Contractors signed off on NSW Health’s network infrastructure upgrade and more instructions
Telstra and NTT have signed a contract for a major ICT upgrade at healthcare facilities in NSW
eHealth NSW revealed that telecommunications companies Telstra and NTT were tapped to upgrade the wired and wireless network infrastructure of more than 1,100 public health facilities in New South Wales.
Hospitals and community health centers will “gradually undergo a refresh of local network hardware and software that support our increasingly digital hospital environments,” says Ian Schrader, infrastructure director at eHealth NSW.
The major network infrastructure upgrade is part of NSW Health’s Health Grade Enterprise Network initiative to procure and manage ICT network infrastructure across the state.
GPs in North Queensland are using AI for MyMedicare registrations
General practices under the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network have implemented AI technology to drive voluntary patient registrations with MyMedicare.
NQPHN recently partnered with health technology company Healthily to offer GPs in North Queensland GoShare Voice technology to help identify and reach patients eligible for MyMedicare registration. The AI-based tool also enables automated outbound phone calls with patients who did not initially respond to MyMedicare text message invitations to further discuss enrollment options and allow them to ask questions.
MyMedicare is the federal government’s voluntary patient registration model that aims to formalize the relationship between patients, their primary care physicians and primary care teams.
With funding under NQPHN’s MyMedicare Mini Continuous Quality Improvement, the adoption of GoShare Voice will also help GPs prepare for IMpending changes to the subsidized management items for chronic conditions under the Medicare Benefits Scheme in November.
Austin Health’s virtual department is now back to normal
Austin Health’s technology-enabled home care service, which was piloted in 2021 with federal government funding, is now running business-as-usual.
The hospital in the virtual Home & Virtual Care department can now accommodate up to 10 patients at a time, with an emphasis on patients with high clinical acuity, such as cardiac and hematology patients. They are monitored using a watch or patch and are seen in near real time by a care team at the hospital via teleconference calls.
In February, the Virtual Department began integrating data from wearable devices into the EHR, improving patient data management.