News

The Australian Government has launched a first-of-its-kind data tool that lets the healthcare industry compare Australian data on health and healthcare with comparable international data. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) built the tool and said it provides a new way of comparing Australia’s performance across a range of health-related measures from the data of 36 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries. Some of these countries include Japan, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, the US, France, Korea, Israel, Norway, Germany and Denmark. The data tool, International health data comparisons 2018, gives users interactive data visualisations of snapshot comparisons of key health indicators such as life expectancy, health risk factors and causes of death. It also aims to give insights into how Australia’s healthcare system compares, including data on the pharmaceutical market, health insurance coverage and waiting times for elective surgery. All data is sourced from the OECD Health Statistics 2018 website and results are for 2017 or the nearest available year of data for countries with available data. According to the AIHW, the tool was built to aid local healthcare professionals compare health and healthcare data between countries and get a better understanding of how the market compares to other countries. [Read more: Google's tips for 2019? Data management and advanced insights | Australian healthcare researchers take too long to assemble data: report] "This new data tool is an important resource, facilitating international comparative reporting, supporting policy planning and decision-making and enabling new types of research and analysis," AIHW spokesperson Claire Sparke said. HOW DOES AUSTRALIA'S HEALTH COMPARE TO OTHER OECD COUNTRIES? The AIHW data presented some key findings for Australia, as compared to the rest of these 36 OECD member countries, including: Australia has the 6th lowest proportion of daily smokers (12 per cent) across OECD countries, below the OECD average of 18 per cent.   Australia has the 9th highest rates of overweight and obesity (63 per cent). This is even more notable for men, with Australian men having the 3rd highest rate of overweight and obesity, behind the US and Chile. Waiting times for most elective surgery procedures in Australia are below the OECD average. For example, Australians waited a median of 13 days for coronary bypass compared to the OECD average 22 days. “The data show that Australia performs relatively well across most of the indicators. For example, Australia has a life expectancy at birth of 82.5 years – above the OECD average of 80.6 years, and 6th highest among OECD countries,” Sparke said. “However, the data show that there are some areas where Australia could be doing better, such as rates of overweight and obesity”.

Big potential advances are close, says the state's Office of Planning and Research. The data is there, but needs greater standardization and a more robust system for sharing it.  

The provider organization has been working with a health IT and services vendor with a two-solution strategy that is enabling the organization’s transition from fee-for-service to fee-for-value.

Company says it will add the bar coding and RFID apps into its cloud-based revenue cycle product portfolio.

 Epic beats Cerner and Allscripts for customer satisfaction – but HealthEC, Health Catalyst, Arcadia and Enli take top spots.

Almost 40 per cent of Australian healthcare professionals have nominated better information sharing as their number one wish for improving population health. Commissioned by Philips, the Telehealth: delivering value across institutional and geographical borders report revealed that the rate of adoption of telehealth solutions worldwide is still relatively slow, despite an increase in attitudes favouring connected care technologies.  Specifically, in Australia, 38 per cent of healthcare professionals said accessible, secure information sharing platforms between healthcare professionals would have the most positive impact on Australians taking care of their health. In Australia, a barrier to using telehealth was identified to be the “human touch” aspect of care, with only 14 per cent of the population saying remote appointments using hologram doctors in their home would have the most impact on improving healthcare today. Local healthcare professionals that do use telehealth are primarily interested in interacting with their patients online for scheduling appointments (74 per cent), receiving test results (67 per cent) and video consultations (52 per cent), indicating there is some interest in remotely communicating with patients. In addition, 74 per cent said IT-based cloud solutions around communication, record management and reporting will have a positive impact on primary care, hospital or healthcare staff.  But only 23 per cent of the Australian general population and 17 per cent of Australian healthcare professionals think the health system in Australia is very or completely integrated.  Almost three quarters agreed that connected care devices should be standardised so that all devices can interact with all parts of the health system no matter who makes them. And of those who have used connected care technology, 60 per cent said they have shared their data or health information with a healthcare professional, with 22 per cent saying that they do not understand the easiest way to share data with a healthcare professional. The study also showcased the adoption landscape across 16 countries. Despite the ever-growing number of case studies linking telehealth to more effective care and lower costs, the adoption landscape across these countries is mixed. [Read more: Call for Medicare to catch up, as the momentum of telehealth uptake grows | HealthEngine survey shows patients want on-demand convenience and calls for GPs to sign up to new teleheath platform]  The report identified five key factors that are potential, though not insurmountable, barriers to widespread telehealth adoption, which include outdated reimbursement and payment models, inadequate technological infrastructures, restrictive policies, cultural attitudes and a lack of financial incentives. According to Philips ASEAN Pacific CEO Caroline Clarke, these five factors indicate the success of value-based care systems. “A key function of telehealth is connecting people, data and systems. This ensures that patients, no matter when or where they are, can access quality care,” Clarke said.  “[The] report plays an important part in helping countries such as Australia identify the key barriers to the adoption of telehealth solutions, and find solutions to ensure our healthcare system is operating optimally and the health of the general population continues to progress. “As with other aspects of connected care, success in telehealth will ultimately be based on the involvement of multiple actors – healthcare professionals, the general population, payers, regulators and the private sector – together with the recognition that healthcare is, at heart, a human field that depends on people,” Clarke said.

The four-part report was compiled for hospital executives as well as infosec pros, HHS said.

Its homegrown Canopy system is an example of the type of platform that value-based models of the future will need to deliver evidence-based care in a complex care ecosystem.

Sophie Pinkard discusses her journey in healthcare IT and where the industry is heading in the future.