Government & Policy

Local authorities are to be given access to postcode-level data on people testing positive for coronavirus in their areas. 

"We are hearing from patients and providers who are concerned about when Medicare’s temporary changes to telehealth rules will be rolled back and whether they will receive any advance notice," they said.

The response by the New Zealand government to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the crisis there under control. HIMSS Insights spoke to Shayne Hunter, deputy director general of data & digital at the New Zealand Ministry of Health, about their strategy.

This week's top stories include the Trump administration asking the Supreme Court to end the Affordable Care Act and hundreds of industry groups calling on Congress to advance permanent telehealth reform.

With many small and remote providers still in acute need of high-speed broadband, but the funding cap outpaced, the commission will carry forward unused funds from previous years  to meet the need for virtual care.

Luis Gustavo Gasparini Kiatake, president of the Brazilian Health Informatics Association, discusses the challenges of data exchange, digital maturity and culture in the country's transformation journey, in this episode of The Alessi Agenda.

Five of Sheffield’s labour MPs have written to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and health secretary, Matt Hancock, to seek support for the building of the Child Health Technology (CCHT) on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.   The centre already has the backing of large international companies including Philips, Cannon Medical, IBM Watson Health, Sheffield Children’s Hospital and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System. WHY IT MATTERS Once developed, the aim is to create a clinical research space that will be integral to bringing long-term and sustainable change to children’s health and wellbeing. The proposed 51,300-square-feet space will also enable a partnership with the current research programmes undertaken at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, such as Technology Innovation Transforming Child Health and Young People MedTech Cooperative. The new centre will deliver other wider health benefits and opportunities for the economy of the Sheffield City region, including the acceleration and adoption of health tech products and creating high value job opportunities.   THE LARGER CONTEXT The letter by the MPs comes as Johnson recently announced his "New Deal" plan of infrastructure investment to "build the UK back to health," in which he pledged £1.5 billion to go toward the building and maintenance of hospitals. ON THE RECORD The letter highlights that the CCHT would create an “environment where the NHS, academia and the private sector collaborate in innovations that can be commercialised and a critical mass of health and wellbeing research and innovation.” It also states that at a capital cost of £24 million, the new centre would “deliver excellent value for money and major benefits for the wider health of the economy of Sheffield City Region.”

Medical associations, health systems, vendors and other stakeholders are asking Senate and House leaders to prioritize four areas when enshrining permanent changes to telemedicine regs.

When Paul Roseworn flew out on holiday to Ireland and the UK in February to watch the Six Nations Rugby, he didn’t realise he would be caught up in a global pandemic.