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The Forum > Article Comments > High-tech health in the bush > Comments

High-tech health in the bush : Comments

By Ben O'Mara, published 16/4/2010

New technology can improve health care for geographically remote and ethnically diverse Australians. But it won't make much difference unless these people know how to use the technology and are involved in its design and implementation.

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Seems to me that we don't need more technology until we have "relearnt" the value of Primary and Preventive Health.

From where I stand it seems Health Industry culture is doing as much as it can to deface the importance of "Face-to-Face" support at all ground levels.

While I agree with what this article points out regarding the use and learning curve required for the many new technologies, I see technology being abused by humankind in the ways it is being applied.

Between the overuse of pharmaceutical drugs in all areas of care and particularly aged care, on children and mental health and, this top heavy buzz of status quo health workers projective with all their nib-nob gadgets, I wonder....

"What is the World coming to?"

All I can do as a response is encourage "community engagement". It is my answer to everything. A Real Hand with a Face is always more valuable for the 'mind, body and soul' of a person's care, with concerted follow-up than screens, bells and whistles that give no confidence to the masses less you are the worker barraging them.

Darf Sie haben ein gutes Leben und Gesundheit können Sie Ihren Geist ewig leben

Civic Welbeing is an action not a concept...

http://www.miacat.com/
Posted by miacat, Friday, 16 April 2010 7:16:09 PM
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Miacat,
yep ! Very much my thoughts also.
Posted by individual, Sunday, 18 April 2010 2:56:10 PM
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Hi, speaking of hi tech medicine in the bush.
Computer diagnostics is a useful tool to assist diagnosis. It cannot replace the experience and knowledge of a well trained GP.
Many symptoms are duplicated in several diseases and it requires an experienced and well trained medico to sort out the final diagnosis.
If Australia had committed funds into hospital, medical and dentistry services/facilities and education that have been spent on war effort, donations overseas, propping up banks and companies, we would not be in the present trouble.
It has to start with a sound education and training system for Australians, This would eliminate some of the educational problems restricting Australian students from entry to University. There should be no restrictions on places for Australian Students. In the long term they will contribute back in the system through taxes, etc as well as contributing their skills.
The training of overseas students is a separate issue to our skills shortages in the medical and related fields.
Generally it is argued that they generate revenue into the economy. I am yet to be convinced as to the real value, as so much of Australia’s taxes are used to fund these places and at the same time these students are allowed to gain employment taking away jobs from Australians.
The parameters for these stats are narrow and do not look at the whole picture. We need to look at how this affects other parts of the economy, not just funding colleges and universities.
Overseas students take their knowledge and skills back to their own country and will not contribute any further into the welfare of our country.
Yesterday, speaking with a businessman, he told me he had a friend in the building industry employing a large staff. He asked how many Illegal his friend employed. The response was that he had to take whoever was sent by job placement agencies, but considered probably up to 90% of those he employed were illegal. There was nothing he could do about it as he had contracts and deadlines to meet with developers.
continued:
Posted by professor-au, Sunday, 18 April 2010 8:33:29 PM
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While unable to substantiate this particular claim, but based on my past experience as an investigator and of other people, many of employees come from overseas either as students or illegal.
It seems that the government needs to address this situation to ensure that this does not continue.
Education and Training has to commence from entry into the education system with good education programmes and not some "Mickey Mouse" programmes that do not ensure the sound basics required to go on to higher education. Ignoring the basics of education denies many of our Australian students gaining entry level to University.
Speaking recently with my GP, I commented that it seemed that the new generation is only interested in specialist work, i.e. larger income potential). I said I considered this a pity as from my experience many of these specialists can only diagnose within the speciality and often it requires a broader knowledge and skills to interpret information and symptoms.
One solution may be that before specialising a doctor should be required to work for so many years as a GP and I do not mean the two years as a trainee doctor in hospitals.
His reply was that the day of the GP was passing and it would be the day of the specialist.
I replied that that may not be so, as there will a need for the knowledge and experience of good GP and perhaps as there are less and less of them, they might become the specialists of the future if we have enough of them left.
I know from experience both personally and in business and public service as an investigating officer. Now that most of this has been privatised the professions and industry are self-regulating. Self regulation has never worked in the past and I doubt it will in the future.
Posted by professor-au, Sunday, 18 April 2010 8:36:01 PM
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Ben O'Mara wroteFriday, 16 April 2010:

>"... The problem is that the rollout of the IEHR and other eHealth projects face challenges due to the differences between and among communities across Australia in relation to their quality and frequency of access to technology, and the ways in which health and wellbeing are understood and communicated. ..."

Access and understanding of technology is not just an issue in the bush. I found this out first hand in 2008, when I was taken by ambulance to Canberra Hospital. There was a lot of technology used to treat me, but it was not well integrated and not used as efficiently as it could have been: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/11/canberra-health-system-first-hand.html

Also much of the discussion of e-health is about acute care in hospitals. Most health care is done in the community and so this is where the most gains could be from e-health. People in their homes, and GPs in their clinics, do not have much access to IT or expertise. As a result solutions for them, if they be in a city or a regional area, will need to be simple and reliable: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2010/03/building-australian-national-health.html
Posted by tomw, Tuesday, 20 April 2010 2:01:51 PM
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Hi all
The rural area has become the greatest victim of cost cutting.
A friend of mine who lived in the same area I came from suffered what was thought of as a heart attack. Due to the long delay to get an ambulance his family took him to the nearest hospital, (76 kms). Arriving there they were informed that there was no resident doctor at the hospital now and advised he should be taken over the border to provincial city hospital, (170 kms). On arrival they were told this hospital no longer had the facilities to help and an air ambulance was ordered to take him to another provincial city hospital where he was given stabilising treatment and then move to Melbourne where he received a heart by-pass. He was lucky. He survived but how many patients die from this entire sort of treatment.
The hospital where I used to live, although small was also a teaching hospital as was the first one my friend was taken to. The hospital in my home town is now almost a geriatric nursing home and patients are generally stabilised before being take to the Capital city or a large provincial city for treatment. In the example above it involved travel of approximately 400kms plus the time delay of more than a day. Hospital staff did the best they could but without qualified medical staff was very limited as to how they could help. All of those hospital had fully trained nursing staff and doctors when I was growing up but because of cost cutting and closing of many country hospitals the system has been gutted.
Conclusion s I would have to make is that it will be a costly and slow process to restructure a just hospital and medical system for the rural areas as well as the Capital cities. We urgently need a massive capital outlay to bring up the staff levels of qualified nurses, doctor and other medical people. Are our universities geared to cope? I suspect not as they have also been gutted.
Posted by professor-au, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 2:56:50 AM
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