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News stories and opinions about events, and reporting from e-health events & conferences around the world.
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Mon 18th July 2011
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...
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Tue 12th July 2011
The federal government has called for submissions into the legislative framework associated with the introduction of the personally controlled electronic healthcare record (PCEHR) in July 2012.
In order to stimulate discussion, the Department of Health and Ageing together with the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has released a Legislation Issues Paper which addresses five key aspects of the PCEHR system.
The first aspect, participation, identifies those individuals and organisations eligible to take part in the PCEHR...
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Tue 12th July 2011
In a bid to track healthcare trends, US researchers have harnessed the Twitter social networking service, filtering over two billion public tweets posted between May 2009 and October 2010.
The tweets, which had personal information removed, were then processed further to focus on health-specific posts. Of the remaining posts, 1.5 million contained health information.
The study, conducted at Johns Hopkins University, then sorted the tweets into electronic “piles,” revealing patterns about ailments as diverse as cancer, insomnia and...
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Tue 12th July 2011
Visit hospital and you won’t just meet doctors and nurses during your stay. Drop by your GP for a flu jab, and chances are a practice nurse will do the jabbing. The same story is repeated in other examples such as early childhood checks and caregiving for the elderly.
Nursing is the backbone of Australia’s healthcare system, a statement backed by some impressive statistics. The total nursing population increased 11.8 percent between 2004 and 2008, bringing the total number of nurses to 272,741, the Australian Institute of Health and...
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Tue 5th July 2011
A sea-change in patient treatment is underway in Australia. The federal government’s creation of MBS items for teleconsultations will now make it easier for people in remote and rural areas to access specialist healthcare.
But despite this innovation, the need for a human touch in medicine is not going to go away. In fact, it could become even more important, said Professor Moyez Jiwa, professor of health innovation at Curtin University, in Western Australia.
Professor Jiwa spoke with ehealthspace.org on the eve of a conference...
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Fri 1st July 2011
The RACGP is developing new telehealth standards for general practitioners following the addition of telehealth consultations to the MBS from July 1.
The new standards will provide GPs with guidance for clinical telehealth practice, and will be available from October 2011.
Despite the addition of telehealth consultations to the MBS, the RACGP is advising GPs to take their time when it comes to investing in appropriate equipment.
“The College advises all general practices not to rush into purchasing equipment because there are...
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Thu 30th June 2011
The federal government is set to launch its after hours GP helpline on July 1. The helpline will be available 365 days a year, and is intended to provide medical advice and support when traditional medical centres are not open.
The helpline is being operated by Medibank Health Solutions with a staff of approximately 100 GPs and 240 nurses recruited to answer calls.
The service will be available free from landlines from 6pm to 8am Monday to Friday, 6pm Friday to 8am Saturday, 12pm Saturday to 8am Monday, and all national, state and territory...
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Wed 29th June 2011
The new financial year also rings in the beginning of new Medicare rebates allowing consultations with medical specialists via video link.
The federal government is spending $620 million on the new initiative.
According to the federal department of Health and Ageing, video consultations can occur at any medical facility having the correct equipment. Services will also be available at eligible aged-care facilities, and to patients at Aboriginal Medical Services anywhere in Australia.
The federal government anticipates 495,000 telehealth...
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Tue 28th June 2011
Dr Mukesh Haikerwal is well known in e-health circles. He’s the national clinical lead for the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) and recently assumed the role of chair of the International Council of the World Medical Association. He thoroughly revels in both roles while maintaining his job as a general practitioner.
With just over a year until the introduction of the federal government’s $467 million personally controlled electronic healthcare record (PCEHR), ehealthSpace.org decided it was time to catch up with Dr...
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Tue 28th June 2011
Search engine giant Google has axed its Google Health service, which it launched in 2008.
According to the Official Google Blog, the company decided to close the service because “it was not having the broad impact” the company hoped it would.
The service, limited to US customers but indicative of a perceived trend towards online personal repositories of health information, used the industry standard CCR (Continuity of Care Record) XML format to store health information.
The blog also said although there had been limited uptake among certain...
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- Jonathan Di Michiel
- Mandy Lacy
- Wendy Carroll
- Andrew Moore
- Therese Cubis
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