March 2011

 

Drug campaign targets ecstasy

The State Government has launched a $270,000 media campaign targeting ecstasy use in people aged 15-17 because 4.1% of those surveyed had used ecstasy in the past year (little change from 2001 and 2004). The awareness campaign will focus on the danger of illicit drug use, with video interviews, a youth-orientated ‘Drug Aware’ website featuring confidential drug counselling, and all-media advertising.

Telehealth reduces ED patients

Silver Chain says its telehealth trial for COPD patients almost halved ED presentations, hospital admissions and days spent in hospital. Patients’ vital signs were measured daily by the patient and entered into the in-home system, with results automatically transmitted to a secure website monitored by a telehealth nurse. Irregular data was acted on immediately. The system requires only a standard telephone line to relay results.

Radiotherapy contract

Knee-OperationGenesis Care gets $200m to provide radiotherapy services for RPH and the new cancer centres in Bunbury and Fiona Stanley hospitals. A $15.2m South West Radiation Oncology Service is expected to open at Bunbury Hospital later this year, with the State Government contributing $9.2m, along with $6m of Federal money. The radiation oncology service at Royal Perth will move to Fiona Stanley Hospital when it opens in 2014.

IT connection choices

The IT connectivity stakes are warming up in WA with an e-Health tender part of the action. You have UWA’s MMEX which WA Health has rights to and is using in rural hospitals and other facilities. Many WA sites, including general practices, have dual capability with MMEX and HealthLink as the pipeline to download path results etc. The two packages are interchangeable and HealthLink is a NZ product that is mainly used by labs and hospitals plus a few specialists, who all pay, having installed the program on a local computer. MMEX is installed from the web and can run on an iPad or iPhone. However, it is in need of refinement. Outside these, Sonic run their system Fetch (SKG, Clinipath, IPN/Gemini), MayneMQ is the system used in the Primary Health and Western Diagnostics stable, and PathWest has its own system. Other pathology providers and hospitals use a combination of connection providers. The way things are heading, the future is probably a central repository of lab and imaging results, into which IT vendors can dip to provide connections to health providers. Funding is the main issue.

WA medical takeover

Medical devices and technologies group bioMD has announced a friendly takeover bid for Perth-based Allied Medical, a public company backed by Andrew Forrest and led by Ian Frazer. Allied has recommended its shareholders accept the offer, which is subject to a 90% minimum acceptance caveat, and bioMD shareholder approval. BioMD is offering Allied shareholders 428.28m bioMD shares, valuing Allied at around $38.5 million. After the transaction, Allied shareholders will hold 70% of the new group, while the group’s two largest shareholders will be biotechnology group Avexa and Mr Forrest.

 

thumb_0510Impaired_doctorConsumers going federal? 

The Federal Government has given The Consumer Health Forum (CHF) $2.9m to establish a national network of accredited health consumer representatives. While CHF is the peak national health consumer body, the pool of consumer representatives it will establish are meant to participate effectively in the Medicare Locals and Hospital Network Boards under proposed reforms. WA Health Consumer Council head Michele Kosky told Medical Forum these trained consumer reps will have more to offer to improve health services and health outcomes for people. However, the health reforms that WA will sign up for is not known. In any event, their group has trained about 700 consumer reps in the past 14 years, so this move hints at a federal takeover.