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More than 63 percent of laptops have deficiencies of users storing data locally rather than accessing the organization’s programs and data via secure, virtual desktop software, a new report shows.

Windsor Dermatology made the switch from paper to digital, and says the key was finding a records system specific to the specialty.

The tool will deliver what the company calls Health Nudges to help users better manage hypertension.

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The Palmerston North-based Health Hub Project in New Zealand is aiming to reduce health inequities and increase access to care with the help of artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain. Project co-founder David Hill is a GP at the Health Hub Project in Palmerston North, which runs four general practices with around 9000 patients. Hill says clinically trained people are a diminishing resource in healthcare and the system cannot rely on that to ensure its sustainability in the future, therefore technology needs to be used to “balance that inequity of supply and demand”. “The whole point of what we are doing is trying to make sure that we use IT in a way that allows or permits greater equity of access to patients and starts to reduce the reliance on the ever-dwindling resource of healthcare workers,” he says. “Also, to advance the value proposition that we give to patients.” The first stage of the Health Hub Project is developing a New Zealand-focused model of risk stratification to identify those patients who are most at risk and in need of services. “We want to look at a much more integrated model of risk stratification, so it’s not just clinical but psychosocial factors like housing and education as well,” explains Hill. He says these factors are drivers of poor health, which impact Māori and Pasifika people disproportionally, and the model could help differentiate other drivers. He is also working with researchers at Massey University to develop a social exclusion measurement for New Zealand, which will be incorporated into the risk stratification. The project’s aim is to create a database of patient information and to use AI and machine learning to develop the risk stratification score and enable researchers to look at the impact of health interventions. Hill says the database will start with the 9000 patients at the Health Hub Project practice. Patients will have access via an app to their own data, and be able to input it, as well as choose how it is shared with researchers. The organisation is working with a small team of New Zealand-based software architects to design, develop and implement into practice a secure application, using blockchain technology. “The nice thing about blockchain is it allows you to identify each block of data and anonymise it,” he says. The data will be housed in a data warehouse and the primary use will be for the direct care of that patient. “So, when a patient phones for an appointment, we know their risk stratification score and that allows us to allocate appropriate resource for the patient when they come in,” he says. The current thinking is that if patients want an expanded analysis that includes comparing their diagnosis with larger populations, they would have to opt in to sharing their information anonymously for research purposes. Hill says they are talking to a number of potential investors locally and internationally about the data analysis tool and app to progress the development of the software. This article first appeared on eHealthNews.nz.

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.”

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To help combat the opioid crisis, the medical center invested in inventory and analytics technology that helps accurately and consistently identify cases of drug diversion.

Health and research entities to advance genome sequencing for disease diagnosis.

EHR vendor says it will combine Wellsoft’s EDIS with its EHR and revenue cycle software.