ACCOLADE, AWARDS AND ADMIRATION FOR AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The awards, now in their 16th year, pay tribute to the efforts and energy of some of the sectors highest achievers and some of the most promising innovators in health and medical research.

Research Australia’s CEO, Nadia Levin, said the impact of the working being one across the country and internationally proves Australia’s research sector is a force to be reckoned with.

“We were joined by over 250 people who tirelessly work to improve the health and wellbeing of our wider community, and it was an honour to acknowledge their work,” Ms Levin said.

This year’s winners showcased their ground-breaking discoveries and innovation that represent the promise of better healthcare for all Australians.

The evening’s most prestigious award, the Peter Wills Medal, was awarded to Laureate Professor Nicholas Talley AC, from the University of Newcastle, a global authority in the field of neurogastroenterology, for his pioneering work into unexplained gut disorders that affect millions of people worldwide.

In a wonderful acknowledgement of generosity that has spanned two generations, the Great Australian Philanthropy Award was presented to the Burges Family Trust for its high impact and transformative quality to Australian health and medical research.

Ms Levin said the nominees for each award category were an incredibly high calibre, which is a great sign of things to come.

Research Australia’s Health and Medical Research Winners for 2018 included:

  • The Research Champion Award was awarded to Matthew Grounds, CEO of UBS, for his advocacy work through a range of roles including Chair of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, member on the Samuel’s review of independent medical research institutes, and at the helm of a consortium to advocate for a strengthening of NSW’s cardiovascular research capacity;
  • The Griffith University Discovery Award was awarded to Dr Sarah Best from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research for her remarkable discovery that could change the way lung cancer is diagnosed and treated;
  • The Data Innovation Award was awarded to Dr Craig Dalton from the University of Newcastle, for his FluTracking platform, the largest in the world. The platform collects public health information in real time and on a scale never seen before, helping in the detection of flu outbreaks;
  • The Leadership in Corporate Giving Award was presented to MACA for their contribution to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research through it world renowned participation of the Ride to Conquer Cancer. As the title sponsor for the Ride, MACA have been directly responsible for funding ground-breaking research at the Perkins;
  • The Health Services Research Award went to Professor Sue Kildea from the University of Queensland for her work in ‘closing the gap’ in maternity care practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and building capacity within the midwifery workforce; and
  • The GSK Award for Research Excellence went to Professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer from the Melanoma Institute Australia for their exceptional contribution to medical research that has transformed melanoma treatment and patient care.

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First Australian Hospitals Reach International Best Practice for Digital Health

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]St Stephen’s Hospital Hervey Bay (UnitingCare) and The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne are being accredited as Stage 7 – the most advanced stage of the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). St Stephen’s Hospital Hervey Bay has achieved EMRAM Stage 7 for its inpatient facilities and The Royal Children’s Hospital has achieved Outpatient EMRAM (O-EMRAM) Stage 7 for its outpatient clinics.

According to John Daniels, Global Vice President of HIMSS Analytics, the awards represent the first time that any hospital in Australia has reached this advanced stage of digital healthcare and could lead to significant improvements in patient care.

“Technology is a tool that, when put in the right hands, can change lives. Australia is beginning to realise a future where integrated, more personalised care is a reality,” said Mr Daniels.

“Historically, Australian doctors and nurses faced vast challenges from systems that didn’t communicate with each other, lost records, and information accessibility. This is a major step towards overcoming these issues.”

“These hospitals are showing Australia what digital transformation can achieve – and the outcomes it delivers for Australian patients – and we’re delighted to be part of their journey.”

The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne uses technology to support the treatment and care of all children, particularly those with complex and chronic disorders, requiring care by multiple specialties. The technology allows clinicians to have a more holistic view of the care that each patient needs and receives: any clinician can receive a real-time, single view of the entire patient journey and the interplay between disciplines.

Prior to the introduction of the EMR, clinicians needed to hand write patient information, which had a number of challenges, particular with timeliness, communication across clinical disciplines, and when patients had multiple and simultaneous clinical needs. With the new electronic medical record system, it is much easier to see every single aspect of a patient’s care, from hospital operations, to outpatient services. This allows staff to provide safer care and improve outcomes.

Along with improved clinical outcomes through a more coordinated delivery of clinical record keeping, the RCH has also opened this transparency up to patients and families. A new patient portal has strengthened the partnership between clinicians and patients’ families, enhancing the hospital’s ability to deliver patient and family centred care.

“We have invested significantly in upgrading our healthcare technology to improve outcomes for patients and their families, and we are seeing the benefits through clinical outcomes, hospital efficiencies and enhancing the transparent healthcare partnership between clinician, hospital, patient and family,” said Jane Miller, Chief Operating Officer of The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.

Queensland’s first digitalised hospital; St Stephen’s in Hervey Bay has improved efficiencies and patient safety through the utilisation of electronic barcode scanning of blood and medication products. The new system also provides access to online data to monitor and improve care and share data with other health care providers caring for the hospital’s patients.

“Achieving the HIMMS Stage 7 accreditation has been a significant journey. Not only did we demonstrate how we were utilising the technology within our hospital, we were also assessed on our consistency of use, which showed a real behaviour shift by our team.

“For St Stephen’s, the rewards of following the EMRAM process has extended past the utilisation of technology; it has strengthened our ongoing commitment to providing innovative health solutions for the safety and care of our patients,” said Darren Rogers, General Manager St Stephen’s Hospital.

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. The O-EMRAM was developed in 2012 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of EMR systems at outpatient facilities. These models consist of eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilisation of information technology applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.

“Around the world, adopting electronic medical records has been shown to help healthcare organisations to save lives by using data and analytics to improve high-quality care, safety, and efficiency,” Mr Daniels said.

“Stage 7 is really the tipping point that allows hospitals and patients to see the true benefits of EMRs. The real goal across Australia is for all organisations to reach this Stage and achieve better health through information and technology.”

“HIMSS will continue to work with State and National Governments to provide clear direction and help Australian healthcare organisations reach this level nationally.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

FUTURES MEDICAL SHOWCASES LATEST EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES WITH NEW DIGITAL HOSPITAL SYMPOSIUM

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Taking place at Device Technologies’ education facility in Sydney, NSW, on Monday November 5th, the event invited multiple hospital groups and organisations together to collaborate on the most effective ways in which medical education can be accessed.

With face-to-face, on-the-job training becoming an ever important part of clinical education, the need to incorporate more efficient means of sharing and building knowledge has become an issue that all healthcare professionals need to address.

Digital education options have become increasingly available and utilised, helping to build a foundation that provides health care professionals with the opportunity for rapid learning and information retention.

The symposium aimed to address this topic, allowing hospitals, university groups, industry and government representatives to come together for a hands-on experience, and to collaborate on the latest medical education technologies.

Being an industry-first event, the delegation had the opportunity to have a hands-on experience using the latest digital education technologies. These included virtual reality courses for operating room and hospital procedures, clinical augmented reality courses, digital conferencing, Live-Point-of-View remote support (for regional and remote locations) and video production and e-learning for operating theatres.

Among the delegates who were invited to the event included representatives from the NSW Health Education and Training Institute (HETI), Ramsay Healthcare, and Southern Cross Hospitals in New Zealand.

The event also featured multiple speakers and experts in the field of digital health education, including Futures Medical Business Manager Andy Hansen, and a virtual reality contingent from the University of Newcastle. The event was opened by Device Technologies’ CEO, Michael Trevaskis.

“The day was a great success, particularly the round table discussion in the afternoon,” elaborated Hansen.

“This provided a rare forum for representatives from private and public hospital groups in Australia and NZ, academics, clinicians, educators and technology creators to come together to discuss challenges and the potential solutions.

“The wealth of cutting edge technology present on the day left everyone feeling optimistic about what can be achieved”.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”2526″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Digital Boost For NSW Royal Flying Doctor Service Set To Saves Lives

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Dr William Ibbotson, Medical Officer and Anaesthetist for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, Australia, the new system is set to take the organisation into the digital age, which could be the difference between NSW residents receiving the right care or not. Prior to the introduction of electronic medical records, all clinical record keeping was paper based. A new study, conducted by the QLD RFDS, suggests that digital medical records could help reduce data interpretation inaccuracies vs. manual data recording by up to 30 per cent.

“Across Australia, the RFDS cared for more than 335,000 Australians in 2017. Like many other healthcare services, until now, the majority of medical records have been hand-written, which has significant limitations,” said Dr Ibbotson.

“By digitising our medical records, we can set a gold standard for data recording, and have a wealth of medical history at our fingertips when making treatment decisions. Ultimately, this will help us provide higher quality, safer, and more integrated care that will save more lives.”

The RFDS provides aeromedical retrieval of critical care patients across New South Wales. This differs from many other pre-hospital care and retrieval services because patients are at an early, unstable stage, and often have prolonged transfer times in excess of 2 hours. This presents unique challenges in the provision of safe and effective medical care. Therefore, understanding each patient’s medical history is crucial to decide factors, such as whether air transport is appropriate in the first place, and if so which specialist doctors and nurses and what equipment are needed. The new system has been custom-designed for the NSW RFDS to meet the unique needs of the service.

“The RFDS is almost unique around the world in that we essentially bring an intensive care unit (ICU) across vast distances, directly to the patient,” Dr Ibbotson said.

“While there are other ambulance or airborne medical units in Australia and countries, such as the flying doctors in the U.S. and Canada, and metro helicopter services in the UK and Sydney, remote and rural Australia has exceptional challenges in connecting patients with specialist care providers. This means that the new system is bespoke to the NSW RFDS.”

Beyond improving clinical care, there are three other benefits expected to result from implementing an electronic medical record system. These include:

  • Governance and assurance – using digital records the service expects to improve consistency in data and show the true value of the service in terms of patient outcomes. This will help Government and key health bodies, such as NSW Health, evaluate the service and allocate resources where appropriate.
  • Education – data analyses will support providing specialised training for medical doctors of the future, including tailoring training for individuals and establishing new procedures. Partner organisations, such as the University of Sydney School of Rural Health, will be supported by data-driven case studies.
  • Organisational improvement – modelling and analytics will help to optimise the service to improve efficiencies, such as what equipment is needed, where staff are required and when key services may be required.

John Daniels, Global Vice President of HIMSS Analytics, said that RFDS of Australia was a global centre of excellence in digital transformation.

“Electronic medical records have been shown to improve quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and access to healthcare around the world,” Mr Daniels said.

“Australia has been a real hot spot for adopting digital health innovations, and it’s great that these advancements can help those in rural and remote areas, where access to world-class technology can be limited.”

Dr Ibbotson concluded, “The HIMSS AsiaPac 18 conference is a great opportunity to collaborate with global leaders in digital healthcare. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to learn from the likes of military healthcare and trauma leaders. In the future, I hope that we can help roll out these advancements across the whole South East Australia RFDS.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Varian Medical Systems & GenesisCare Forge Alliance

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The partnership between Varian, a global leader in developing and delivering cancer care solutions, and GenesisCare, Australia’s largest private provider of cancer care, will involve the roll-out of a range of world-leading hardware and software over the ensuing five years.

An estimated 138,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in Australia this year, with that number set to rise to 150,000 by 2020.1 Radiation therapy contributes to 40 per cent of all cancer cures world-wide, helps to relieve symptoms, such as pain, and improves patient quality of life.

According to radiation oncologist and GenesisCare’s Australian Chief Medical Officer, Associate Professor Peter O’Brien, Newcastle, radiation therapy is a highly effective cancer treatment, but is under-utilised in Australia, despite costing less than nine cents in every dollar spent on cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“The advances in radiation therapy technology in recent years have been quite phenomenal, and we’re now able to use platforms that give us pinpoint accuracy and streamlined access to patient data. This helps us deliver better outcomes for our patients, which is ultimately what matters most.”

In addition to the installation of up to 35 Varian linear accelerators and the use of Varian’s Eclipse treatment planning software as the preferred GenesisCare solution in Australia, the partnership will also include support for skin cancer clinical trials utilising Varian’s RapidArc technology.

“Improving the quality of life for skin cancer patients is a major research focus for GenesisCare, so we’re thrilled that Varian will be investing in new skin cancer trials as part of this partnership,” Prof O’Brien said.

“Radiation therapy can be transformative for people with chronic skin cancer, and we aim to be at the forefront of research that can advance treatment for patients, both in Australia and internationally.”

Skin cancer is among the nation’s most prevalent cancers.3 It accounts for around 80 per cent of new cancer diagnoses, with two-in-three Australians diagnosed with skin cancer by 70 years of age.

GenesisCare Chief Executive Officer, Dan Collins, Sydney, says the partnership with Varian will support advances in radiation therapy and the evolution of Varian’s products and services to deliver proven new technology to patients as quickly as possible.

“GenesisCare is excited to be partnering with Varian to accelerate the roll-out of ground-breaking radiation therapy technology that’s set to improve clinician efficiency and accuracy. We’re committed to increasing access to world class patient care, and will be installing up to 70 new linear accelerators internationally, as part of this agreement. This will mean a big boost in high quality cancer treatment in areas of need,” said Mr Collins.

Varian Australasia Managing Director Chris Cowley, Sydney, says the Varian/GenesisCare partnership represents another significant step towards Varian’s aim of achieving a world free from fear of cancer.

“Varian is delighted to be partnering with GenesisCare to increase Australian patient access to our radiation technology, and to ultimately improve the cancer treatment experience, and hopefully outcomes, for those in need.

“We are dedicated to combining the ingenuity of people with the power of data and technology to achieve new victories against cancer, and are therefore thrilled that GenesisCare has put their faith in our products with this volume commitment to both our hardware and software platforms,” Mr Cowley said.

The partnership will also focus on the emerging field of theranostics, also known as molecular targeted radiation. Theranostics uses nanoscience to unite diagnostic and therapeutic applications to form a single cancer fighting agent. Utilising Varian’s expertise in image-guided technology and GenesisCare’s experience in clinical and research domains, Varian and GenesisCare will partner to develop image-guided treatment monitoring solutions in this evolving area.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

First Australian hospital embraces new world-leading radiation therapy technology

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]ROC is part of Icon Group, Australia’s largest, dedicated provider of cancer care, and the nation’s first to offer Varian’s HyperArc high-definition radiotherapy – an end-to-end technology solution for the treatment of multiple brain tumours.

Varian developed the HyperArc technology to enable clinicians to treat multiple, well-defined tumours with high-doses of radiation therapy that pinpoint the tumours via a fully automated system.

Icon Group Radiation Oncologist, Dr Jim Jackson, Gold Coast, explains how this technology benefits both clinicians and patients.

“With HyperArc, we can treat patients with several brain tumours with pinpoint accuracy. It allows us to target the tumours, not the surrounding brain. This technology offers patients excellent tumour control, without the side effects associated with irradiating normal brain tissue.

“It is also beneficial for the patient as it is quick and comfortable. A treatment takes less than 10 minutes and there are no invasive head restraints that can be stressful for patients,” said Dr Jackson.

HyperArc utilises the capabilities of Varian’s TrueBeam linear accelerator and enables multiple tumours to be treated more efficiently via one simple, automated set-up point, with treatment lasting only a few minutes.

ROC’s first patient to receive HyperArc technology, Philippa Douglas, Gold Coast, said, “the thing that gave me peace of mind was the precision of the treatment. Knowing I was being treated with the latest technology and that the radiation was targeting my tumours with millimetre accuracy, gives me hope.”

Varian Australasia Managing Director, Chris Cowley, said Varian’s aims to bring advanced technology to cancer patients Australia-wide.

“We are delighted to be introducing this innovative technology to Australian cancer patients. By partnering with leading companies, such as the Icon Group, to deliver advanced cancer treatments to more patients, we are edging closer toward our vision of achieving a world without fear of cancer.”

An estimated 138,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in Australia this year, with that number set to rise to 150,000 by 2020.1 Approximately 1,750 brain cancers are diagnosed each year nation-wide, which equates to roughly one person diagnosed with brain cancer every five hours.

Icon Group CEO, Mark Middleton, Brisbane, said his company invests in the latest technology and cancer techniques for the benefit of patients and their families.

“Today marks an exciting milestone. The Varian Hyperarc technology places the Gold Coast at the forefront of exceptional cancer care, both in Australia and world-wide.

“As cancer rates continue to rise, and technology continues to progress, it is important for people to have access to state-of-the-art treatments, as close to home as possible,” Mr Middleton said.

HyperArc has also recently been installed at ROC, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Brisbane, with patients soon to benefit from the groundbreaking technology.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Driving innovation in next-gen AI medical technologies

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Federal Government is providing $4.1 million to support the training centre that will advance ‘next generation’ data-driven and machine learning-based medical technologies.

Liberal Senator for Victoria Jane Hume today launched the Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre in Cognitive Computing for Medical Technologies at The University of Melbourne.

Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the new centre would provide a world-class research and training environment.

“Students and researchers will lead the medical technology industry into a new era of data-driven personalised medical devices and applications,” Mr Tehan said.

“This could mean helping predict epilepsy seizures to restoring mobility to amputees and people with paralysis.”

Senator Hume said the centre would work hand in hand to give our medical technology industry the edge and drive global competitive advantage.

“The high calibre of researchers and industry experts collaborating in this training centre will be great mentors, training up the next generation of early career research talent for an industry-ready workforce,” Senator Hume said.

University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell said the new centre would play a key role in advancing AI medical technologies to benefit patients and society.

“By collaborating with industry and government, our technical experts will form a significant research effort to advance AI outcomes in the interests of the wider healthcare sector,” Professor Maskell said.

The ARC Training Centre in Cognitive Computing for Medical Technologies will be led by The University of Melbourne, in partnership with IBM Research-Australia, with the involvement of: Western Sydney University, RMIT University, and the University of South Australia; and with participating organisations Medtronic Australasia Pty Ltd, CSIRO, St Vincent’s Health, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Academic Centre for Health, and Cogstate Ltd.

The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres scheme fosters close partnerships between university-based researchers and other research end-users to provide innovative Higher Degree by Research (HDR) and postdoctoral training opportunities that are industry focused.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Cancer Treatment Planning Streamlined

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Peter Mac is one of the world’s leading cancer research, education and treatment centres. It operates Australia’s only public hospital dedicated to caring for people living with cancer in Melbourne and provides radiation therapy services from suburban and regional sites.

The partnership with Varian means Peter Mac now has a unified radiotherapy treatment planning and oncology imaging informatics system across its campuses, providing patients with access to advanced radiotherapy treatments and longitudinal follow up of their medical images.

Nilgun Touma, Director of Radiation Therapy Services at Peter Mac said, “Eclipse will support the radiation oncology team to develop tailored treatment regimens – a task that requires absolute confidence in the accuracy of patient data and efficiency of planning workflows.

“Up until recently, Peter Mac ran multiple treatment planning systems across its five radiation therapy sites. Now, with Eclipse being live, we’ll be improving efficiency for our team and improving timeliness to care for patients at all Peter Mac locations.”

Varian designed Eclipse to streamline the creation of optimal treatment plans personalised for each patient by combining patient-specific anatomy with the best practice clinical knowledge of the institution. Multiple sources of information can be consolidated into a single comprehensive data repository, stored in Microsoft Azure and available for approximately 100 Eclipse concurrent users.

This provides Peter Mac with an increasingly comprehensive set of patient data from which its clinicians may draw insights to uniquely devise the preferred treatment strategy for an individual patient as well as continually evolving the best practices for managing patient cohorts of similar conditions.

Chris Cowley, Managing Director of Varian said, “In treatment planning, the radiation dose calculation has historically taken significant time. With Eclipse, the system can use graphical processing units (GPUs) that result in very fast dose calculation – resulting in significant time efficiency for Peter Mac as their GPUs reside in the cloud.”

Collaboration with Microsoft during deployment of the new cloud-based system provides the quality and security features of the Azure cloud.

Dr Nic Woods, Health Industry Executive for Microsoft Australia stated, “We’re delighted to have been working in partnership with such an innovative team at Varian. Seeing the cutting-edge treatment solutions that they are bringing to improve the delivery of care of patients around Australia is exactly the kind of partnership that Microsoft wants to build.”

“The combination of Varian’s expertise in radiation oncology and the Microsoft Azure cloud’s resilience, performance, security and scale are a winning combination for Peter Mac,” Chris Cowley added. “Because this is a cloud-based solution, it will grow with Peter Mac and they will gain quick access to important innovative updates.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]