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As health care continues to change and evolve in a digital society, there is an escalating need for physicians who are skilled and enabled to deliver care using digital health technologies, while remaining able to successfully broker the triadic relationship among patients, computers and themselves. The focus needs to remain firmly on how technology can be leveraged and used to support good medical practice and quality health care, particularly around resolution of longstanding challenges in health care delivery, including equitable access in rural and remote areas, closing the gap on health outcomes and experiences for First Nations peoples and better support in aged care and those living with chronic disease and disability. We propose a set of requisite digital health competencies and recommend that the acquisition and evaluation of these competencies become embedded in physician training curricula and continuing professional development programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Technology; Chronic disease; Prevention and control; Datasets as topic EN Technology Chronic disease Prevention and control Datasets as topic 384 388 5 05/17/23 20230515 NES 230515 Smartwatches can count every step towards a predict-prevent health care system, but clinical regulation is the first leap Australia is struggling with the ever-increasing burden of chronic disease. As health care professionals, we can further our understanding of smartwatch use in chronic disease through further research using real world data - with the ultimate goal of improving autonomy and health outcomes for consumers. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Traditional face-to-face family member visits in the intensive care unit (ICU) are challenged during the coronavirus disease pandemic with time-critical visiting of the ICU patient being impossible. Objective: This study aimed to explore reported experiences and satisfaction surrounding the use of technology for virtual visits and virtual family meetings in the ICU setting. Two groups were surveyed: (1) family members of critically ill patients in the ICU and (2) health care workers caring for these patients. Design: The study, conducted in the 36-bed ICU of a speciality metropolitan acute care facility in Australia, used a pragmatic post-test survey design. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results: Of health care worker subjects, 106 completed the survey and the majority of communication episodes favored virtual visits (79.2%, n = 84). Of family member subjects, 69 completed the survey, with the majority participating in virtual family meetings (40.6%, n = 28). Both groups indicated satisfaction with virtual communication. Conclusions: We found virtual communication was positively received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: eHealth; Information management; Health financing; Health services research EN eHealth Information management Health financing Health services research 53 57 5 02/07/23 20230201 NES 230201 Focusing solely on financial measures is unlikely to deliver a comprehensive view of the value of digital health Digital health, which refers to the use of digital technology to provide and support health care services, promises to strengthen health systems worldwide and has been accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.[1] Amid the rapid digital transformation of health care,[[2]] the value of sizeable digital health investments remains unclear.[[3]] The investments required for digital health are often substantial and may come at a cost to existing health care delivery models. Conclusion Health care organisations are currently not measuring the true value of digital health implementations and, thus, digital investment may not be prioritised given the competing health care demands. With the burden on the health care system to continue service delivery with static resourcing, an ageing population and growing health inequities, digital health provides an unrivalled opportunity to improve care at scale. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: In Australia, the available published literature demonstrated a spike in dispensed prescription medicines after the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic that subsequently returned to expected levels. Smoking cessation medicines may not follow this pattern because quit attempts are influenced by a range of factors. Knowledge of whether dispensing of these medicines has changed since the pandemic is lacking. We explored the change in dispensing of publicly subsidised smoking cessation medicines since the pandemic. Methods: Australia's universal health‐care system provides access to government‐subsidised medicines via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and records of dispensed medicines are publicly available on a nationally aggregated level. We retrieved Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data from January 2016 to January 2021. We used interrupted time series modelling to quantify the impact of COVID‐19 on dispensing of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches, varenicline and all smoking cessation treatments combined separately. Results: After an initial spike in medicines at the onset of the pandemic, the monthly rate of prescriptions dispensed for varenicline was predominantly within predicted ranges, while that of NRT patches was predominantly below predicted ranges. Discussion and Conclusions: There has been a differential change in the number of subsidised smoking cessation medicines supplied in Australia since the COVID‐19 pandemic, with varenicline prescriptions largely within, and NRT patches largely lower than, expected ranges. The reasons for the apparent change in dispensing of subsidised smoking cessation medicines are unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital disruption and transformation of health care is occurring rapidly. Concurrently, a global syndemic of preventable chronic disease is crippling healthcare systems and accelerating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare investment is paradoxical; it prioritises disease treatment over prevention. This is an inefficient break--fix model versus a person-centred predict--prevent model. It is easy to reward and invest in acute health systems because activity is easily measured and therefore funded. Social, environmental and behavioural health determinants explain,70% of health variance; yet, we cannot measure these community data contemporaneously or at population scale. The dawn of digital health and the digital citizen can initiate a precision prevention era, where consumer-centred, real-time data enables a new ability to count and fund population health, making disease prevention 'matter'. Then, precision decision making, intervention and policy to target preventable chronic disease (e.g. obesity) can be realised. We argue for, identify barriers to, and propose three horizons for digital health transformation of population health towards precision prevention of chronic disease, demonstrating childhood obesity as a use case. Clinicians, researchers and policymakers can commence strategic planning and investment for precision prevention of chronic disease to advance a mature, valuebased model that will ensure healthcare sustainability in Australia and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine patient perceptions regarding vascular access quality measurement. Methods. A web-based, cross-sectional survey was performed using a convenience sample of healthcare consumers with vascular access experience, recruited from September 2019 to June 2020. Survey respondents were asked to rate the perceived importance of 50 vascular access data items, including patient demographics, clinical and device characteristics, and insertion, management and complication data. Data were ranked using a five-point Likert scale (1, least important; 5, most important), and are reported as median values. Respondents proposed additional items and explored broader perspectives using free-text responses, which were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results. In all, 68 consumers completed the survey. Participants were primarily female (82%), aged 40-49 years (29%) and living in Australia or New Zealand (84%). All respondents indicated that measuring the quality of vascular access care was important. Of the 50 items, 37 (74%) were perceived as 'most important' (median score 5), with measures of quality (i.e. outcomes and complications) rated highly (e.g. thrombosis and primary blood stream infection). Participants proposed 16 additional items. 'Gender' received the lowest perceived importance score (median score 3). Two themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of broader perspectives: (1) measurement of vascular access device complication severity and associated factors; and (2) patient experience. Conclusion. Measuring vascular access quality and safety is important to consumers. Outcome and complication measures were rated 'most important', with respondents identifying a need for increased monitoring of their overall vascular access journey through the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]