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Local news
WEEK COMMENCING 22 AUGUST 2009
Costs holding up e-health
25 August 2009
The health technology sector went to Canberra last week but received not much more than the Rudd government's best regards. With healthcare "at a tipping point", Health Minister Nicola Roxon said, the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report had provided a blueprint "for the most significant reform since the introduction of Medicare 25 years ago" -- largely based on the benefits e-health could deliver.
Nursing home wires up
25 August 2009
Aged-care provider PresCare investigated a range of electronic aids for residents at its newest Queensland site. After trialling the use of wireless radio-frequency identification chips at several of its complexes, PresCare built a $30 million flagship facility at Carina, in Brisbane, offering state-of-the-art technology services. The technology, designed and installed by Queensland communications company SureCom, integrates enterprise location tracking from AeroScout, nurse call, camera surveillance, building automation, voice over internet protocol phones and internet protocol camera security, plus people and asset tracking.
Doctors told by Nicola Roxon to put health before cost
25 August 2009
Doctors will today be urged to choose treatments that work best rather than those costing the most, amid government claims that 99 per cent of patients receiving artificial joints did not get the best types. Health Minister Nicola Roxon will spearhead a push for more targeted use of health spending, telling doctors they have a "responsibility to be mindful of what the clinical evidence shows is effective" – and that "current practice falls well short of that".
Call to charge adults who supply booze to teens
25 August 2009
Liquor retailers have hit back at federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon after she accused industry "cowboys" of encouraging teen alcohol abuse. The retailers say adults who buy booze for youths also need to be held accountable.
Abortion law change 'not enough'
25 August 2009
A Cairns-based gynaecologist who became the first in Australia to administer the abortion pill RU486 says the Queensland Government has not gone far enough in amending laws governing abortions.
Liquor industry blamed for ugliness of Surfers Paradise
24 August 2009
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has described the boozy Surfers Paradise Mall as not a "pretty picture" on Saturday nights and will today challenge the liquor industry to see the carnage first-hand.
Swine flu vaccine strategy 'risky'
20 August 2009
The country's top infectious diseases body has written to the Government to warn the swine flu vaccine is being distributed too hastily, with too many risks for the public. The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases says the multi-dose vials which the vaccine will be distributed in have been shown to transmit infection, spread HIV and hepatitis, and even cause death.
Elliott: National Seniors Australia- Promoting productive ageing online
20 August 2009
Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot today officially launched two online tools developed by National Seniors Australia to help recognise and promote productive ageing in Australia. The new internet tools from the research arm of National Seniors Australia, the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre (a joint initiative of National Seniors Australia and the Australian Government) are: The Productive Ageing Centre website – www.productiveageing.com.au - which provides users with research, education and information; and The Atlas of Productive Ageing, located at www.productiveageing.publichealth.gov.au that allows users to find regional information on five broad indicators of productive ageing – activity, health, finance, housing and population.
Countdown to H1N1 vaccine rollout
20 August 2009
GPs should start gearing up for the hastiest vaccination rollout in Australian history, says the AMA, after the government announced it will take delivery of two million doses of swine flu vaccine by the end of next week. Federal health minister Nicola Roxon says the vaccination program could begin in a matter of weeks based on upcoming safety and efficacy data results from the human trial.
Chemo drug budget cut delayed again
20 August 2009
The Federal Government will further delay a budget cut affecting chemotherapy drugs like herceptin, which is used in the treatment of breast cancer. The Government plans to reduce wastage of intravenous chemotherapy drugs by paying only for the amount used by a patient, rather than the full vial of the medicine supplied.
International news
CANADA: Non-profit nursing homes give better care
24 August 2009
After reviewing 82 studies, Canadian researchers say non-profit nursing homes give better care. The findings of the meta-analysis for thousands of mostly U.S.and some Canadian and Taiwanese nursing homes are published in the British Medical Journal.
Nurse advocate calls for less painful portrayals
24 August 2009
Nurses are not ill-educated or low-skilled. Nurse advocate Sandy Summers, the founder and executive director of The Truth About Nursing organization had this to say when she spoke to UNLV students, faculty and local members of the medical profession on August 12. “[People] think they know what nurses do because they watch TV,” Summers said.
US: Nursing home revamps urged
20 August 2009
Transforming more nursing homes into happier places for residents may require an uprising of family members demanding better, the leader of a nursing home reform movement said in Rochester Wednesday. Care for people with developmental disabilities was deinstitutionalized decades ago when mothers wouldn't accept otherwise, said Dr. Bill Thomas, 49, founder of the Eden Alternative non-profit effort. "I'm looking forward to the arrival of daughters from hell. What I really mean is pressure from society, from the community, to say this is unacceptable." Thomas, who lives in the Ithaca area, travels the world to help nursing homes eliminate the loneliness, helplessness and boredom that their residents suffer. He spoke at St. John's nursing home Wednesday.
US: First swine flu vaccinations may start in Australia in a month
20 August 2009
Mass vaccination against swine flu may begin in Australia within a month, health officials said, heralding one of the world’s biggest public health exercises.
CANADA: Twittering telemedicine: Nationwide telemedicine networks are essential for successful healthcare reform
Telemedicine applications will play an increasingly important role in health care and provide tools that are indispensable for home health care, remote patient monitoring, and disease management, that encompasses not only rural health and battlefield care, but nursing home, assisted living facilities, and maritime and aviation applications.
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