Industry Focus

NEWS Interactive revolution begins A consortium of Australian universities has launched a world-first initiative in medical education aimed at secondary school and TAFE students; undergraduates in science, allied health, nursing and medicine; and postgraduates in medicine and nursing. A project designed to make world-class resources and education tools easily accessible, the Biomedical Education, Skills and Training (BEST) Network is a collaborative initiative of several leading Australian universities and peak industry groups to conduct a National Deployment Trial under the NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program. The project seeks to provide a critical mass of biomedical educational resources, as well as shared, web-based IT infrastructure. Educators can create their own content by using network resources and a feature-rich, online content authoring suite. They can share content with colleagues, collaborate in its development and deliver it to students via the NBN. A statement released by the University of NSW said the network partners would combine biomedical expertise, learning resources and educational technologies to create a community of educators using the NBN to facilitate world-class biomedicine education in Australia and internationally. Source: research.unsw.edu.au Digital data key to the future Major health bodies including the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and GE Healthcare have welcomed the Coalition Government's call for an audit of the personally controlled electronic healthcare record (PCEHR) scheme. David Dembo, General Manager of GE's healthcare business, said the current data system is too fragmented and that the answer is transparency, which was meant to improve following the introduction of the $447 million PCEHR in 2012. However, many feel the results have been disappointing. Despite this, Dembo said he is optimistic about the potential impact of PCEHR. "It created a language where we can share information and enable data s haring," he said. In the USA and UK, significant amounts of money (more than $365 million in the USA in 2013 alone, according to health incubator Rock Health) are being poured into the digitisation of health records. According to the USA's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the benefits of having electronic health records are plentiful, including improved quality and convenience of care; increased patient participation in their care; improved accuracy of diagnoses and health outcomes; and increased efficiencies and cost savings. Recent research published by the ONC showed that health information exchange between hospitals and other providers jumped 41 per cent between 2008 and 2012, and that electronic health records and health information organisations were tools used to enable this exchange. Source: The Australian Financial Review New payment scheme may pave way for future rewards A new deal between Healthscope, Australia's largest provider of integrated healthcare, and Bupa, a health insurer with some 3.5 million members, could pave the way for healthcare funding to be based on quality and clinical outcomes in the future. In an Australian first, Healthscope has agreed to forgo Bupa payments if it is found to have made serious errors in the treatment of any of Bupa's members. Healthscope Chief Executive Robert Cooke told The Australian that he hopes the agreement will become standard for the industry and encourage health funds to pay a premium for above-standard care. "Ultimately, my hope is the system will pay a reward or a penalty for the level of care delivered to patients," said Cooke. Similar agreements between certain insurers and healthcare providers have been in place in the USA since 2008 and some states have even adopted laws banning hospitals from charging insurers for so-called 'never events'. Dr Paul Bates, Chief Medical Officer at Bupa, said these agreements had ultimately contributed to improving clinical outcomes for both patients and providers. "Hopefully, through this agreement we can help improve healthcare outcomes for all Australians," he said. Healthscope's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael Coglin, said Australia's health system needs greater transparency and control measures—adding that, at present, stakeholders don't really know what the "gold standard" is. "The great thing about transparency is people can learn that the gold standard isn't a perfect outcome every time; there is a risk no matter how much care is taken," he said. Sources: Healthscope, Bupa Healthcare • Issue 3 3

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