First AHIEC “Product” Published:
Your Steering Committee is pleased to present you with the first AHIEC publication, the “Health Informatics – Scope, Careers and Competencies” document. The Working Committee has for the last two years diligently compiled and reviewed the content of the document which defines the scope of Health Informatics, identifies Health Informatics specialisations/roles/career options, defines Health Informatics competencies and identifies the Health Informatics skill sets required by the healthcare industry.
This is one of the initial outputs of AHIEC and is a deliverable of the “AHIEC Strategic Work Plan 2009-10 and Beyond”. The “Health Informatics – Scope, Careers and Competencies” document was endorsed by the AHIEC Steering Committee and the five auspicing organisations (ACHI, ACS, HIMAA HISA and HL7 Australia) late last year. The Steering Committee thanks all contributors to this work item.
The publication can be downloaded here and will undergo regular review. Please email any suggestions for updates to Secretariat@AHIEC.org.au.
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Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records
The OAIC has published its submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs Inquiry into the provisions of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 and a related bill. The submission is available HERE
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$20.6m for Telehealth in the Home
Guidelines released for public consultation closes 6 February
Yesterday, the Minister for Health, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, made a joint announcement of a new program relating to the provision of telehealth services.
A new $20.6 million telehealth program aims to promote the provision of high quality healthcare services, particularly in aged care, cancer care and palliative care, using telehealth services in the home.
The NBN Telehealth Pilot Program will deliver services to patients in NBN rollout areas and provide feedback on how this program and other health care measures can be delivered nationwide.
Organisations will be eligible to apply for funding if they are able to provide aged, palliative and/or cancer care services to consumers in NBN early release areas, to implement sustainable, scalable and robust pilots that demonstrate new or improved models of health service delivery made possible by the NBN. The focus of these pilots will be on health service delivery in the home, including home-based monitoring and intervention, to provide more efficient and effective care, reduce hospitalisations and travel time and improve clinical outcomes.
Comments on the guidelines close 6 February. Further information available at http://health.gov.au/ehealth-NBNtelehealth
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Release of the PCEHR Concept of Operations – Addendum (18 January 2012)
The Minister for Health has released the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) Concept of Operations – Addendum. The addendum can be found at www.yourhealth.gov.au.
Since release of the PCEHR Concept of Operations on 12 September 2011 there has been ongoing engagement with key stakeholders. This ongoing consultation together with feedback on the draft PCEHR Bill, and further work on the PCEHR design, has identified a number of policy issues requiring further consideration and refinement. The addendum to the PCEHR Concept of Operations describes these key points of change.
A revised edition of the PCEHR Concept of Operations, incorporating these policy refinements, is expected to be released shortly.
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PCEHR Privacy Impact Report Released (received 3 Jan 2012)
( From the Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA))
A detailed Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) into the PCEHR system has been undertaken by Minter Ellison Lawyers and Salinger Privacy. The PIA report made 112 recommendations.
Departmental response to PCEHR PIA:
Following a consideration of these recommendations by the Department:
- 77 recommendations have been accepted or supported in full;
- 26 recommendations have been accepted in principle or in part;
- eight recommendations have not been accepted; and
- one recommendation is subject to further consideration.
Of the eight recommendations not accepted, the department would seek views of the Senate Community Affairs Committee on six where an implementation would be feasible. For remaining two, the department considers that implementing these recommendations would not deliver their intended objectives.”
The Department’s response lists 7 of the 8 recommendations that have not been accepted. They are listed below FYI.
(* in each instance except 5.29, the Department will seek the views of the Senate Community Affairs Committee). See full response report for further information.
| 4.20 | That the PCEHR Bill clarify which data ‘streams’ can be populated with data that pre-dates the commencement of the consent decision |
| 4.26 | That one option for the range of optional consumer notifications (SMS messages or emails) should be to receive a notification if an organisation on their ‘Revoke’ list changes their HPI-O in some way |
| 4.27 | That the Department develop some incentive for organisations to set their HPI-Os (for the purposes of the Access List) at a level which reflects the management of records within the organisation itself |
| 5.12 | That the design of the ‘Authorised Representative’ component of the PCEHR System be reconsidered, with a view to limiting the access of Authorised Representatives of adult consumers (and Authorised Representatives of children in some circumstances) to only viewing the Shared Health Summary and Consumer Entered Health Summary, rather than all clinical records |
| 5.17 | That the PCEHR Bill define ‘employee’ to explicitly include tertiary healthcare students on placement. |
| 5.29* | That the data quality framework for the PCEHR System design should ensure that the only mandatory field for identity/demographic data in relation to clinical records is the consumer’s IHI |
| 8.12 | That the PCEHR Bill provide the Australian Privacy Commissioner with the power to compel the PCEHR System Operator to exercise its power to disconnect or revoke the access of an individual or organisation |
Link to yourhealth.gov.au for further information
Link to Privacy Impact Assessment Report for the PCEHR (pdf)
Link to the Department’s Response to the PIA Report (pdf)
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National E-Health Security and Access Framework (NeSAF) Webinar
Please join this webinar on Thursday 8th December where the key highlights of the NESAF Release 3 will be presented to you.
Date: Thursday 8th December
Time: 12:30 pm at 2:00 pm (Sydney Time)
Details: Audio: 1 800 899 574 or (02) 8078 2926 – Participant Code: 4434 1400
AND Web: http://nehta.rbweb.com.au
Participant Code: 4434 1400
Agenda: – Key highlights of Release 3
- How the NESAF was applied using a WEBPAS environment and lessons learnt
- NESAF in 2012
RSVP: Please RSVP to Feedback.saf@nehta.gov.au by Wednesday 7th December.
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CSIRO SNOMED-CT mapping tool now available for download
“A major stumbling block to achieving a connected electronic healthcare framework in Australia has been that health IT systems often use different terms to describe the same medical concept.
Australia has joined many other nations in adopting SNOMED CT as the standard set of clinical terms to be used in health records, but ‘translating’ existing records into the SNOMED CT terminology has been an obstacle.
To aid in the migration and adoption of SNOMED CT, the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has signed an agreement to license the CSIRO ‘Snapper’ software for general use in Australia.
The Snapper tool is available as a free download from the CSIRO website and will support the Federal Government’s system of Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records, which will use SNOMED CT as the dictionary of clinical terms.”
Link to media release of the announcement.
Link to Snapper download and information.
A recent study within Queensland Health used Snapper to map the current Queensland Health Drug Dictionary against NEHTA’s Australian Medicines Terminology. This study was the topic of the best scientific paper at HIC this year.
Congratulations to all involved!
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NEHTA releases final e-health Specifications and Standards Plan
Confirms move away from current development strategy to strategy involving the establishment of “tiger teams”
The National e-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has published its final Specifications and Standards Plan for the Federal Government’s $466.7 million Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) project. The document, (available HERE) based on the finalised PCEHR Concept of Operations paper released in September, outlines NEHTA’s plan for the project, which is scheduled for delivery by 1 July 2012. The plan confirms that NEHTA will do away with its current development strategy which uses two separate but related processes — the NEHTA specification process and the Standards Australia Development Process — as it is too slow.
Read more at: http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/407609/nehta_releases_final_e-health_specifications_standards_plan/
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Authority to release e-health development plan
THE National e-Health Transition Authority will publish a Specifications and Standards development plan for the $500 million personally controlled e-health record system next week. A NeHTA spokeswoman has told The Australian the plan would be released “within the next seven days”. The organisation recently announced a series of “tiger teams” to fast-track critical technical specifications needed for the PCEHR build. There is a November 30 deadline for their work, with the national PCEHR infrastructure project already under way.
The Australian. More…
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Medical software group raises e-health safety issues
THE Medical Industry Software Association has warned unresolved patient safety and liability concerns relating to the year-old Healthcare Identifiers service leave members at risk of liability “for any and all adverse outcomes” arising from use of the service.
“Implementers should take legal advice with respect to potential liability, inform their software indemnity insurers and ensure end-users sign comprehensive waivers,” the MSIA says in a white paper adopted by members at its annual CEO Forum last month.
The eight-page white paper — obtained by The Australian — was provided to all members of the Healthcare Identifiers (HI) stakeholders working group, including the National e-Health Transition Authority, federal Health department and Medicare, for their consideration.
Members should consider implementing existing Medicare Online patient checks for Medicare and Veterans’ Affairs numbers “as a proven alternative without the risks of fines and criminal liability”, the paper said.
“Members have been concerned about the safety and clinical liability aspects of the current service since the specifications were first made publicly available.
“More than six months was spent negotiating with Medicare in an attempt to have it accept liability for system failures or data errors. Medicare refused to do so.”
The Australian. More…
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Medical advice missing from e-health records plan
AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA was disappointed that the Government has failed to heed medical advice in finalising its Concept of Operations for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR). Dr Hambleton said the proposals could ‘de-medicalise’ electronic patient health information … “Under the proposed arrangements, people will be able to alter their health record without consultation with their doctor …This is a very dangerous precedent that could undermine all the potential benefits of an electronic health record.” Dr Hambleton said that the AMA would prefer the system to be opt-out, not opt-in.
AMA. More…
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Panic to meet Nicola Roxon’s e-health deadline
A plan to ram through technical specifications to meet the deadline for a national e-health records system is flawed and threatens financial problems for the local medical software industry. Documents released by the National e-Health Transition Authority show it wants to bypass the usual standards-setting process via “tiger teams” that have one month to come up with 149 “specifications” … A software industry source said NEHTA and the Health Department had been forced to compromise because “they’ve spent the past 10 months and the better part of $200m producing nothing”.
The Australian. More…
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Queensland Health rejects claim of bias in e-health deal Queensland Health has defended its procurement of a $182 million e-medical records (eMR) system for state hospitals amid claims of bias towards the market leader, Cerner.
Opposition health spokesman Mark McArdle … has asked the Queensland Auditor-General to “conduct a full audit of the health IT program to ensure future patient care is not placed at risk and taxpayers’ funds are not wasted.
The Australian. More…
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Issues IT security standards to general practitioners.
7 October 2011
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has launched a new IT security standards guide to help its members keep practice and patient information secure.
The 43-page self-assessment guide (pdf) is the third edition of a document that was last published in 2005.
It contains a check list covering ten categories of IT security. These include appointing a computer security coordinator, documenting the role and training the person in question.
Security policies and procedures should be documented, the guide advises.
The guide encourages practitioners to ensure daily backups are done, anti-viruses are installed with automatic updating enabled, and encryption is set up for electronic communications.
It also includes policy templates for internet and email usage, business continuity and disaster recovery.
RACGP said the self-assessment guide met international standards in health IT security as well as Australia’s national privacy principles.
Courtesy: ITNews.com.au
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Telehealth Technical Standards Position Paper
Guidance on Security, Privacy and Technical Specifications for Clinicians
These two papers have been developed and released for consultation within the information and communication technology and health professional communities.
The papers are intended to be used in conjunction with professional clinical standards and guidance material. They are not intended to prescribe technical standards for telehealth consultations, as technical requirements can differ based on the type of consultation being performed. The papers are intended to assist health professionals to ask the right questions of technology providers, and make suitable choices when purchasing technology, so that they can establish fit for purpose technical environments to deliver services by videoconference.
- Telehealth Technical Standards Position Paper
- Guidance on Security, Privacy and Technical Specifications for Clinicians
Consultation and Feedback
The consultation period is from 12 September to close of business on 30 September 2011.
Comments on both documents can be emailed to mbstelehealth@health.gov.au
Final Versions of the papers.
The final papers are expected to be published by November 2011.
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Finalised PCEHR ConOps Released
The Concept of Operations for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system has been released in an announcement made by Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon.
The Concept of Operations describes the implementation plan and consultation pathways for Australia’s electronic health system, its structure, how it will work, the security and privacy principles, and the many expected benefits of
e-health for patients, carers and healthcare professionals.
Concept of Operations – link to finalised document
‘E-Health Record Blueprints Finalised’ – link to media release
Links to news coverage of the announcement.
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Northern Health’s winning ways (Story features Terri Letizia)
Victoria’s Northern Health won the large agency category at the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards 2011 for semi-electronic scanned medical record system.
Full story available in “Image & Data Manager”, July – August 2011, p.18. (www.idm.net.au)
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AN Accenture-led consortium has won the pivotal contract to deliver a national IT infrastructure for the Gillard government’s $500 million personally controlled e-health records system.
Courtesy of IHE Australia
Full story as it appears in the Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/accenture-oracle-bags-major-pcehr-deal/story-fn4htb9o-1226115032514
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Funds cut halts work on e-health records
STANDARDS Australia has stopped work on technology specifications needed for the $500 million e-health record program after the federal Health Department cut funding.
Development is on hold for about 60 technical standards relating to key aspects of the personally controlled e-health record system.
Members of the IT-014 committees, which do the standards work, were last month told that SA halted the program on July 1 after failing to secure a contract for 2011-12.
Minutes from the meeting show that the department had been informed of the situation.
The department had also failed to confirm the IT-014 program, which is very large due to the number of standards specified by the National E-Health Transition Authority for the health record system.
Work is yet to start on 20 urgently needed standards for healthcare identifiers, clinical terminology, event summaries, electronic referrals and discharges, data interchange for collaborative care, diagnostics, pathology, personal health summaries and information security.
Courtesy of The Australian
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E-health gets a $70m boost from Nicola Roxon
NINE small health IT projects have received $70 million in funding, as Health Minister Nicola Roxon picks up the pace on the e-health record program.
The projects, announced in March, had to undergo a second round of bidding before receiving funds under the PCEHR (personally controlled electronic record program) “second-wave” initiative. Originally, up to $55m was allocated for the program.
Most of the money has gone to well-established state government projects: NSW Health, trading as Health Administration Corp, pocketed almost $15m; Northern Territory $12.8m; and Tasmania $3.5m.
In NSW, the Greater Western Sydney e-Health Consortium is focused on high-priority consumer groups. Its project includes secure messaging, electronic referrals and a medical imaging repository.
NT Health will expand access to its shared record system in remote areas, linking with six West Australian hospitals located in the Kimberley as well as with Aborigine-controlled health services in South Australia.
Courtesy of The Australian
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Australian government launches telehealth initiative
As part of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s $620 million telehealth initiative, the Australian government is funding video hook-ups between medical specialists and patients. The nation’s Medicare program is offering 50-percent bonuses to specialists who adopt telehealth technology and 35-percent bonuses to doctors, nurses and midwives who participate in video consults with patients.
The initiative – which Gillard had promised to enact during her election campaign last year – has the backing of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), which said it has “real potential” to improve access to specialists for rural and remote Australians.
“Currently many rural patients are forced to travel hundreds and even thousands of kilometers for specialist consultations, given the significant shortage of specialists in rural and regional Australia” RDAA Vice President Peter Rischbieth told reporters. “These patients face significant travel and accommodation costs, and long periods of time away from work, in getting to and from these consultations, which can be required at regular intervals for many conditions.”
Courtesy of Healthcare IT News
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Getting the foot out of the pelvis: modeling problems affecting use of SNOMED CT hierarchies in practical applications
Apparently there are a number problems with SNOMED CT.
Alan L Rector, Sam Brandt, Thomas Schneider
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Objectives (a) To determine the extent and range of errors and issues in the Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) hierarchies as they affect two practical projects. (b) To determine the origin of issues raised and propose methods to address them.
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Medical board releases tech consult guidelines
The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) has called for input on its draft guidelines into technology-based medical consultations.
The move follows the addition of items to the MBS for telehealth consults on July 1 of this year.
According to the Board, technology-based consultations are any form of consultations using technology, including, but not restricted to, video conferencing, internet and telephone.
The draft guidelines state medical practitioners engaged in a technology-based consult must make their identity known to the patient and confirm to their satisfaction the identity of the patient at each consultation.
Doctors also need to be aware it is difficult to establish patient identity beyond all reasonable doubt under the conditions of a technology-based consultation.
The practitioner must also provide an explanation to the patient of the process used during the consultation, and make an assessment of the patient’s condition based on history, clinical signs and appropriate examination.
Along with several other conditions regarding appropriate communication with the patient, the practitioner must also maintain appropriate records of the consultation, and keep colleagues informed when sharing care of the patient.
Feedback on the guidelines – which can be found here – closes on 12 September 2011.
Courtesy eHealthSpace.org
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The Minister for Health has released the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) Concept of Operations – Addendum. The addendum can be found at www.yourhealth.gov.au.
Since release of the PCEHR Concept of Operations on 12 September 2011 there has been ongoing engagement with key stakeholders. This ongoing consultation together with feedback on the draft PCEHR Bill, and further work on the PCEHR design, has identified a number of policy issues requiring further consideration and refinement. The addendum to the PCEHR Concept of Operations describes these key points of change.
A revised edition of the PCEHR Concept of Operations, incorporating these policy refinements, is expected to be released shortly.
Regards
eHealth Division
Australian Department of Health and Ageing
I think we need to date and time stamp each article, comment and blog on this webpage so we can assess its currency. Older posts should then go to another page as is the case with facebook, so an archive process is in place.
Has the latest Con Ops paper been released and when…?
Re article – Funds cut halts work on e-health records.
Remember not to believe everything you read in The Australian newspaper. We are still working away on IT 14 standards, whilst the bureaucrats get their funding sorted out! The article does not truly represent the current state of affairs.
Leanne Holmes HIMAA IT 14 rep.