Health Informatics NZ Keynote Focuses on Future of Digital Health in the 5G Era
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HiNZ keynote speaker Samson Tse says that the launch of fifth generation wireless systems will lead to the collection of vast volumes of data and transform the relationships between patients and clinicians.
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Privacy and personal data protection will be key concerns for digital health in the 5G era, says HiNZ Conference 2018 keynote speaker Samson Tse.
Tse is a professor of mental health in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong and will be speaking at the HiNZ Conference 2018 on how 5G connectivity will impact the delivery of healthcare.
In his keynote speech, The amazing 5Gs: Debate, dialogue and future directions, Tse will consider the launch of fifth generation wireless systems, which promise a superfast mobile connection and an explosion in the number of connected devices.
He envisions a parallel rapid expansion in the collection of vast volumes of personal data in real time, from wearable and other technologies, and believes this new era presents both new opportunities and obligations.
In a time when a person’s every movement and health indicator can be remotely monitored, protecting personal privacy and data will be paramount.
Tse says providing access to real-time data will have significant beneficial impacts on research, but researchers will also need to grapple with the challenge of keeping the data confidential.
“It’s important to explain to patients their rights in terms of their privacy and to have clear boundaries, so they understand under what circumstances their data will be collected and used,” he says.
The accessibility of this data will also transform the traditional relationships between patients and clinicians, with health professionals providing options and guidance to patients to enable them to make their own decisions about their care.
“Patients, service users, caregivers will also have access to much more powerful data, so patients will be in a much stronger position to demand informed decision making, which will have a huge impact on health professional training as well,” says Tse.
He says the 5G environment will allow service providers to congregate data from multiple sources, putting health providers in a much stronger position to think about delivering healthcare services through the digital environment.
“It’s important that we don’t rush to just use the technology, but rather go back to the fundamental question which is why the healthcare services exist in the first place, what are the health problems we need to tackle and what are the person’s strengths we can mobilise to combat the condition?” says Tse.
The HiNZ annual conference is being held on 21–23 November 2018 at Wellington’s TSB Arena. Tse will be presenting there on the afternoon of Wednesday 21 November. That morning, he will also be speaking at the eAllied Health one-day event.
To read more about eAlliedHealth 2018 please click here.
To read more about the HiNZ Conference 2018 please click here.
Tse is a professor of mental health in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong and will be speaking at the HiNZ Conference 2018 on how 5G connectivity will impact the delivery of healthcare.
In his keynote speech, The amazing 5Gs: Debate, dialogue and future directions, Tse will consider the launch of fifth generation wireless systems, which promise a superfast mobile connection and an explosion in the number of connected devices.
He envisions a parallel rapid expansion in the collection of vast volumes of personal data in real time, from wearable and other technologies, and believes this new era presents both new opportunities and obligations.
In a time when a person’s every movement and health indicator can be remotely monitored, protecting personal privacy and data will be paramount.
Tse says providing access to real-time data will have significant beneficial impacts on research, but researchers will also need to grapple with the challenge of keeping the data confidential.
“It’s important to explain to patients their rights in terms of their privacy and to have clear boundaries, so they understand under what circumstances their data will be collected and used,” he says.
The accessibility of this data will also transform the traditional relationships between patients and clinicians, with health professionals providing options and guidance to patients to enable them to make their own decisions about their care.
“Patients, service users, caregivers will also have access to much more powerful data, so patients will be in a much stronger position to demand informed decision making, which will have a huge impact on health professional training as well,” says Tse.
He says the 5G environment will allow service providers to congregate data from multiple sources, putting health providers in a much stronger position to think about delivering healthcare services through the digital environment.
“It’s important that we don’t rush to just use the technology, but rather go back to the fundamental question which is why the healthcare services exist in the first place, what are the health problems we need to tackle and what are the person’s strengths we can mobilise to combat the condition?” says Tse.
The HiNZ annual conference is being held on 21–23 November 2018 at Wellington’s TSB Arena. Tse will be presenting there on the afternoon of Wednesday 21 November. That morning, he will also be speaking at the eAllied Health one-day event.
To read more about eAlliedHealth 2018 please click here.
To read more about the HiNZ Conference 2018 please click here.
Allied Health Best Practice Guide for Telehealth
Telehealth is the practice of healthcare, education and consultation through telecommunications technology. This may include telephone, text, app-based systems and video conferencing. Telehealth is also referred to as telepractice, telemedicine and telerehabilitation. AHANZ has adopted the term telehealth to be used when referring to this practice.
This practice is well recognised internationally and nationally. AHANZ recognises the benefits to health care and education through telehealth and supports this model of service delivery.
The position of AHANZ on telehealth practice in New Zealand, is that best practice principles must apply. Clinicians working with clients and whānau using telehealth practices must abide by all ethical, professional and legislative requirements. This will include (but not be limited to) documents such as scope of practice documents; competency frameworks; ethical frameworks; health, safety, privacy and disability requirements; and codes of conduct. The clinician is advised to refer to these standards as set by their professional association and registering body.
AHANZ recognises that, while this is a growing model of service delivery in Aotearoa, it remains a developing field. AHANZ therefore recommends that all clinicians and services engaging in telehealth gain information and support on the resources required; education and ongoing supervision; privacy; confidentiality; and consent.
Please click here to access the Allied Health Best Practice Guide for Telehealth.
Please click here to read the HealthCentral.nz article about the Allied Health Best Practice Guide for Telehealth.
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Allied health workforce has major role to play in Choosing Wisely
New Zealand’s 30,000-strong allied health workforce has a major role to play in promoting Choosing Wisely, says Harsh Vardhan, President, Tangata Tiriti of Occupational Therapy New Zealand Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa. Click here to read more.
New Zealand’s 30,000-strong allied health workforce has a major role to play in promoting Choosing Wisely, says Harsh Vardhan, President, Tangata Tiriti of Occupational Therapy New Zealand Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa. Click here to read more.
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DHB stats show allied health most understaffed
Ballooning deficits – in part due to higher than expected patient volumes over summer – and understaffing are revealed in the latest District Health Board financial data.
The Ministry of Health released its latest DHB financial performance update to the Minister late last week with the sector now predicting an $189 million deficit by the end of the financial year – up on the projected $143 million deficit. The proposed nurses pay agreement – currently in stalemate – could see that deficit balloon again to $225 million if the deal is accepted.
The report – for the first eight months of the 2017-18 year – also shows that district health boards are carrying more than 400 vacancies and had underspent on budgeted salaries by $48 million. But the money was being spent on temporary staff with ‘outsourced personnel’ costs up $55 million on budget.
A breakdown of DHB staffing show that the sector with the largest number of unfilled vacancies is allied health which is 465 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff down on budgeted staff numbers. The next most affected DHB staff sector is administration and management which are running 257 FTEs below budget.
The statistics also show that the DHBs across the country are currently employing 260 more nurse FTEs than budgeted for and 103 more medical staff, with many of the DHBs reporting that higher than expected patient volumes for the time of year had led to budget blow-outs including personnel costs and the need to outsource staff and clinical services.
Allied health not surprised
Jennifer Pelvin, chair of Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand (AHANZ), said allied health professionals are not surprised by the figures showing high numbers of allied health vacancies.
“FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS ALLIED HEALTH HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY MISSING IN ACTION IN ALL ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE MINISTER AND THE MINISTRY (OF HEALTH),” SAID PELVIN.
“There’s been a complete absence of input and consultation with the allied health sector which has made it very difficult for allied health, as it represents such a large and disparate group of health professionals that have been completely ignored.”
She said allied health – that includes physiotherapists, dietitians, podiatrists and social workers – was a vital part of the health sector providing comprehensive services but she was not surprised that was where DHBs had made some efficiency gains because allied health lacked visibility. The result was that she said, like all DHB staff, allied health professionals were feeling under pressure. Also impacting on the high vacancies were shortages in some allied health professions, a lack of good workforce data and a lack of new graduate programmes to support allied health graduates into the DHB workforce.
But Pelvin said AHANZ, which is an umbrella group for 28 allied health, science and technical professional associations, was encouraged by its recent meeting with Health Minister Dr David Clark who expressed interest in better utilising the allied health workforce across both the primary and secondary sectors.
DHB workforce growing but still under-budget
Compared to the same time in 2017 the latest DHB financial performance data shows that total DHB staff has grown by nearly 2000 FTE over the previous 12 months to 64,192 – which was still 421 FTE less than budgeted for.
The largest area of growth has been in nursing staff (which covers nurses, midwives and health care assistants) which have grown by more than 900 FTE to 28,927 – making them 44 per cent of all DHB staff. The next largest growth has been in medical staff (14.6% of staff) which are up 382 to 9384 which reversed the trend of medical vacancies from being 234 under-budget a year ago to 103 FTE over-budget. The smallest growth has been in Allied Health staff (19.25% of workforce) which grew by 167 to 12,367 – not enough to reduce unfilled vacancies that also grew over the same time period from 336 to 465.
Likewise for administration and management staff, who make up 16.6% of DHB staff, while their numbers grew by 262 FTE to 10,708 their unfilled vacancies also grew from 233 the previous year to 257.
Ballooning deficits – in part due to higher than expected patient volumes over summer – and understaffing are revealed in the latest District Health Board financial data.
The Ministry of Health released its latest DHB financial performance update to the Minister late last week with the sector now predicting an $189 million deficit by the end of the financial year – up on the projected $143 million deficit. The proposed nurses pay agreement – currently in stalemate – could see that deficit balloon again to $225 million if the deal is accepted.
The report – for the first eight months of the 2017-18 year – also shows that district health boards are carrying more than 400 vacancies and had underspent on budgeted salaries by $48 million. But the money was being spent on temporary staff with ‘outsourced personnel’ costs up $55 million on budget.
A breakdown of DHB staffing show that the sector with the largest number of unfilled vacancies is allied health which is 465 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff down on budgeted staff numbers. The next most affected DHB staff sector is administration and management which are running 257 FTEs below budget.
The statistics also show that the DHBs across the country are currently employing 260 more nurse FTEs than budgeted for and 103 more medical staff, with many of the DHBs reporting that higher than expected patient volumes for the time of year had led to budget blow-outs including personnel costs and the need to outsource staff and clinical services.
Allied health not surprised
Jennifer Pelvin, chair of Allied Health Aotearoa New Zealand (AHANZ), said allied health professionals are not surprised by the figures showing high numbers of allied health vacancies.
“FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS ALLIED HEALTH HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY MISSING IN ACTION IN ALL ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE MINISTER AND THE MINISTRY (OF HEALTH),” SAID PELVIN.
“There’s been a complete absence of input and consultation with the allied health sector which has made it very difficult for allied health, as it represents such a large and disparate group of health professionals that have been completely ignored.”
She said allied health – that includes physiotherapists, dietitians, podiatrists and social workers – was a vital part of the health sector providing comprehensive services but she was not surprised that was where DHBs had made some efficiency gains because allied health lacked visibility. The result was that she said, like all DHB staff, allied health professionals were feeling under pressure. Also impacting on the high vacancies were shortages in some allied health professions, a lack of good workforce data and a lack of new graduate programmes to support allied health graduates into the DHB workforce.
But Pelvin said AHANZ, which is an umbrella group for 28 allied health, science and technical professional associations, was encouraged by its recent meeting with Health Minister Dr David Clark who expressed interest in better utilising the allied health workforce across both the primary and secondary sectors.
DHB workforce growing but still under-budget
Compared to the same time in 2017 the latest DHB financial performance data shows that total DHB staff has grown by nearly 2000 FTE over the previous 12 months to 64,192 – which was still 421 FTE less than budgeted for.
The largest area of growth has been in nursing staff (which covers nurses, midwives and health care assistants) which have grown by more than 900 FTE to 28,927 – making them 44 per cent of all DHB staff. The next largest growth has been in medical staff (14.6% of staff) which are up 382 to 9384 which reversed the trend of medical vacancies from being 234 under-budget a year ago to 103 FTE over-budget. The smallest growth has been in Allied Health staff (19.25% of workforce) which grew by 167 to 12,367 – not enough to reduce unfilled vacancies that also grew over the same time period from 336 to 465.
Likewise for administration and management staff, who make up 16.6% of DHB staff, while their numbers grew by 262 FTE to 10,708 their unfilled vacancies also grew from 233 the previous year to 257.
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