ANZ News

Patients across some of Australia’s rural and regional areas now have access to advanced medical imaging technology that aims to help with the early detection and treatment of cancer. Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) and Siemens Healthineers have partnered in a venture to expand oncology services available in the Northern Territory, providing the hospital with an advanced PET CT scanner that offers patients the capability to scan faster using lower doses of radiation and personalises scans to a patient’s specific medical condition. Siemens Healthineers A/NZ Molecular Imaging Business Manager Tim Lagana told HITNA that the Biograph mCT Flow Edge scanner features advanced capabilities such as improved lesion detectability and reduces unnecessary exposure to radiation with two features. The first is FlowMotion, which eliminates the need for bed-based imaging used by traditional PET scanning forms. “As a result, examination parameters such as speed, image resolution and motion management can be easily adjusted to the precise dimensions of organs and routinely incorporated into a single scan for every patient,” Lagana said. The second feature he identified is the Definition Edge CT scanner. “Due to the full electronic integration of Siemens’ Stellar detector, electronic components like microchips, conductors, etc. are integrated directly at the photodiode. This reduces electronic noise coming from the detector elements and thus, improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for optimised image quality.” According to the RDH, the new service will be the “first of its kind” available in the territory and is one of only four in Australia. NT Health Senior PET Technologist Jack Anderson told HITNA that following installation, patients who had to previously travel up to 3400km interstate for access to diagnosis and treatment monitoring equipment can access these services much closer to home. “Previously, Northern Territory patients would have to travel interstate to have a PET scan in order to diagnose or help manage their medical condition,” he said. “The new RDH PET service can make a huge impact for these patients by reducing delays to diagnosis and treatment due to the need for interstate travel; better access to specialist diagnostic services for patients with geographic, physical mobility, language or income barriers; and reducing the costs to patients, carers, families and friends incurred during interstate travel for diagnostic services and treatment.” [Read more: New AI tech reshapes skin cancer detection | New bid to map AI’s impact on radiology] Anderson said this installation also puts the Northern Territory on the map with one of Australia’s most advanced medical imaging systems on the market, providing treatment options and pathways for the region’s most complex diagnostic and disease requirements. “RDH now has equivalent medical imaging services to the major hospitals in other capital cities, with enhancement to its provided services,” he said. “The new equipment has the potential to position the territory as a hub for PET research in Northern Australia and the Asia Pacific region, and furthers medical specialty in the territory, increasing the capability and integration of the local cancer services.” Although currently geared towards oncologic applications, Anderson said the system also has the capability to image neurological disorders such as alzheimer's, dementia and epilepsy, and assist in the diagnosis and provision of care for patients with other medical conditions like infections and inflammatory disorders.

The rise of digital technology and the availability of data means that it’s now within the reach for consumers to be critical enablers of change in the healthcare system, a panel of industry experts said. Speaking at the recent AFR Healthcare Summit, Queensland Health Director-General Michael Walsh said a stronger focus on the consumer will improve the quality and safety of healthcare in Australia, and support a more sustainable local healthcare system. “Consumers are increasingly becoming activated to drive transformation and innovation in healthcare. As with other sectors, it is the consumer experience that counts the most; not the product or device. It is how the life and health of the consumer is enhanced, that will be the true measure of success,” he said. “Digital health allows the information asymmetry to be more equalised. As a steward of a large public health system, I’m acutely aware of the need to listen and foster this driving force.” But, with the structure of the health ecosystem changing to give patients more control over their healthcare, there are steps that government, care providers, clinicians, insurers and patients themselves can take to achieve better patient outcomes sooner in a reimagined healthcare system. According to Walsh, it is an open, collaborative and measured approach that will deliver the benefits of digital health. “Government, industry and the diverse healthcare sector have critical roles to play in openly and carefully progressing digital health. In a system where consumers are truly at the centre, the governance of health needs to be better aligned and more enabling of digital health,” he said. “Although the roles within a healthcare sector and the different levels of government are unlikely to change rapidly… we are seeing a greater shift towards shared investment models alliancing or joint commissioning programs at the local health district and primary health network level. We will see more movement to flexible investment models at a regional level, supported by joint governance.” NSW Health Chief Information Officer and eHealth NSW Chief Executive Dr Zoran Bolevich added that the organisation recently introduced patient-reported measures to its system. “There are two types of measures that we collect from patients on a weekly basis; experience measures and outcome measures. Using this, we are now starting to design and help implement the technology platform that will enable us to do that,” he said. “We have started small, and intend on growing its potential further with industry partnerships. We are also working on using that information for secondary purposes like research. We have to be aware of the need to distill data, otherwise we’ll be overloaded with it.” [Read more: Deakin Uni launches Institute for Health Transformation | We need to get the digital basics right and quickly: Tim Kelsey] AMA President Dr Tony Bartone said collaboration was a complex journey, but healthcare providers that don’t partake in it will lose out on delivering patient outcomes that they need. “It’s about using opportunities for advocacy at different parts of the system – whether it be ensuring that the centrality of primary care of general practice is part of the discussion, advocacy for appropriate funding models that need to underpin innovations, advocacy in ensuring public views are implemented or getting all players in the system together to collect best evidence to form a solution,” he said. “It isn’t just about beds and hospitals anymore, it’s about partnerships and enabling patients to make the decisions necessary for the path they wish to take. The best way for this is to give them information and health literacy.” Medicines Australia Independent Chair Dr Anna Lavelle added that ‘coopetition’ – the concept of cooperation with organisations that a business may be in competition with – is a part of appropriate healthcare. “You can agree on things that both parties want and go in together to achieve those aims, and then you can choose to agree to disagree on other things. You don't have to be 100 per cent in alignment all the time,” she said. “Being tolerant to that and respecting others’ views and needs is completely legitimate.”

Yesterday, Icon Group (Icon), Australia’s largest dedicated private provider of cancer care, officially signed an agreement with China’s Sanbo Brain Hospital Group (Sanbo) to deliver radiation oncology services, which are set to open later this year in their Chang’an hospital in Chongqing. Sanbo is a group of Chinese hospitals internationally recognised for delivering specialist neurological services, including treatments for brain cancer. The group operates six brain hospitals in Beijing, Chongqing, Kunming, Fuzhou and Jinan. The agreement will see Icon operate the Chang’an Chongqing centre, with the site already in initial stages of development. Why it matters Icon will manage the facility in partnership with Sanbo, embedding a blend of international expertise to deliver a high-quality approach to cancer care. The centre will have the capacity to treat 900 patients annually. Through the partnership, Icon will be sharing their expertise in radiation therapy, including remote radiation therapy planning with Sanbo. Icon’s centralised remote planning function, performed by a specialist, highly-skilled workforce of radiation therapists, uses advanced software systems to create individual, high-quality radiation therapy treatment plans for patients regardless of location. What’s the trend In June 2016, Icon signed a joint venture with China-based Yibai Healthcare to provide world-class radiation therapy services to 50 cancer centres across China. Yibai Healthcare is part of the Shanghai-listed GuiZhou YiBai Pharmaceutical company which engages in the research, development, production, and sale of pharmaceutical products in China. The joint venture saw the launch of Icon’s newest arm – Icon Plan. Icon Plan is a centralised, remote radiation therapy dosimetry function for radiation oncology. Dosimetry involves data obtained during the planning consultation with a radiation oncology patient and uses that data to plan how the machine will target and deliver radiation to the tumour. On the record “The collaboration with Icon Group will increase Sanbo’s capacity in radiation therapy and chemotherapy, improve comprehensive cancer treatment, and provide an exceptional service to patients,” said Yang Zhang, General Manager of Sanbo. Icon Group CEO, Mark Middleton said, “Cancer incidence in China alone are expected to increase by 70% by 2025, we are dedicated to helping reduce that burden. Icon is the first Australian healthcare company to export Australian cancer expertise into China, further providing training and education for local clinicians and staff and helping China deliver the best possible care to their people.”

Murdoch University has opened the doors to a new research centre at its Perth campus, with a focus on precision medicine. Named the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics (CMMIT), the research centre aims to lead transformation in healthcare by delivering precision medicine to people with life-threatening diseases. A joint venture between Murdoch University and the Perron Institute, the CMMIT brings together scientists and clinicians from different fields of expertise to focus on the unique molecular and genetic makeup of individuals. This approach is, according to the university, to “ensure that a person receives the right treatment at the right time”. CMMIT Director Professor Steve Wilton will lead the team of researchers at the centre to develop specific treatments for serious health conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and blood disorders. Wilton said the challenge for the future was to develop therapies to treat individuals with a variety of different diseases. “Precision medicine has the potential to transform healthcare on a scale equivalent to the way antibiotics transformed the fight against infectious diseases,” he said. “The concept behind precision medicine is simple. It’s about designing a treatment that specifically targets the genetic makeup and other unique features of individual patients as a way of improving effectiveness and lessening side-effects. Doing this, however, is far from simple.” [Read more: Precision medicine: huge promise, high hurdles | Technology underpins the clinical genomics movement in Australia] Perron Institute Chair Professor Alan Robson said the launch of the centre is just the start in enabling Murdoch University and the Perron Institute to collaborate more effectively with other partners around the world. “This centre will greatly expand our capacity to develop precision medical approaches that have the potential to change millions of lives in a truly significant way,” Robson said. “New and exciting partnerships with industry partners in Australia and beyond will open up as the centre brings a new range of medical techniques to the world.” The university has also welcomed $10 million in Federal Government support for an Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC). “The ANPC will put WA and the nation on the global stage, pioneering research that will translate into transformational benefits across human health, animal health, agriculture and food," Murdoch University Vice-Chancellor Eeva Leinonen said. The CMMIT launch comes just days after Deakin University unveiled its new Institute for Health Transformation, bringing together more than 200 multi-disciplinary researchers and industry partners to address complex healthcare challenges of today.  

With an evolving healthcare tech environment and changing consumer needs, Australia has to rethink the way it approaches telehealth and remote care, a major healthcare conference has heard. Speaking during a panel session at the recent AFR Healthcare Summit, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) President Dr Harry Nespolon said the way remote healthcare and telehealth is offered has changed little since the 1960s. “Doctors still need to see patients in front of them to dispense care. It hasn’t changed much over the last 50 years. I used to work for the AMA [Australian Medical Association] and my boss once said, ‘fish and chips shops today have more technology than most GPs’. There is still some truth in that,” he said. NSW Health Secretary Elizabeth Koff addressed the need for industry, governments and patients to grasp the concept of new-age telehealth and remote care as virtual care delivery models see traditional provider-patient interactions evolve. “Not everyone universally understands what we’re trying to achieve with telehealth. It’s not just about providing face-to-face communication in an effectively and timely manner in rural and remote Australia,” she said. “It’s also about data and information exchange that we can do in a systematic way to enhance patient care.” According to Silver Chain CEO Dale Fisher, consumers are ready and asking for changes to how remote care is offered, but there are some setbacks. “Consumers are directing the future of care and are asking for changes to how remote care is offered. The policies exist, but there needs to be funding flow from governments to support those policies,” she said. “The funding needs to flow into innovative programs that consumers are asking for. Digital disruption and innovation has already happened. What we haven’t done as a health system is adapt and take advantage of the digital revolution.” Nespolon agreed, adding that general practice needs to be freed from its current regulatory and financial constraints and that’s something that needs to be worked towards. “Medicare and Medibank were set up as face-to-face systems and they still are face-to-face systems. Over the years, successive governments have credibly tried to resist the idea of breaking that nexus. That is about to change and both the potential governments are interested in delivering on what consumers want, which is the ability to access their healthcare in a variety of ways depending on their needs.” [Read more: We need to get the digital basics right and quickly: Tim Kelsey | The promise of NBN is not being delivered in the bush: RFDS CEO] Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) CEO Dr Martin Laverty said telehealth is part of the organisation’s DNA, but part of the challenge it faces is that the latest technologies don’t work without proper broadband coverage. “If the pipe doesn’t deliver broadband into remote areas, the devices aren’t going to work. The promise of recent times, for high-speed broadband into the bush is not yet clinically-grade reliable. And until this happens, we’re going to be held back in our next investment.” SECURING THE NUTS AND BOLTS IN HEALTHCARE Koff said having an agile system in place would enable interoperability, allowing care at a local district level or hospital level be fully integrated with primary care and other services. “The issue around digital enablement and being agile is something health is not known for. And that’s something we struggle with at a system manager level. Whilst we’re keen to have the architecture right, we need interoperability so it can be integrated,” she said. According to Laverty, some of the challenges of telehealth will be eradicated with the next layers of development in broadband delivery. “The problem has not been solved with the existing satellite and mobile reach of broadband connectivity. That's the difference between consumer and clinical grade. We haven't achieved clinical grade, even if we've got patchy consumer-grade broadband access across remote areas today.” Fisher said in the lead-up to a working virtual hospital system, industry needs to be designing innovative programs in partnership with other organisations. “Rather than worrying about where the money comes from, we need to invest in our organisations to bring siloed parts of our operations together to demonstrate that there is a new way of doing things to deliver good care,” she said. Nespolon concluded the session by saying that a barrier isn’t necessarily technology, but rather, people. “You can’t force technology on to people. It’s whether people want to use it and how they use it. For example, electronic health records have the potential to do great things, but hasn’t taken people all the way through. A more gentler approach is necessary in getting this message across,” he said. [Read more: What are the barriers to widespread telehealth adoption? | The Australian health system “will fail” if the pace of change is not met: KPMG] Carelink Managing Director Craig Porte, who spoke at a separate session during the summit, said there is still a heavy reliance in traditional delivery models of care in rural areas of Australia, resulting in an unequal distribution of benefits. “Interoperability, unreliable internet, a lack of offline solutions and investments are only some of the problems in remote Australia. There are plenty of amazing technologies that work out there, but for true remote care, they all need to be connected,” he said. “Face-to-face care is still necessary in rural and remote Australia. Interoperability – offline and online systems working together seamlessly –  is key. AI will play a role going forward too; simple things like driverless cars will be essential in delivering remote care. Mobile solutions delivering care to the home will also need to become more mainstream. “But we have to keep in mind that technology is only an enabler in keeping people in their communities. Our challenge, as an industry, is to take the next leap in delivering true remote care.”

Melbourne Heart Group has advised that no patient’s privacy was compromised or breached in a recent ransomware attack. Earlier this year, a syndicate hacked and scrambled around 15,000 electronic medical records at the specialist cardiology unit at the Cabrini Hospital premises in Melbourne. In a statement, the company said its systems have been restored and confirmed that no records left its system. “[Melbourne Heart Group] wishes to advise all our patients that the cybersecurity incident we experienced in late January has been resolved. The data has been decrypted and our systems have been restored,” the statement read.  “We would like to emphasise that patients’ privacy has not been compromised or breached. No information left our computer system – it was encrypted so that no one could see it, even ourselves.” No further information about the case, such as where the malware was from, if a ransom payment was made or the exact number of affected records was revealed. Cabrini Health Chief Executive Dr Michael Walsh also confirmed that the attack did not involve Cabrini records as data storage and other information systems in the specialist suite is owned and managed by Melbourne Heart Group. “The cyber-security incident reported… occurred at the Melbourne Heart Group, a group of specialists who lease rooms at Cabrini Malvern. Data storage and other information systems in specialist suites are owned and managed by the specialists, not by Cabrini. The specialists are not employees of Cabrini,” he said. “The protection of patient information is of the utmost importance and is a responsibility Cabrini takes very seriously. No Cabrini data storage or patient related systems or operations have been impacted or compromised by this incident and there has been no breach of hospital patient data." [Read more: Medical records at Victorian hospital get hacked | Is your healthcare ecosystem cyber resilient enough?] The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently identified, in its latest Notifiable Data Breaches Quarterly Statistics Report, that malicious and criminal attacks was the second largest source of data breaches from the health sector. It also found that the health sector topped the list of notifiable data breaches for the fourth consecutive quarter. With mega-breaches and hacking persisting as a top cybersecurity concern globally, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently released a draft regulation guidance on cybersecurity for medical devices, in line with the existing regulatory requirements. It calls for a clear regulatory environment for connected medical solutions and identifies strategies to influence the approaches of those who use medical devices.

The market size of blockchain technology in healthcare is set to grow from US$6.9 million in 2018 to US$1.6 billion by 2025, supported by advancements in digitised healthcare systems and an increasing risk of counterfeit drugs, according to new research. Australia has been one of the countries to lead the way in the use of the technology as the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) approved the Australian blockchain standards development proposal submitted by Standards Australia in 2016. This led to a boom in consumer-focused blockchain projects soon after. In the lead up to 2025 the report, by market research and strategy consulting firm Global Market Insights, expects the use of blockchain to grow by 65.6 per cent globally. With the increasing number of healthcare organisations adopting Electronic Health Records (EHRs), leading to advancements in digitising healthcare systems, the report said there is a demand for blockchain to safeguard data. In addition, as healthcare data breaches costs around US$380 per patient record, the use of blockchain is also expected to help healthcare organisations save these costs in the event of a breach. “Around 40 per cent of healthcare data records consist of several misleading information and errors. Many of the healthcare facilities are still dependent on old and outdated systems for keeping patient records,” the report identified. “The growing digitisation in healthcare systems has also resulted in high demand for interoperability. The application of blockchain such as eliminating fraud, reducing delays from paperwork, improving inventory management, minimising courier costs, increasing consumer and partner trust and identifying issues more rapidly will help boost industry growth in future.” SOLVING OTHER PROBLEMS The increasing risk of counterfeit drugs is expected to spur the growth of blockchain technology in healthcare. In the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of counterfeit drugs globally, killing an estimated one million people, according to the report. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 10 per cent of the medicines across the globe are counterfeit. Also, as per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the counterfeit pharmaceutical industry amounts up to US$200 billion,” the report addressed. Blockchain is expected to solve this challenge as it has several application in securing vast data, decentralisation, immutable record-keeping and by tracking drug movements. The report said blockchain will turn the “high annual losses” from counterfeit drugs on their heads, helping healthcare save “billions of dollars” and drive business growth in the forthcoming years. [Read more: Is blockchain feasible for the healthcare sector? | Artificial intelligence and blockchain: an easy pill to swallow] The amount of risk involved and unpredictability of clinical trials is another driver for implementing blockchain in healthcare, according to the report. “Blockchain in clinical trials use distributed computer network platform that helps databases to be secure and safe from infringements and hackers. The safe and secure platform of blockchain will help store and process valuable information of clinical trials resulting in smooth workflow thereby, influencing the market growth positively,” it indicated. In addition, the report found that the growing application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare will result in huge demand and adoption rate of blockchain technology. “Most of the leading players are using blockchain and IoT to improve patient results and optimise internal operations. Several benefits such as real-time information and location of digital X-ray equipment in healthcare facilities will augment the blockchain demand across the globe,” the report stated. “Increase in use of IoT for clinical services and clinical settings will boost the business growth in the forthcoming years.” However, the lack of skilled workforce will be one the major factors responsible for impeding the growth of blockchain technology in healthcare market in the near future. “Limited number of people with blockchain technology knowledge and lack of blockchain training, programs and courses will result in sluggish business growth,” it reported. A Deloitte survey of Australia’s regulators, incumbents, government, and technology community found that 90 per cent of people still don’t understand how use cases around blockchain will work. TIBCO Global CTO Nelson Petracek recently told HITNA that Australia still has a long way to go to realise its full potential. “Countries like Estonia are setting the bar with an increasing number of national services opting to use blockchain to carry out transactions. However, the technology remains in comparative infancy in Australia,” he said previously. “The relatively slow uptake of the technology is further fueled by the recent declaration from the Australian Government’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) that, while the technology has potential, it still requires compelling evidence that blockchain can deliver better value for government services. “In addition to concerns about the security of digital records, many Australians are also frustrated by the cost of private healthcare, the time it takes to process claims, and the changeability of their insurance cover,” he added. Tiani GmbH Italy IT Security Architect Dr Massimilliano Masi also spoke about how blockchain is not fit for purpose for healthcare IT. He said blockchain could be good in facilitating monetisation and payments, but it has not reached the maturity levels to tackle interoperability within the healthcare sector. “Interoperability is key in establishing sustainable health IT services and is not achieved by only using standards. But many blockchain projects do not tackle interoperability, enabling vendor lock-in. The cryptography of blockchain remains tamperproof, leaving IT security still vulnerable,” he said previously. “The problem with vendor lock-in is that when a customer is dependent on a vendor for products, it is unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs and risks, resulting in no component continuum.”

Deakin University has unveiled a new institute for health transformation, bringing together more than 200 multi-disciplinary researchers and industry partners to address the complex healthcare challenges of today. Speaking at the recent AFR Healthcare Summit, Deakin University Institute for Health Transformation Inaugural Director Professor Anna Peeters said the first of such an institute in Australia aims to integrate translational research in prevention and population health, health systems and services, health economics and financing, as well as data intelligence and digital health. “We need to look into how we can design systems so that we can both improve population health and at the same time, improve patient experience and reduce healthcare costs per person,” she said. “From a research perspective, we need more research into knowledge translation and implementation research. We know what makes people more well and what treats conditions, but know less well how to organise the systems to get the best patient experiences and patient outcomes in the most experienced ways. “The Institute for Health Transformation was created to try and fill some of those gaps.” The vision for the Institute for Health Transformation is to work together across different levels of partnerships – industry, governments and academia – to transform health and care. “There is a need to place solutions in a more systemic context and this context is much broader than the healthcare industry alone. We need to integrate multiple, relevant partnerships to identify these potential solutions; we don’t do it well enough yet. And we need to do it using our available resources efficiently,” Peeters said. According to Peeters, this results in a more integrated approach to research themes, as opposed to siloed and traditional perspectives. “It’s not a traditional research model; it’s not a traditional health model, nor is it a traditional government model. This integrated approach brings about a capacity for agile partnerships,” she said. “And putting the person at the centre of this is critical, whether it’s to optimise transitions in care, activate healthy populations and communities, improve health services delivery and design, or drive equity and impact.” To do that, Peeters said the institute needs strong capabilities in data and digital health, health economics, systems approaches and knowledge translation research. “To fulfill the needs of a healthcare ecosystem that we’re trying to develop, there needs to be a beneficial research ecosystem. The traditional ways of research just aren’t going to work for these issues or the modeling, commercialisation and scaling of these solutions,” she said. “The Institute for Health Transformation is an agile manner to take the solutions identified further.” [Read more: New Leukaemia Foundation research funding to prevent deaths from stem cell transplants | Garvan implements superpowered IT infrastructure to push scientific boundaries in genomics research] Peeters also said that the creation of this institute will result in the need for a newer research workforce. “There will be a need for people who have skills across multiple sectors, multiple disciplines and those with a focus on capacity building and development. That’s not how people are currently trained.” She also said that the clinical data that currently exists needs to become more easily available. “The data isn’t easily liked, it’s not easily analysed. There are a lot of protection issues that exist and a lack of official systems around how we do data IP, data sharing, etc. So, how can we free that up and develop it in a comprehensive way? “These are going to be quite critical in creating a proper framework and getting the most out of our research ecosystem.

New figures show that one in 10 Australians have opted out of the My Health Record (MHR) system, leaving participation rates at 90.1 per cent. According to the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), based on the number of people eligible for Medicare as at 31 January, more than 2.5 million people have opted out of the system, amounting to a national opt out rate of nearly 10 per cent. This is a stark increase from the three per cent, or about 900,000 people, who opted out from when the opt-out period began in July to 9 September last year. While the opt-out period ended on 31 January, legislation was recently passed by the Australian Parliament allowing Australians to cancel and have their MHR permanently deleted from the system at any time in future. Similarly, individuals who may have opted out can choose to create a record at any stage. According to the ADHA, records created through the opt-out process will be available shortly. Just a few days ago, ADHA Chief Executive Tim Kelsey took to stage at the AFR Healthcare Summit to say that the MHR system was one of the strategies to get Australia’s digital basics right and quickly, and that more healthcare organisations are getting on board the system. “A recent report identified, quite astonishingly, that in today’s high-quality healthcare in Australia, that 1.2 million Australians will have experienced an adverse medication event in the last six months. 250,000 hospital patients are seen each year because of medications misadventure. A key cause is the absence of real-time medical records at the point of care – a key benefit of MHR,” he said at the event. According to Kelsey, more than 50 per cent of pharmacies are now uploading to MHR – an “enormous shift” from the start of the year. “What this means is comprehensive coverage. A GP will have the most up-to-date information currently available on the patient and in that way, we will reduce the number of accidental misdiagnoses,” he said. In response to the increasing Australian opt-out numbers, Labor Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare Catherine King said the implementation of an opt-out model has “created a range of problems and severely undermined public support” for a system that could deliver health benefits. “We maintain the government should commission an independent Privacy Commissioner review of the system,” King said. [Read more: We need to get the digital basics right and quickly: Tim Kelsey | My Health Record system data breaches rise] As part of the review, Labor calls for the consideration of appropriate balance between utility for clinicians, patients and others (such as carers), and privacy and security for individuals; protections for vulnerable people, including minors aged between 14 and 17 and families fleeing domestic violence; and measures to encourage consumer engagement and informed choice. Most recently, the ADHA also reported that the number of data breaches involving MHR has risen year-on-year, from 35 incidents in the last financial year to 42 incidents this year. The agency’s Annual Report 2017–18 identified that “42 data breaches (in 28 notifications) were reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)… concerning potential data security or integrity breaches”, but with “no purposeful or malicious attacks compromising the integrity or security of the My Health Record system”. MHR has previously come across backlash from the industry, with Harvard Medical School International Healthcare Innovation Professor Dr John Halamka saying the system relies on outdated technology and industry calling for more caution over the system. But the ADHA defended MHR from criticisms, identifying that more than 98 per cent of the content in MHR is machine-readable, including MBS [Medicare Benefits Schedule] and PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] data and a variety of rich clinical resources, and that only one to two per cent of the documents contained in My Health Record are PDFs. “Over 100 clinical information systems are accredited to connect to My Health Record and they consume structured data such as SNOMED [Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine] codes on diseases and AMT [Australian Medicines Terminology] codes on medicines. This functionality is driving decision support and other logic in those systems through those computable codes,” the spokesperson said.

In a suspected ransomware attack, a cybercrime syndicate has hacked and scrambled around 15,000 medical records at a Victorian hospital. Medical files from Melbourne Heart Group, a specialist cardiology unit based within the Cabrini Hospital premises in Melbourne, had been compromised, with the hackers restricting access to the records for more than three weeks and demanding a ransom for access, according to The Age. It was reported that the hack started as a malware attack, crippling its server and corrupting the data and that the cybercrime syndicates demanded ransom be paid in cryptocurrency for a password that breaks the encryption.  This resulted in some patients not having any records at the unit, while others got told that their “files had been lost”. The malware is believed to be from Russia or North Korea. The Age also reported that a ransom payment was likely made by the Melbourne Heart Group; however, not all of the scrambled files have been recovered. Commonwealth security agencies including the Australian Cyber Security Centre and Federal Police are assisting the hospital with the case. Cabrini Chief Executive Dr Michael Walsh confirmed with HITNA that the data storage and other information systems in specialist suites are owned and managed by the specialists, not by the Cabrini Hospital. “The specialists are not employees of Cabrini. No Cabrini data storage or patient-related systems or operations have been impacted or compromised by this incident and there has been no breach of hospital patient data,” Walsh said. He also said that the protection of patient information “is of the utmost importance and is a responsibility Cabrini takes very seriously”. A Melbourne Heart Group spokesperson told The Age that there were no connections between the data encrypted with any function in relation to cardiac implantable electrical devices like pacemakers or defibrillators. The spokesperson did not confirm the number of files affected, nor if the ransom had been paid. Update 27/02/19: Melbourne Heart Group has since advised that no patient’s privacy was compromised or breached in this ransomware attack. [Read more: NSW Health Minister apologises as hundreds of abandoned medical files are discovered in derelict former aged care facility | One year on from WannaCry and healthcare organisations are prime targets for cyber attackers] Tenable ANZ Country Manager Bede Hackney said healthcare organisations continue to be an attractive target for cybercriminals and with the rollout of My Health Records complete, malicious activity is expected to increase. “Healthcare naturally has a target on its back due to the wealth of personal and sensitive data it shares,” he said.  “Developers of ransomware and other malicious code are creating new methods of exploiting systems on a daily basis. Australian healthcare organisations, small and large, public and private, must protect themselves and the patient data they store in the face of a rapidly evolving attack surface.”   Furthermore, Hackney said that being locked out of critical health information, such as what is stored in centralised databases like My Health Records, can have “life-threatening consequences”.  However, he said the techniques utilised by ransomware can be prevented – and the probability of an infection reduced – by taking a few steps. “A good starting point is to consult the ASD Essential Eight Maturity Model, which outlines security practices such as regular patching to minimise cyber risk,” Hackney said. “With patient lives and records on the line, healthcare organisations must take a proactive approach to preserve the integrity of the data they’ve been entrusted to protect.” StorageCraft Asia-Pacific Head of Sales Marina Brook attributed recent findings from global cybersecurity insurance provider, Beazley, which said that 45 per cent of all ransomware attacks in 2017 were aimed at the healthcare sector. "The ransomware attack on the Melbourne Heart Group reinforces the importance of ensuring that data is stored securely and, equally important, is able to be restored within the shortest time possible, to prevent compromising quality of care for patients," she said. "When a human life is in the balance, there’s no time to wait for completion of bitcoin payments to criminals, nor do we have the luxury to wait for terabytes of patient data to be restored over a week. The data needs to be restored and available within seconds.” StorageCraft most recently introduced StorageCraft for Healthcare, a converged scale-out primary and secondary data platform with integrated data protection.