitians created by start-up company FC Dietetic Software Solutions has been released as a full clinical management solution. Designed by clinical dietitian Claire Nichols and software engineer Felix Jorkowski, IDNT Online allows dietitians to write electronic client reports using the International Dietetic and Nutrition Terminology (IDNT), a standardised language […]

Putting a pen to the pulse to measure central BP

29 May 2013

Researchers from the University of Queensland are using technology developed by Australian company AtCor Medical in a study looking at whether lowering central blood pressure can reduce cardiovascular disease risk in people with hypertension. The technology, called SphygmoCor, measures central blood pressure at the wrist, rather than the traditional brachial measurement using a blood pressure […]

Investment in IT can lead to improved resident care

29 May 2013

IT consulting and integration firm IT Integrity recently picked up the top award as the IT company of the year at the 2013 Information Technology in Aged Care (ITAC) conference for its work with Queensland aged care facility Star Gardens. Star Gardens is a small aged care facility located in Beaudesert, south of Brisbane, but […]

HISA calls for nominations for board

28 May 2013

The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) has issued a call for nominations for its board, to serve for the next two years. Four vacancies are open this year. The successful nominees will be announced at HISA’s AGM, to be held during the Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2013) in Adelaide on July 17. Nominations are […]

Emerging Systems to roll out clinical platform for St Vincent’s

28 May 2013

Clinical information system vendor Emerging Systems has been selected to install its EHS platform throughout the St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA) group. SVHA operates four public hospitals, seven private hospitals and 10 aged care facilities in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, totalling over 2500 hospital beds and 1100 aged care places. Emerging Systems has provided its […]

RACGP calls for GP to patient telehealth on the MBS

27 May 2013

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has called for GP to patient video conferences to be introduced to the Medicare Benefits Schedule as an alternative to face to face consultations. As part of its pre-election statement, the college said telehealth services are beneficial for many groups of patients, particularly those with chronic diseases […]

Pharmacy error probable cause of PCEHR problem

27 May 2013

Further investigations into how two incorrect prescriptions were added to the PBS section of a Pulse+IT journalist’s PCEHR have shown that it was most probably an error at a local pharmacy, one that has since been compounded when repeat scripts were dispensed from a different pharmacy a month later. As we reported recently, I discovered […]

Medtech aims for home care market

24 May 2013

Medtech Global is working with the CSIRO and Victoria’s Peninsula Health to develop an effective, cost-efficient way of helping keep chronic heart disease patients at home and out of hospital. As part of the Victorian government’s Health Market Validation Program (MVP), Medtech Global is currently conducting a feasibility study to see if a combination of […]

Remote Australia looks for better satellite infrastructure

23 May 2013

Healthcare providers, technical experts and Medicare Locals are currently working on a proposal for funding to improve telecommunications infrastructure in remote parts of Australia, with the aim of improving access to healthcare more quickly. The proposal is being developed based on the outcomes of the Satellite and Telehealth Conference hosted by the Kimberley-Pilbara Medicare Local […]

ConTAC to deliver rehab, specialist services for aged care

22 May 2013

The University of Queensland is one of the successful bidders for the $20 million NBN-enabled telehealth program with its ConTAC project, which aims to deliver much-needed medical and allied health services to 650 older Queenslanders living in residential aged care facilities and in the community. The project will combine telehealth work currently being carried out […]

Captivating software for visual education

22 May 2013

How much does the average person understand about their eyes? It’s probably safe to say, not a great deal. Lack of information for eye patients can make testing and treatments a confusing and unnerving experience. Tackling this problem has led eye-clinic group personalEYES to roll out Captiv8, a software program for patient education, across its […]

Gradual roll-out for electronic advance care directives

22 May 2013

While the details of how and when advance care directives are added to the PCEHR are still being worked out, the Cradle Coast Connected Care (4C) project is rolling out its advance care planning system to a fifth residential aged care facility in Tasmania. The 4C project was one of the Wave 2 sites for […]

Electronic log book for blood glucose levels

21 May 2013

Three University of Sydney IT students recently won the Microsoft Asian Cup Australia with their BlueClover mobile phone app designed to help diabetics manage their condition. Andrew Chen, a final-year IT student and co-developer of the app, said he and fellow students Donald Zhang and Robin Huang designed BlueClover to replace the limited electronic solutions […]

HCN partners with Healthshare for MD Sidebar app

20 May 2013

Health Communication Network (HCN) has demonstrated the first iteration of its new sidebar functionality for Medical Director, partnering with Healthshare to develop a patient education application to assist doctors with explaining to patients the options and outcomes of health problems once a diagnosis has been made. HCN’s MD Sidebar, first announced in August last year, […]

HSAGlobal signs first Medicare Local for mental health plan

20 May 2013

South Eastern Sydney Medicare Local (SESML) has signed an agreement with New Zealand-based clinical software developer HSAGlobal to use its Collaborative Care Management Solution (CCMS) to manage two of its mental health programs. CCMS is used in several of New Zealand eHealth projects, including as the software for the National Health IT Board’s shared care […]

Workshop on implementing social media in healthcare

17 May 2013

eHealth & HL7 Education Partners is holding a social media workshop in Sydney on May 31, aimed at people involved in designing, implementing and managing a social media presence in their healthcare organisation. Trainer Klaus Veil, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Sydney and well-known eHealth expert, said despite mainly concentrating on […]

Whole-of-life clinical repository through The Viewer

17 May 2013

It’s not easy to impress armed services personnel, but when the Wide Bay Health Service District triaged patients for three air-evacuations to Brisbane during Bundaberg’s recent flood, the RAAF loadmaster was heard to say that he wished all airlifts could run so well. When it became clear that ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald’s floodwaters would close Bundaberg’s […]

The PCEHR Song

17 May 2013

Coinciding with a week noted by many PCEHR developments, a live recording of ‘The PCEHR Song’ has emerged on YouTube, posted by YouTube user winpowerd. The PCEHR Song is performed as part of ‘GP The Musical’, with the clip recorded during a performance at Gasworks in April as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. […]

PCEHR release three features child development section

16 May 2013

The latest release of the PCEHR, which went live last Sunday, includes a new section for parents to add details of their children’s health, growth and development, mainly aimed at parents of newborns and younger children. Based in part on the electronic Blue Book developed by NSW Health from its HealtheNet project, the Child Development […]

Medications view added to PCEHR as NPDR goes live

16 May 2013

Fred IT and Genie Solutions have this week uploaded the first records to the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR), with a new view of the repository added to both of the clinical software packages and to all consumer PCEHRs. On Tuesday, a Genie user created a script which was dispensed through Fred, with the […]

Genie releases update with inbuilt assisted PCEHR registration

15 May 2013

Genie Solutions has released version 8.5.5 of its clinical software for GPs and specialists, featuring the ability to register patients for a PCEHR directly from within the system. The new functionality will allow healthcare providers to send a request to register the patient to the PCEHR server from within the tools menu and receive a […]

QPS and Leecare collaborate on data capture

14 May 2013

Aged care software vendor Leecare Solutions and QPS Benchmarking have developed collaborative software capabilities to streamline the capture and reporting of data between both systems. As part of a multi-phase project, the new functionality will allows users to capture data directly from an organisation through Leecare’s Platinum 5.0 interface. Data can be collected through Leecare’s […]

Aged Care Gateway on track for July launch: DoHA

14 May 2013

The Department of Health and Ageing has delivered a progress report on its Aged Care Gateway project, confirming that it will go live on July 1 with an initial focus on providing general information while it builds capacity to ultimately deliver online assessments and referrals. Craig Harris, assistant secretary of the access reform branch in […]

Rural doctors rally to save Tele-Derm

14 May 2013

A group of rural doctors who use the Tele-Derm dermatology service have set up a petition to lobby the government to continue funding the service, which provides specialist advice and education on dermatology to rural GPs. Established by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and hosted on its Rural and Remote Medical […]

Incorrect PBS data added to PCEHR

13 May 2013

Incorrect information about two prescription drugs has been added to a Pulse+IT journalist’s eHealth record, a situation which the Department of Human Services (DHS) is currently investigating. This reporter has discovered that records for two prescriptions have been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Report section of my PCEHR, despite the fact that the medications were […]

NZ Central region to begin shared CIS roll out

10 May 2013

The six district health boards (DHBs) making up New Zealand’s Central region have signed an agreement to begin rolling out the Orion Health Hospital clinical information system in all hospitals in the area. Part of the New Zealand Health IT Board’s plan to develop shared care throughout the country, implementation of the CIS will occur […]

Advance care directives to be stored on PCEHR

9 May 2013

The government is moving ahead with plans to store advance care directives on the PCEHR, with Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek announcing that an additional $10 million had been allocated to developing the capability. The funding is in addition to the amount already allocated as part of the $325 million Tasmanian Health Assistance Package announced […]

CSIRO to demonstrate evidence for telehealth under NBN project

9 May 2013

The federal government has revealed the winning bidders for the $20.3 million grants program to evaluate NBN-enabled telehealth pilot projects, first announced in January last year, including the CSIRO planning the first large-scale use of patient-collected data uploaded to the PCEHR. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, said the nine […]

Pharmacies ready for NPDR as PCEHR v3 nears

8 May 2013

Fred IT Group has released a PCEHR-enabled version of its Fred Dispense product to all of its pharmacy users that will also allow them to send dispense information through eRx to the National Prescription and Dispense Repository (NPDR), due to go live this week. Simple Retail, which markets the Aquarius dispense software, is also ready […]

Social media as a training tool for allied health

8 May 2013

Using social media to train healthcare staff and for educating the public is “cheap as chips” and should be adopted more widely, a Melbourne-based dietitian says. Emma Rippon, an accredited practising dietitian and managing director of Eat Well Nutrition, started the company’s social media program, which comprises Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, late last year. Ms […]

Telstra, Seven invest in HealthEngine

8 May 2013

Telstra and Seven West Media have invested $10.4 million in online appointments booking service HealthEngine. HealthEngine CEO Marcus Tan said the investment would enable the company to grow more quickly and enter new markets, including allied health. “Our current customer focus is GPs and dentists and we have plans to expand into the allied health […]

Data collection a breeze with analysis wizard

7 May 2013

Like a business deal written on the back of a napkin during a long lunch, an application to crunch therapeutic-intervention data in aged care began as a simple sketch on a yellow pad. “TALogWiz” – which was recently runner-up in the Best Implementation of the Year over 650 Places/Clients at the 2013 Information Technology in […]

HISA opens apps challenge, launches scholarship

7 May 2013

The Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) has opened its health apps challenge for 2013 and has launched a new scholarship to enable a student to attend the Health Informatics Conference (HIC) in Adelaide in July. The health apps challenge is the second staging of the competition, won last year by Alicia Cook and Nasser […]

Financial support the missing link for aged care PCEHR uptake

7 May 2013

The Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC) has urged policy-makers to consider financial incentives for providers to become PCEHR-ready, and said that the absence of key software functionalities has played a large part in the sector’s slow pace of change. ACIITC chair Suri Ramanathan said eHealth measures such as electronic discharge summaries would be […]

Zedmed releases v22, plans further PCEHR integration

6 May 2013

Clinical and practice management software provider Zedmed has released version 22 of its product, featuring the integration of two additional online appointment booking services as well as the ability to add new secure messaging providers. Zedmed is also continuing its work on further integration with the PCEHR, including incorporating the facility to register patients’ PCEHRs […]

Claydata aims to fill the gaps with private eHealth network

6 May 2013

Sydney-based eHealth systems vendor Claydata is gearing up to tackle the aged care, allied health and medical specialists markets with its modular, cloud-based offering, which it calls the “intelligent cousin of the PCEHR”. Claydata recently signed implementation agreements with two large aged care providers in Australia and its Putty system is also being used by […]

ATHS calls for national strategy for telehealth

6 May 2013

The Australasian Telehealth Society (ATHS) has released a discussion paper on the development of a national strategy for telehealth, outlining three key directions it thinks should be followed. Written by Colin Carati from Flinders University and health informatician George Margelis, the discussion paper is based on input from a multi-sectoral roundtable workshop of 50 participants […]

Ballarat prepares for better information exchange

3 May 2013

Ballarat Health Services (BHS) in Victoria has deployed Orion Health’s Rhapsody integration engine to better manage the increasing amount of electronic information exchanged and link up the health service’s various clinical, patient and administrative systems. BHS provides acute and sub-acute care to the Ballarat and Grampians region, along with residential aged and community care, and […]

Certification program for health informaticians to launch at HIC

3 May 2013

Three leading health informatics associations will launch a new health informatician certification program at the Health Informatics Conference (HIC2013) in Adelaide in July. Developed by the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) in collaboration with the Australasian College of Health Informatics (ACHI) and the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA), the program is aimed […]

Allied health providers eHealth expo coming to Melbourne

2 May 2013

The South Eastern Health Providers Association and the South Eastern Melbourne Medicare Local are hosting an Allied Health Providers eHealth Expo on Saturday, May 11. The event, to be held at the Ramada Encore in Dandenong from 10am, has been convened to provide allied health providers with information about the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record […]

IT Integrity wins big at ITAC 2013

2 May 2013

IT consulting firm IT Integrity was named ICT Company of the Year at last night’s Information Technology in Aged Care (ITAC) awards, held in Melbourne. IT Integrity has experience in the provision of infrastructure and support services for aged care following its merger with aged care specialist Datacare in 2011. The company was awarded for […]

Allied health needs access to eHealth: NPHCP chairman

2 May 2013

The new chairman of the National Primary Health Care Partnership (NPHCP) has flagged a more activist role and sharper policy work for the organisation, citing a need to circle the wagons around primary care funding ahead of the election, improve ties with doctors, and level the playing field for eHealth support in the sector. Australasian […]

GP dataset a MAGNET for researchers

1 May 2013

Monash University and Inner East Melbourne Medicare Local (IEMML) will tomorrow launch the Melbourne East MonAsh GeNeral PracticE DaTabase (MAGNET) research platform, a database of clinical and practice information that will enable researchers to follow changes in general practice and policy over time. The dataset has been created from information extracted from GP practice management […]

Wireless monitoring system for dementia prepares to roll out

30 April 2013

UK-based wireless monitoring vendor Just Checking has officially launched an Australian arm following a successful trial with Alzheimer’s Australia WA and the Silver Chain Group, and will feature at the Information Technology in Aged Care (ITAC) conference, opening in Melbourne tomorrow. The Just Checking system collects data on the movements of people with dementia or […]

Australia to move fast in EHR adoption

30 April 2013

Australia is expected to be the fastest growing market for electronic medical records and electronic health records in the Asia Pacific region in the next five years, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan valued the the Australian healthcare IT market as a whole at $783 million in 2012 and expects it […]

NBN key to telehealth growth

30 April 2013

The provision of high-speed broadband through the NBN is a key technology underpinning the expected growth in the use of IT for healthcare applications, according to a panel of IT vendors. High-speed broadband will enable further growth in the use of telehealth, cloud-based applications, network convergence and the ability to share data through electronic medical […]

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