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Game Changer, Closer to the Artifice Pancreas

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As a disease, diabetes costs the national economy an estimated $14.6 billion annually. Fortunately, Australia is also home to some of the most advanced diabetes technology in the world.

  • Here’s the gist: Research shows that insulin pump therapy can reduce the frequency of severe hypoglycemia as well as improve quality of life. For the first time in Australia, a device has been brought to market which automatically adjusts the delivery of insulin to people living with type 1 diabetes.
  • An artificial pancreas, you say? Called the Medtronic MiniMed, the hybrid closed loop insulin pump system imitates the hard work of a healthy pancreas – monitoring glucose levels and sending data to the pump. Calculating the amount of insulin needed and automatically delivering it, the technology allows the patient to be more present in their daily lives.

Automating the management of blood glucose levels, the device embodies patient-centric innovation. According to Diabetes Australia, choice and access are two key pillars for supporting people living with diabetes and this device provides exactly that.

Requiring minimal input – its another amazing example of how technology can be utilised to take over the task of critical bodily functions.

With type 1 diabetes representing around 10 per cent of all cases, this new device is a game changer according to Professor David O’Neal who was one of the first Australian researchers to trial the device locally. Whilst the disease remains incurable, it’s evident that, in the meantime, innovation can lead patients closer to autonomy over their everyday life.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

KING COMMITS TO REVIEW OF RECORD

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  • Do we have trust issues? Very likely. The murmurs of public apprehension about MyHealth had floated around the blogosphere in the lead up to the opt-out date, bolstered by the resignation of MyHealth Record’s privacy chief Nicole Hunt in November of last year.

It’s been confirmed that these murmurs resulted in a mass refusal to participate, with more than 2.5 million Australians opting out of the system. This number is a significant increase from the 1.1 million opt-outers in October 2018.

With the figures coming from the Australian Digital Health Agency during Senate Estimates on Wednesday, its clear that in 2.5 million people’s minds the security and privacy concerns trumped the benefits of a national digital health record – a concept with bipartisan support.

  • Who’s talking about it? Shadow Health Minister Catherine King MP has since reiterated that a future Shorten Labor Government would commission an independent Privacy Commissioner to review the system. Looking at informed consent, consumer engagement, access settings and protections for vulnerable people – is it surprising that 10% of the population have opted-out of the system in its current state.

It was marketed on the idea that the record would save your life in an emergency, but maybe a centralised digital record needs to be proven to be a fortified system before it’s a life-saving one.

  • What happens if the Government changes in May? It’s unlikely that the concept will get scrapped, as Ms King herself has supported the idea. Instead, we will likely see an attempt to regain trust and re-inform the public of what MyHealth can stand for.

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Federal Parliament – Week in Review

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The week was undeniably dominated by the Kerryn Phelps Bill being passed with the support of Labor and the crossbench that will allow for the medical transfer of asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru to Australia.

In a 75-74 vote the Government has become the first Government in over 80 years to lose a vote on legislation on the floor of the Parliament. But in losing the vote, it has also allowed the Government to gain the political upper hand and be talking about its preferred issue of border security.

Many pundits have claimed, this week saw the Government, in effect get some of its mojo back.

Border security is a natural strength for the Government and Prime Minister Morrison and his Ministers have been relentless all week in reminding the community that only they can be trusted on border security against a weak Bill Shorten and Labor Party.

Make no mistake, there will be a bruising and brutal campaign on the issue of border security that will run from now until election day. It is a political Achilles heel for Labor, and they will be hoping it won’t become the defining issue of the federal election.

In other issues, on Thursday the Prime Minister delivered the 11th annual Closing the Gap statement to Parliament, which provides an update to the nation on progress that has been made in alleviating indigenous disadvantage.

In a sobering statement the Prime Minister reported that only two of seven targets showed positive progress – year 12 attainment and early childhood progress. The challenge of alleviating indigenous disadvantage is one that continues and also one that garners bipartisan support.

The Prime Minister made a signature announcement, that being teachers who commit to go and teach in a remote aboriginal community for 4 years will have the entirety of their HECS wiped. A good initiative which will helpfully see Aboriginal kids have access to some of our best and brightest teachers.

On Wednesday the Shadow Health Minister Catherine King gave a major speech to the National Press Club, outlining some key Labor health policy objectives.

At its core was a commitment to establish in Government a permanent Australian Health Reform Commission which will as the Shadow Minister stated will be, “comparable to the Productivity Commission”.

Its mandate will be to develop and oversee a long-term health reform agenda. By the Shadow Ministers own admission, it wont win votes, but is being done “….because it’s the right thing to do, in the long-term interests of the country.”

The work of the Commissions will be driven by COAG in recognition that a Federal Health Minister alone cannot solve all the nation’s health policy challenges and to also ensure that all States have equal buy in, in both identifying the problems, coming up with solutions and hopefully the means to fund them as well.

Lastly the Government dropped its legislation to introduce their ‘big stick’ energy reforms, which would have given the them the power to regulate power companies and will take this proposal to the election.

Concerned that they may lose another vote on the floor of the Parliament, the Government thought it was better to withdraw and live to fight another day.

That’s the week in review.

P.S.  Next week, only the House of Representatives is sitting as the Senate will be holding Senate Estimate committee hearings.[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1915″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jody Fassina is the Managing Director of Insight Strategy and has been an strategic adviser to MedTech and pharmaceutical stakeholders.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Apple announces Health Records feature coming to veterans

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“We have great admiration for veterans, and we’re proud to bring a solution like Health Records on iPhone to the veteran community,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “It’s truly an honor to contribute to the improved healthcare of America’s heroes.”
With Health Records on iPhone, veterans across the US will be able to see medical information from participating institutions — including the VA — organized into one view all in the Health app. Health records data includes allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals, and is displayed along with other information in the Health app like Apple Watch data. This means VA patients will get a single, integrated snapshot of their health profile whenever they want quickly and privately. All Health Records data is encrypted and protected with the user’s iPhone passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.
“When patients have better access to their health information, they have more productive conversations with their physicians,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO. “By bringing Health Records on iPhone to VA patients, we hope veterans will experience improved healthcare that will enhance their lives.”
“Our goal is to empower people to better understand and improve their health, enabling them to view their medical information from multiple providers in one place easily and securely,” said Kevin Lynch, Apple’s vice president of Technology. “We’re excited to bring this feature to veterans across the US.”
Health Records on iPhone will be the first record-sharing platform of its kind available to the VA, which is the largest medical system in the United States providing service to more than 9 million veterans across 1,243 facilities.

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Edwards Lifesciences Australia Gives a Helping Hand to the next generation

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Smith Family is an Australian, independent non-profit children’s charity whose goal is to create opportunities for disadvantaged children and their families and encourage them to participate more fully in society, using education as a key tool.

The Smith Family Learning Clubs provide a safe and supportive out-of-school learning environment where primary or secondary students can participate in activities that develop their academic skills, such as homework, numeracy and literacy.  

Disadvantaged students can miss out on these kinds of out-of-school programs as they are often too costly for families with limited financial means.

This isn’t the first time Edwards employees have done voluntary work. Last year over 500 hours were volunteered by staff. 

Edwards aspires to have 100% of its employees do at least one charitable activity every year.

Managing Director of Edwards Lifesciences ANZ, Pat Williams said:

“We all know that kids are the future and if we at Edwards Lifesciences can help out even just a little that’s fantastic. Who knows some of these children could be the next nurses, surgeons or biomedical engineers.

“Our commitment to charitable giving is one of the defining elements of our culture and locally we’re proud our employees actively participate.

“We’re fortunate to be able to support many health- and community-focused programs through grants to non-profit organisations around the world from the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation.”

Edwards believes that through their actions they will become trusted partners with customers, colleagues, and patients – creating a community unified in its mission to improve the quality of life around the world.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

INSURERS MUST PASS ON SAVINGS TO CONSUMERS

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With increasing margins and premiums up 3% in the December quarter, private health insurers continue to rake in profits as costs continue to rise for consumers, who are paying consistently more for less.

As PulseLine’s regular readers will know, the medical technology industry struck a deal with the Government in 2017 to cut prices on the Prostheses List by $1.1 billion over four years, which meant that private health insurance premiums rose by their lowest level in 18 years in 2018.

The December quarter APRA data demonstrated again that those reforms are bringing costs down for insurers. Since the September 2018 there have been cost reductions across significant prostheses categories, including:

  • Cardiac costs down 1.7%
  • Hip costs down 1.4%
  • Knee costs down 1.1%

And compared with the December quarter a year ago in 2017, the savings are even more evident, with:

  • Total benefits paid for prostheses down 4%
  • Average benefit paid for all prostheses down 12%

This is a direct result of the $1.1 billion dollars in cuts that the medtech industry delivered through its Agreement with the Government, and a crucial demonstration of the significant contribution that medical technology is making towards affordable health care.

It is now up to private health insurers to stop pointing the finger and start looking at how they can ensure those reductions flow through to consumers, to provide continuing affordability and access to better health outcomes for all Australians.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Back To The Future Of MedTech

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  • Here’s the gist: Honda, in partnership with Ohio State University, will undertake clinical trials to evaluate an 8-week intervention with the device for improving mobility in patients. The device is designed for training, the Honda Walking Assist Device is made up of a hip frame, motors and thigh frame.

The Honda device helps to enable more efficient and symmetrical walking patterns for people who have gait deficits due to stroke.

  • Here’s what Honda had to say: “We have a large body of evidence which suggested that the Honda Walking Assist Device safely and effectively improves the mobility of individuals affected by stroke,” lead research engineer, Kenton Williams, said.

I bet you’re wondering how it all works, right? Well rather than reading how it works, click below to SEE how it work![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jyE_GzsXJM” title=”Honda Walking Assist Device – How it works (Animation)”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

WORLD CANCER DAY MARKED WITH $375 MILLION

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “As we mark World Cancer Day, this investment will allow patients to access Medicare-subsidised lifesaving scans for cancer as well as stroke, heart and other medical conditions.”

  • Tell me more: an MRI is a commonly used medical scan that gives a detailed view of the soft tissues of the body such as muscles, ligaments, brain tissue, discs and blood vessels.

In September last year the Federal Government announced that first ten locations to receive this Medicare support and opened a competitive public application process to determine the location of a further 10 Medicare eligible MRIs.

  • How successful was the application process? The Government received an overwhelming 490 applications. As a result of the demand Minister Hunt announced the Government will invest a further $150 million into the MRI program, taking the total investment to $375 million, over the forward estimates.

KEY INSIGHT: In late 2017, the Government launched the Australian Brain Cancer Mission – a $105 million fund to fight brain cancer.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Let The Games Begin!

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]So, is 2019 the year that Bill Shorten brings the bacon home for Federal Labor?

If the polls are to be believed, then Labor is the front runner to win the election which will most probably be held on 18 May 2019.

With the Federal Budget due to be handed down on 2 April this will see the Federal election called on either the weekend of 6/7 April or the 13/14 April.

Here are some key facts to keep in mind heading into the election:

  • There are 151 seats up for grabs in the election
  • With electoral redistributions and defections to the crossbench, the Government currently hold 72 seats, the ALP 71 and the crossbench has 8
  • Labor need to win a net 5 seats to form Government, on a uniform swing of 1% or 50.6% of the two-party preferred vote
  • The Morrison Government need a swing to them of around 1% or 51.5% of the two-party preferred vote and a net 4 seats to regain majority Government
  • Current polling has Labor leading 53% to 47%

The key issue for the Government is the strength of its primary vote.  It is currently around 36% which is 6 points below where it was in 2016.  Labors primary vote is up 4 points to around 37-38%.

For the Government, they cannot win without a primary vote of around 42-43%.  Labor can win with a vote around 39% or higher.  This is due to Labor traditionally doing better on preferences than the LNP.

The Government will be hoping to use the budget on 2 April as a platform to springboard off and leverage its natural political advantage, that being superior economic management.

With the budget coming back into surplus earlier than anticipated, this budget will be an election manifesto more than a traditional budget.  No doubt the Government will be looking to shower the electorate with some election goodies.

The Government continues to go in hard on Labor’s proposed tax changes to negative gearing, franking credits and capital gains.  This is the prism through which the Government will seek to frame Labor as economic saboteurs and not to be trusted to manage the economy.

For Labor their basic campaign theme is one of fairness with their ‘plan for a fair go’.  Expect Bill Shorten and Labor to use the word ‘fair’ as often as possible between now and the election.

Fairness will be broadly defined, but policies like reinstating weekend penalty rates will be an example of wage fairness, tax cuts for low to middle income earners is about a ‘fair economy’.

Over arching the ‘fair go’ agenda will be the message of unity and stability.  Labor will contrast an Opposition led by Bill Shorten for six years against a divided Government that has had 3 Prime Ministers in 3 years.

Added to the mix will be Labor constantly reminding the electorate that Scott Morrison voted against the Banking Royal Commission 26 times.  Labor will be keen to highlight that only they can be trusted to implement the Royal Commission recommendations in full, whereas Scott Morrison is still a friend of the banks.

As they say, let the games begin!![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_zigzag][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1915″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jody Fassina is the Managing Director of Insight Strategy and has been an strategic adviser to MedTech and pharmaceutical stakeholders.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Health Minister Challenged

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You may have heard that former Liberal-turned independent MP Julia Banks confirmed, this week, her intention to challenge Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt for his Mornington Peninsula electorate of Flinders.

  • Here’s what you mightn’t have heard: Former ABC journalist Tracee Hutchinson has flagged her interest in also challenging Minister Hunt for his seat, as the Labor Party’s candidate. The Age has reported that the ALP is sharpening its focus on “snatching a slew of formerly safe Liberal seats from the Morrison Government” at the next election – including Minister Hunt’s seat.

Minister Hunt’s electoral margin has changed from a high of 11 per cent to its current margin of 7 per cent (on a two-party preferred basis) leading into the 2019 election. While still considered a “safe” seat, left-wing activist group GetUp has been mobilising its supporters in a coordinated effort to unseat Minister Hunt and cause a headache for the current government.

  • Son of a Turnbull! It was also revealed in The Australian newspaper that the son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will be involved in helping Ms Banks with her campaign to unseat Minister Hunt. “I’m involved, I’ll leave it at that,” Alex Turnbull told Nine newspapers.

The challenge to Minister Hunt may see the Morrison Government direct valuable resources and funding to protect the seat, that would have otherwise gone to sandbagging more marginal seats in Victoria and Queensland.

KEY INSIGHTS: The Age reported that the Labor Party had held the seat for just three of the past 80 years (2 years in the 1950’s and 1 year in 1983).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]