Staff Writer

One of Australia's largest juvenile justice departments will soon streamline its health services under a single Electronic Medical Record.

Australia is in an unprecedented period of technology innovation where data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting all sectors including the life sciences industry.

Faxes have been used to send documents over phone lines since the mid ‘60s, and while many medical practices have changed since then, the fax continues on with many health systems still depending heavily on the technology.

The cybersecurity implications of medical devices have come under scrutiny, as the digitisation of healthcare reaches a wider net of professional, personal and public environments.

Traditional ways of patient care need to be turned on their heads when it comes to implementing clinical genomics.

The health sector has topped the list of notifiable data breaches for the fourth consecutive quarter, as identified by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

An Australian-developed app is combining mobile phones with telehealth principles to bring burns sufferers fast, accurate and secure specialist advice from clinicians.

Data is a critical asset in the healthcare industry – our medical professionals rely on accurate and up-to-date clinical information in order to best assist patients.

The current processes around many clinical information systems are “not patient or GP-centred” and is “highly inefficient and frustrating for general practice”, according to a report by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

As Australia goes through the inevitable digitisation of hospitals, moving away from paper into the digital environment, data-driven approaches are key to informing system evaluation and redesign, improving flow through hospitals and delivering improved patient outcomes.