HiNZ 2015: New Zealand to introduce national EHR, digital hospitals blueprint

The New Zealand government has announced plans to build a single, national electronic health record (EHR) for all of its citizens, with a base platform up and running within three years.

It has also outlined plans to introduce a common blueprint for digital hospitals that will measure all hospital and specialist services against the HIMSS electronic medical record adoption model (EMRAM).

In addition to developing a common IT platform for preventive health that will cover immunisations and health screening programs, the government’s new plan also emphasises the necessity for data to be used to support health and social investments.

National Health IT Board director Graeme Osborne told the Health Informatics New Zealand (HiNZ) conference in Christchurch today that the board would now move into a design phase that will see three iterative cycles of design over the next six to nine months towards the goal of standing up a basic national EHR with medicines, problem lists, allergies and alerts by the middle of 2018.

And all DHBs will undergo an EMR maturity model survey in May-June next year to create a benchmark for productive digital hospitals in New Zealand.

“We are going to have a single EHR,” Mr Osborne said. “It is going to be a longitudinal record from the consumer’s experience, so they understand that wherever they touch the health system, a base set of information is available to every clinician and health provider who is engaging with them.

“We are going to develop a blueprint for a digital hospital on a national basis. It is going to be common, it will be about uniformity, and we have set a challenge of November next year – 12 months.

“And instead of getting alongside you and encouraging you to do the right things, we are going to measure ourselves against an international standard. We are asking all hospitals in New Zealand to be measured against the HIMSS EMR scale of maturity for their electronic health information environments.”

While there was no announcement of a funding package, several sources told Pulse+IT that the cost of the ambitious program could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. However, both Mr Osborne and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman (pictured) said the plan was to leverage existing initiatives – such as Canterbury’s HealthOne shared care view system, the TestSafe system running in Auckland’s DHBs, the various eReferrals systems now rolling out and the government’s own patient portal push.

New Zealand is also currently rolling out a uniform, national clinical workstation built by Orion Health for secondary care clinicians.

Dr Coleman said that while about 260 general practices had adopted patient portals so far, partial solutions such as patient portals are not good enough.

“We need the benefits of digital systems to be widely available,” Dr Coleman said. “As I walk around hospitals I kept seeing examples of where individual clinicians have designed a stand-alone information system or programs to use in their own unit – we end up with 20 different systems.

“In my view it intuitively makes sense to have a more uniform IT environment with fewer systems, fewer vendors, more standardisation and greater functionality.”

Dr Coleman said he had commissioned an independent report from Deloitte on the benefits of a single electronic health record that showed there was growing international support for adopting what he called a “hybrid-best of suite” strategy for electronic health records where a single EHR is introduced to join up information held in a smaller number of electronic medical record systems.

He said there were five key findings in the report, including that quality and productivity benefits are available by rationalising the systems used by secondary care facilities.

It also found that creating a single EHR that physically consolidates health information in one place will improve decision support and care coordination, especially for complex patients with multiple long-term conditions. Primary care also needs to be connected in real-time with the single EHR, the report recommended.

Dr Coleman said the fourth area was the imperative to implement closed loop medications management, as this is the area that offers the highest benefits in terms of patient safety and quality, and the fifth is to develop consumer portal access.

“This leverages the ability to serve up information from a physical repository in real-time, through digital channels to consumers,” he said. “Consumer engagement around their health and wellness is key to implementing a preventative or primary care-led strategy.

“We have laid much of the groundwork by linking up our health information systems and securely sharing a considerable amount of patient information. However, we are entering a new and vital phase.

“We need a platform that lets us consistently and widely share information and integrate services across hospitals and communities. We need this platform in place so we can hit the ‘go’ button and really deliver the same high quality health services to all New Zealanders, no matter who they are or where they live.”

Dr Coleman said he had asked the Health IT Board to establish a work plan that will see the DHBs finish the work already under way from the previous national health IT plan, such as the replacement of legacy patient administration systems, the common clinical workstations in all public hospitals and fully joined-up electronic medication systems.

“Secondly, over the next 12 months, we need to complete the design-thinking and investment plans for a hybrid/best of suite approach,” he said.

“A national electronic health record is a critical tool for providing the best care, whether in hospital or in the community. It will provide information via a patient portal and enable clinicians to view comprehensive patient information in one place.

“It will include a person’s allergies and alerts, medications and diagnostics, and will have clinical decision support tools. It will also incorporate data from all the current population screening programs and accommodate any new screening requirements. The record will be able to be accessed via portals and apps running on a variety of devices.

“In a digital hospital, all patient information is linked up into a standard electronic medical record and can be accessed from anywhere in the hospital. This means a nurse taking a patient’s vital signs can send them electronically straight to a central database, where they can be securely accessed by everyone caring for that patient.

“So that we do it once, and do it right, a blueprint of a digital hospital will be developed for the sector, and will be available by November 2016.”

He said the national, whole-of-person IT prevention platform will capture information relating to current and future population screening and prevention programs, and as with the electronic medical record, this prevention information will form part of the national electronic health record.

The independent review from Deloitte will be available on the Ministry of Health website in the next few days, he said.

HiNZ 2015: Canterbury and West Coast DHBs launch Patientrack EWS

Canterbury and West Coast District Health Boards are set to implement a new digital patient observation and alert response system called Patientrack, which is aimed at helping clinicians identify deteriorating patients earlier.

Patientrack was devised by a New Zealand-trained intensive care specialist based in the UK and has been deployed at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust. It is distributed in New Zealand and Australia by IT solutions firm MKM Health.

Patientrack will be introduced at Canterbury and West Coast DHBs from next month and is designed to make patient observations immediately visible to the clinical team anywhere through the hospital information system.

Susan Wood, director of quality and patient safety for Canterbury and West Coast DHBs, said Patientrack used the patient’s vital signs to add up an early warning score (EWS) and automatically sends alerts to the appropriate clinicians.

It will track more than a million patient observations that are currently recorded on charts in 10 hospitals throughout Canterbury DHB and West Coast DHB every year.

“Replacing paper-based EWS with a broader suite of automated assessment and communication tools will reduce error rates and improve work flows, allowing clinicians to dedicate more quality time with patients, and ultimately reduce the number of adverse events,” Ms Wood said in a statement.

“Electronic capture of patient data will give our teams improved visibility of EWS, enabling more timely review and follow up of patients.”

Ms Wood said adopting the digital track and trigger system was partly in response to recommendations from the Health and Disability Commissioner to better adhere to clinical protocols, and also to reduce the paperwork from up to 40 different patient observation assessment forms.

She said initial configuration of the new system has started at Christchurch Hospital, and will progressively go out across all wards over the next six months.

“Joining up with the clinical management system will also provide more reliable data to assist planning and reporting on improvements in clinical and patient workflow,” she said.

HiNZ 2015: Hawke’s Bay deploys Connected Care for over 65s

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board is the first in New Zealand to deploy the Whanau Tahi Connected Care (WHCC) system to support co-ordinating and commissioning of community services for its over 65 patient population and those with long-term conditions.

Hawke’s Bay DHB’s Need Assessment Services Coordination (NASC) agency commissions community support services each year for thousands of people with disabilities and older people needing age-related support, ranging from household management to personal care and residential care.

More than 3000 patients are now having their services coordinated by WTCC, which was formerly known as CCMS, developed by HSAGlobal. Whanau Tahi, the IT arm of Waipareira Trust, bought CCMS in August and plans to continue to support existing deployments as well as explore new markets in New Zealand, Australia and the US.

According to Whanau Tahi, the WTCC Service Coordination module streamlines service commissioning administration, simplifies contracted service provider management and payment reconciliation, and reduces manual data entry.

The ideas is that as the full shared care capability of the platform is introduced over time, Hawke’s Bay DHB can build an accurate, real-time picture of services needed and services delivered, and track outcomes achieved.

WTCC provides a single, secure shared plan and record built around client and whanau (extended family) needs that is accessible by all approved service coordinators and service providers. It is provided as a service on a subscription model.

Matt Hector-Taylor, who first developed the system at HSAGlobal and has moved with it to Whānau Tahi, said that assessing needs, commissioning and coordinating services in communities is a key part of delivering connected care.

“Community-based care providers are important members of a person’s care team and benefit from access to shared care plans and other important information about they people they care for,” he said.

The Health Informatics New Zealand (HiNZ) conference is being held in Christchurch this week.

International health IT week in review: September 20

Pulse+IT’s weekly weekend round-up of international health IT and eHealth news:

Care.data chief Tim Kelsey to leave NHS England
ComputerWeekly ~ Lis Evenstad ~ 17/09/2015

NHS England’s digital chief will leave the organisation in December to take up a new role with Telstra Health in Australia.


Healthcare leads all industries in data breaches
Government Health IT ~ Jack McCarthy ~ 17/09/2015

The healthcare sector experienced 187 data breaches in the first half of 2015, a startling number on its own, but even more so when considering that it accounts for 21.1 percent of all breaches worldwide.


Senate panel gets earful on data access
HealthcareITNews ~ Bernie Monegain ~ 17/09/2015

Eric Dishman made his way up to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify about just how critical – a matter of life or death – access to personal health information can be.


Fitbit wellness platform now HIPAA compliant
Health Data Management ~ Greg Slabodkin ~ 17/09/2015

Fitness device maker Fitbit now will enter into HIPAA business associate agreements with corporations, health plans and self-insured employers that want to offer its wellness platform to employees.


How to respond to FBI alert on medical devices
Health Data Management ~ Greg Slabodkin ~ 16/09/2015

With increasing networked medical devices and sensors in healthcare, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s cyber alert warning last week about the vulnerabilities of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the opportunities they pose for exploitation by cybercriminals is a wakeup call for the industry.


VA preps portal to consolidate services for vets
Government Health IT ~ Jack McCarthy ~ 16/09/2015

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to launch an online portal next month to act as a one-stop-shop for VA services


EHRs, portals have a positive effect on diabetes care
FierceEMR ~ Marla Durben Hirsch ~ 15/09/2015

Electronic health records and patient portals can improve the care of patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, according to a new article from Kaiser Permanente


CCIOs issue Newcastle Declaration
Digital Health News ~ Jon Hoeksma ~ 15/09/2015

Clinical information leaders from across the NHS have issued a joint declaration calling for interoperability to be recognised as vital to safe, connected patient care.


FBI issues cyber alert for ‘internet of things’ medical devices
Health Data Management ~ Greg Slabodkin ~ 15/09/2015

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued an alert warning companies and the public about the cybersecurity risks that networked medical devices and wearable sensors pose to consumers.


Stars aligning for patient engagement startup market
Health Data Management ~ Greg Goth ~ 15/09/2015

The term “patient engagement” has become a kind of catchall, encompassing everything from platforms intended to make scheduling more efficient to portal interfaces to access electronic health records.


2015 EHR Satisfaction Survey
HealthcareITNews ~ Erin McCann ~ 14/09/2015

Want to talk big-ticket purchases? Those behemoth electronic health record systems so many hospitals and medical practices have rolled out in recent years are easily near the top of the list.


2015 survey results: speaking out about EHRs
HealthcareITNews ~ Mike Miliard ~ 14/09/2015

When we set out to survey Healthcare IT News readers about their electronic health record platforms, we expected they’d have a lot to say. And boy, did they ever.


DoD award, end of Meaningful Use mark new EHR era
Health Data Management ~ Greg Slabodkin ~ 14/09/2015

With the Defense Department’s recent $4.3 billion award to the Leidos-Cerner team and Stage 3 to be the final stage of the Meaningful Use program, the electronic health records market is poised to enter a new era over the next few years marked by technological innovation and lower pricing models.


How home telemedicine can improve communication with caregivers
FierceHealthIT ~ Susan D. Hall ~ 14/09/2015

Telehealth offers an ideal way to provide ongoing communication and care coordination for caregivers of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), a case study from the Department of Veterans Affairs illustrates


Scottish telehealth centre under fire
Digital Health News ~ Thomas Meek ~ 14/09/2015

NHS 24’s governance of the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare has been heavily criticised in a leaked report produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers.


3M considers sell-off of health IT arm
HealthcareITNews ~ Erin McCann ~ 11/09/2015

Officials at the St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M Health Information Systems, announced this week that they were strongly considering putting its business up for sale.


More pain for Fiona Stanley Hospital as AMA lashes ICT

A senior doctor and Australian Medical Association WA branch representative has lashed the ICT capability of Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH), telling a parliamentary inquiry that the electronic patient record frequently crashes, support for IT applications is inadequate and discharge summaries being issued to GPs are “appalling”.

Ian Jenkins, an intensive care specialist at FSH, director of ICU at Fremantle Hospital and chair of the AMA (WA) inter-hospital liaison committee, said there were also grave concerns over inadequate bed numbers, inadequate staff and a lack of stability in management positions at the hospital and within WA Health.

In a written submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the transition and operation of services at FSH, Dr Jenkins outlined the findings of a survey of 668 doctors about aspects of the commissioning and operation of the hospital.

Almost 60 per cent said the commissioning had been handled poorly or very poorly, with 71 per cent saying the resolution of operational issues that have arisen since its opening have been handled poorly or very poorly.

Sixty-seven per cent of senior doctors and 55 per cent of junior doctors felt that new systems at the hospital have led to patient care and safety being compromised.

Sixty-eight per cent said they did not feel that IT systems were assisting in providing efficient, high-quality care to patients and only 26 per cent felt that the outpatients department was functioning to a desirable standard.

The submission follows the findings of an independent review of the operational and clinical care at FSH, carried out by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) and MMK Consulting and released last month.

It found that IT systems such as the the patient entertainment system, cardiac telemetry system and clinical and administrative software were causing problems for clinicians and patients, with the BOSSnet digital medical record (DMR) taking up to 15 minutes to open up the applications required and the outpatients booking system also causing problems.

Dr Jenkins’ submission named IT as the first area of concern, saying that BOSSNet had caused a “significant reduction” in efficiency.

“It is untried in major Australian hospitals, is supported by a relatively small company, does not interface as installed with all the other applications and frequently crashes or freezes on users,” he wrote.

“Should the vendor not be able to continue to support there is severe clinical risk, as transfer of information to a new application will be difficult, time-consuming and expensive.”

Dr Jenkins said support for IT applications through the “interwoven labyrinth” of Serco, the outsourced provider that is in charge of non-clinical IT, Health Information Network, the WA Health agency in charge of clinical IT, and ICT infrastructure provider BT “is often tedious to obtain and slow to produce results”.

“There was inadequate training in use of the new systems and inadequate support on site during commissioning.

“Outages are extremely frequent – when notifications of ‘planned’ outages are given it is with 15 minutes to about eight hours’ warning – hardly planned.

“A review of the Health Department’s ability to provide modern effective healthcare applications to new and redeveloped sites is desperately needed.”

Dr Jenkins also harshly criticised the lack of engagement with GPs, saying there had been “a shameful neglect” of the vital role primary care plays in keeping patients with chronic disease out of hospital.

“[No] engagement with the primary care sector in the catchment area and the issuing of appalling discharge summaries – appalling because of poor ICT applications and because of enormous workload thrust upon junior medical staff,” he wrote.

“The AMA would welcome meaningful engagement and dialogue in this area – it can only reduce costs, reduce admissions and improve patient safety and outcomes.”

WA Health Minister Kim Hames told the ABC that while there still some problems with the ICT, he believed the problems raised by Dr Jenkins had been addressed.

“But as soon as they happen, they are high priority, fixed straight away and it’s not an issue for the staff,” Dr Hames said.

“I think the efficiency of the [IT] system is 80 to 90 per cent and that it’s working very well in most instances.”

Under a stabilisation strategy developed by WA Health earlier this year, the same systems will be rolled out at the new Perth Children’s Hospital and other redevelopments. The new Midland Hospital, due to open in November to replace Swan District Hospital, is using different systems.

BOSSnet, developed by Adelaide-based Core Medical Solutions, has been used successfully by Barwon Health in Victoria for many years and has also been rolled out at Epworth Healthcare in Melbourne.

Fiona Stanley was originally planned to be Australia’s first fully digital hospital, but the complexity of its best-of-breed IT systems and their estimated 158 different interfaces not only delayed the opening of the hospital but have had to be significantly scaled back.

Whanau Tahi buys HSAGlobal to close loop in integrated care

Whanau Tahi, the wholly owned IT arm of the west Auckland-based social and healthcare service provider Waipareira Trust, has acquired the assets of HSA Global’s Connected Care Management Solution (CCMS), which forms the basis of a number of connected care projects in New Zealand and Australia.

Whanau Tahi itself has developed a specialist customer relationship management (CRM) system called the Whanau Tahi Navigator, which is integrated into New Zealand’s leading practice management software (PMS) system Medtech and enables GPs to share information with health and social service providers.

With the purchase of CCMS, the organisation will now be able to expand into secondary care and fully close the loop to achieve the goals of Whanau Ora, a health initiative based on Māori cultural values, and integrated care, Whanau Tahi CEO Steve Keung said.

“Whanau Ora really is nothing more than integrated care,” Mr Keung said. “What we are trying to do is connect all the way from our homes and our marae – we say marae but it could be any gathering place where people socialise – all the way through to the hospitals, connecting through to GP clinics, podiatrists, psychologists …

“With CCMS it gets us into that space in the hospital area, where we can now finally connect everybody all the way into the home.”

Whanau Tahi will take on many of HSAGlobal’s existing employees and continue supporting its successful roll-outs, which include Auckland’s shared care plan program, Counties-Manukau District Health Board’s (DHB) at-risk individuals program, Canterbury DHB’s collaborative care program and a proof of concept trial with Northern DHB looking at medication adherence for people with long-term conditions.

HSAGlobal also has several clients in Australia for CCMS, including the former South Eastern Sydney Medicare Local (SESML) for its Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) and Partners in Recovery mental health programs.

It has also been used in Victoria by childhood and parenting centres QEC and Tweddle, as well as a mobile wound care project.

As part of the sale, HSAGlobal founder and managing director Matt Hector-Taylor will join Whanau Tahi to oversee business and customer development.

“It is going to be a joined up organisation so one of things we are working through at the moment is the product strategy,” Mr Hector-Taylor said.

“We’ve been talking to Whanau Tahi for quite a while, quite a few years, and have been on sort of a parallel journey. The’ve been more in the social space and we are more in the health space, so it seemed like the right time join forces.”

Mr Hector-Taylor said the plan was to pause HSAGlobal’s UK operation for the time being to do a stocktake. In addition to New Zealand and Australian clients, HSAGlobal has one in Singapore and Whanau Tahi has several in the US as well as emerging relationships in Canada.

Waipareira CEO John Tamihere said the acquisition would enable New Zealand to become a reference site for exporting the Whanau Ora and integrated models of care frameworks and tools to vulnerable communities in international markets.

While Whanau Tahi does focus on First Nations populations, Mr Keung said the company’s first client in the US, Families First of Atlanta, was predominantly an African American organisation that was very similar to Waipareira.

“We were birthed out of an urban Maori authority 30 years ago and our strategy has always been First Nations, let’s work there and then we’ll branch out in other areas,” he said.

“We are following the same strategy as we have done here over there. Families First are outcomes-focused, they are trying to break down the silos, they are trying to do a lot of things we are trying to do.”

Mr Hector-Taylor said the model of care supported by CCMS would easily extend to First Nations populations.

“The First Nations plus vulnerable people and the frail elderly and the long-term conditions patients, that group is really a big chunk of under-served populations,” he said.

“We seem to have our heads around both the software and the service models, which is quite exciting.”

Mr Keung said Whanau Tahi’s overall vision was to enable self-managed and self-directed care for individuals and whanau (extended families).

“If you can imagine something hand-held and being able to have a patient or individual or family, the consumer of health services, be able to choose their providers and who will be linked to them as support personnel, then that is what we are trying to do,” he said.

“That’s our vision and we believe that what Matt and his team have developed over the years is a very good fit with what we have and gets us into a very important space in so far as healthcare is concerned.

“We have very strong aspirations for what we will do. We know there is a need and there is a very significant opportunity for someone with domain knowledge. It’s not really the technology – it is how you go about repurposing organisations and changing thought.”

Tunstall partners with home doctor service

Tunstall Healthcare has signed an agreement with the National Home Doctor Service (NHDS) to provide non-emergency after hours home visits for clients.

In addition to providing telehealth products and solutions, Tunstall offers a 24-hour, seven day telecare monitoring service for older people and people with disabilities living at home.

As part of the agreement, Tunstall’s care consultants will be able to coordinate an after-hours home visit for clients in non-emergency situations.

The NHDS – which includes medical deputising services Family Care Medical Services in Sydney and south-east Queensland, gpSolutions in Adelaide and Melbourne Medical Deputising Service in Melbourne and Geelong – offers bulk-billed after hours home visits.

It meets the after hours practice incentive program (PIP) criteria but patients can use the service even if their regular GP does not subscribe.

Tunstall said the alliance aimed to reduce unnecessary call-outs for ambulance services for minor ailments.

Tunstall’s health services delivery manager Sharryn Gannon, said the The after-hours home doctor service was “a brilliant offering” for her clients, “particularly for those who are unwell when their regular GP is closed, or those who sustain a minor injury at night or on weekends and don’t otherwise require an ambulance”.

NHDS CEO Ben Keneally said the partnership with Tunstall would provide a value-added service offering for its clients. “[It] will also promote our service to those vulnerable people in the community who are in most need of this kind of service.”

MedicAlert calls on MOH to link to national alerting system

The MedicAlert Foundation New Zealand has called on the government to put up some funds to allow the Ministry of Health (MOH) and all district health boards to connect to MedicAlert’s online alerting system.

The call follows the release of a report by the Health and Disability Commissioner into the death of 80-year-old Eunice Richardson in November 2013 following an adverse reaction against an antibiotic.

A patient of Canterbury DHB, Mrs Richardson was wearing a MedicAlert medical ID bracelet when she was admitted to hospital after a fall. The bracelet stated she was allergic to the antibiotic, trimethoprim, and her other known allergies were recorded on her drug chart.

However, following her transfer to a rehabilitation hospital, these warnings were ignored and she was administered trimethoprim for a UTI. She developed toxic epidermal necrolysis and died some days later.

MedicAlert CEO Murray Lord said the foundation was now urging the other DHBs to follow Canterbury’s lead in its promise to put in place policies and connected IT systems that ensure the MedicAlert system was used as designed.

“When a MedicAlert medical ID gets ignored, avoidable incidents happen, people get harmed and people die,” Mr Lord said.

“The social impact on the affected person, their family, the wider community and government can be massive and the hard-earned reputation of health providers and the careers of health practitioners can be ruined, all for the sake of a few seconds of good practice and due diligence.”

In addition to the bracelet, which carries details of the condition or allergy as well as a 24/7 medical emergency hotline, MedicAlert also manages its members’ medical records, which are hosted in an online portal as part of MedicAlert’s Patient Vitals subscription package.

The service was launched five years ago and uses the ManageMyHealth technology from Medtech. MedicAlert works with registered health organisations to give them online access to the portal for use in an emergency.

MedicAlert also offers an extended package that allows members to store advance care directives and emergency medical action plans online.

GPs can make an electronic referral to MedicAlert from within their PMS.

HL7NZ puts the fire into ice

HL7 New Zealand is holding a day-long seminar in Auckland this Friday covering fire – or the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard – and ice, in the form of local and international developments with SNOMED clinical terminology.

The seminar will cover the basics of FHIR and its potential as well as providing an update on its practical use, while the SNOMED session aims to build awareness and explain New Zealand’s progress with the terminology ahead of the international SNOMED conference being held in Wellington in October 2016.

Orion Health product specialist David Hay will cover FHIR in practice with a look at its potential in patient portals, mobile devices, migration from the Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) standard and integration with EMRs.

There will also be a session on the basics of FHIR aimed at clinicians rather than technical implementers. According to HL7NZ, the objective of the session is to empower health professionals with the knowledge to explore, use and extend the FHIR standard for their own needs.

As HL7NZ looks forward to hosting the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation’s (IHTSDO) conference and expo next year, the afternoon session will be dedicated to showcasing successful Kiwi implementations of SNOMED, including in emergency care, medication management, eReferral, clinical pathway and clinical decision support solutions.

HL7NZ’s annual mid-year seminar will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Albert Street in Auckland from 8.30am this Friday. See the HL7NZ website for more information.

Australasian health week in review: June 20

Pulse+IT’s weekly round-up of Australian and New Zealand health, IT and eHealth news:

Cat videos boost mood: study
Medical Observer ~ Rada Rouse ~ 19/06/2015

Watching cat videos on the internet could be a low-cost intervention improving emotional wellbeing, a researcher says.


Advertising blitz for patient portals reaches mainstream media
NZ Doctor ~ Reynald Castaneda ~ 19/06/2015

It’s full steam ahead for an awareness campaign championing patient portals with advertising materials hitting mainstream media.


Cat lovers rejoice: watching online videos lowers stress and makes you happy
The Conversation ~ Sasha Petrova ~ 18/06/2015

Watching cute cat videos and looking at their online pictures may not be a waste of time. A new study has found doing so could boost energy levels and increase feelings of happiness.


Smartphone app to transmit 111 caller’s location
stuff.co.nz ~ Aimee Gulliver ~ 18/06/2015

A new smartphone application will automatically provide the location of mobile phone callers to emergency services from July 2016, an innovation that is expected to save lives and reduce damage and theft of property.


Collaboration helps New Zealand med-tech sector take on world
New Zealand Herald ~ Diana Siew ~ 18/06/2015

When people talk about the New Zealand health technology sector, they tend to think about two companies – Orion Health and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.


Marriage of man and machine opens new world for disabled
The Australian ~ Chris Griffith ~ 18/06/2015

Mind control is nearly here thanks to a device invented by a former Channel Seven newsreader that lets humans operate an iPhone or iPad without moving a muscle.


Southern DHB sacked, commissioner and deputies appointed
NZ Doctor ~ Liane Topham-Kindley ~ 17/06/2015

Southern DHB has been sacked, replaced by a commissioner, a Dunedin legal consultant with business and governance experience, but none in health, who takes up the role tomorrow, 18 June.


MRI backlog as Wellington’s ageing scanner keeps breaking down
stuff.co.nz ~ Ben Heather ~ 17/06/2015

Wellington Hospital’s only MRI scanner, which is crucial for detecting cancers, is breaking down repeatedly and causing the backlog of untreated patients to grow.


IT sector’s ‘image problem’: Deloitte Access Economics report warns of skills demand
Sydney Morning Herald ~ Matthew Knott ~ 16/06/2015

Australia will need an extra 100,000 information and communications technology workers by the end of the decade, but the sector suffers an “image problem” that could be hampering its ability to attract high achievers, a report has found.


Bright ideas carry tech into the future
New Zealand Herald ~ Jamie Morton ~ 15/06/2015

From Google Glass to Bluetooth watches, the world of wearable technology is booming. So what happens when you add a bit of Kiwi ingenuity?