A data breach affected 121 SA Health patients
SA Health recently disclosed a cyber incident that impacted Personify Care, the external provider of digital patient pathways for its local healthcare networks.
On October 16, Personify Care discovered a breach of its platform used at Central Adelaide Local Health Network and Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, which resulted in a folder containing 121 patients’ health information being deleted.
The affected folder also contained the name and phone number of 12,624 patients which was used to invite them to the Personify Care platform.
“No evidence was found that the affected documents were copied or downloaded, but the incident resulted in an unauthorized party deleting the contents of a folder that stored information uploaded by patients and staff using Digital Patient Pathways” , SA Health reported.
“The incident did not impact the use of the platform at other SA Health Local Health Networks,” it added.
SA Health further emphasized that “the incident occurred outside the SA Health network within a specific part of the infrastructure used by Personify Care.”
In a separate media statement, Ken Saman, CEO of Personify Care, clarified: “The security of all other patient information entered into the system, including user data, has not been compromised.”
“We have also confirmed that the situation has been resolved and the risk to patient information has been mitigated.”
As for why the apparent hackers deleted the said folder of patient information, Saman shared that “the forensic analysis could not confirm the identity or motivation of the third party.”
Te Whatu Ora is expanding its implementation of PowerHealth cost solutions across South Island
Te Whatu Ora recently signed an agreement to further expand PowerHealth’s implementation of a clinical costing solution in the South Island.
Based on a press release, the expanded implementation of the web-based PowerPerformance Manager (PPM) aims to consolidate the region’s healthcare cost systems by standardizing cost configurations in accordance with the New Zealand Common Costing Standards.
It also aims to “improve operational decision-making within healthcare and hospitals, provide better data for healthcare benchmarking and a sound basis for inter-district pricing by creating consistency in cost accounting and cost allocation within the healthcare sector and ( lift) the quality of the cost reporting.”
The agreement began as a cost assessment by the then Southern District Health Board in 2021. When New Zealand’s healthcare system was reformed last year, a country-wide approach was adopted to planning and delivery services. Hence the decision to expand health care. adoption of PPM island-wide.
PPM, which calculates the cost of delivering hospital services and provides comprehensive performance reports, has been used by Te Whatu Ora Canterbury and West Coast since 2003.
NSW Health is building a new digital register of life-saving medicines
NSW Health has established a new Life-Saving Drugs Register to streamline tracking of vital supplies for time-critical emergencies.
According to a press release, the digital register is updated daily and pinpoints the exact location of life-saving medications for specific public hospital units in NSW. These drugs include drugs used to treat paracetamol overdose, snake and spider bites, and heavy metal poisoning, including 31 antidotes and 10 antivenoms.
The new register, which can be accessed via mobile devices, replaces a web-based Excel spreadsheet that is updated every six months. It was also given the opportunity to link to evidence-based guidelines to provide guidance to frontline healthcare workers on the appropriate use of such medications.
Healthscope introduces the latest e-booking solution from Genie Solutions
Healthscope, Australia’s only national private hospital operation and healthcare provider, has rolled out an electronic booking solution across its network of 38 hospitals.
Genie Solutions’ FHIR-based electronic booking solution streamlines the flow of information between specialists and hospitals. Because the solution allows all procedure and patient information to be shared securely directly from Genie or Gentu to the hospital booking system, all essential information is provided before scheduled procedures. It also allows Healthscope hospitals to see theater bookings instantly.