e-health

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Reports and publications
Presentations
e-health dictionary

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NEHTA
The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) was established by the Australian, State and Territory governments to develop better ways of electronically collecting and securely exchanging health information.

Healthcare Identifiers Service
The Federal, state and territory governments have developed a national Healthcare Identifiers Service (HI Service) which will uniquely identify healthcare providers and individuals who seek healthcare. Medicare Australia is the operator of the HI Service.

e-health information
This website is a one-stop shop for all things e-health, whether you are a consumer, healthcare provider, healthcare manager or vendor

NEHTA: e-PIP vendors
You can also access a list of NEHTA eligible suppliers for the PIP e-health incentive.

NEHTA brochures
Keep up to date with the latest in eHealth.

Medisecure®
MediSecure® specialises in secure electronic transmission for both the medical and pharmacy sectors.

The Department of Health and Ageing's e-health e-newsletter ‘On the Record’
10 April, 2012

Reports and publications

Presentations

e-health dictionary

Access Control: A means of ensuring that an information system can be accessed only by authorised persons and organisations in authorised ways.

Aggregated Data: Data about more than one consumer that are grouped together where the identity of the consumers cannot reasonably be ascertained. 

Archetype: Clinical knowledge objects designed to model standard ways of storing chunks of health information e.g. ‘blood pressure’.   

Archetype systems: Designed to store health data, they utilise methodologies that build systems based on formal, rigorous and standardised (interoperable) specification for an agreed consensus or best practice representation of a clinical data structure within an electronic health record.

Archetype (descriptive definition): A model of a clinical or other domain specific concept which defines the structure and business rules of that particular concept eg. archetypes define concept such as ‘blood pressure’.  

Atomic concepts: Concepts that cannot or need not be sub-divided into smaller parts, e.g. ‘diabetes mellitus’, ‘acute’ ‘chest’ ‘pain’.

Audit Trail: A step-by-step record of access and changes to information held in a computer system or database.

Authentication: The process by which a degree of confidence is established about the truth of an identity. In terms of computer security, the identification or
verification of the eligibility to access a system e.g. login I.D

Boot password (also called power-on password): a password that is entered when the computer operating system starts. If an incorrect password is entered, the computer will not continue loading. Boot passwords are used as an additional security mechanism. Another type of boot password can be used to prevent unauthorised access to the computer’s basic input/output system (BIOS) settings

Client: a client is a computer that requests services from a computer called a server, e.g. in a network environment, a client would be your personal computer connected to the network. The client might request print services from a print server when you want to print a document or a file server when you want to access files

Clinical Data Repository: A data store that holds and manages clinical data consolidated from service encounters at a point of service location e.g. hospitals or medical practices.
 
Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS): Systems including computer applications that assist healthcare professionals to make decisions about patient care eg. Medication decision support system that checks for drug allergy or drug to drug interactions.

Clinical Indicator: A measure of the clinical management or outcome of care; a method of monitoring patient\client care and services which attempts to 'flag' problem areas, evaluate trends and so direct attention to issues requiring further review eg. allergies

Clinical Information: Information about a patient, relevant to the health care or treatment of that patient that is recorded by or on behalf of a healthcare provider.
 
Clinical Information System: Information technology designed for collecting, storing, retrieving and communicating clinical information applied at the point of healthcare delivery.

Clinical Knowledge: Knowledge pertaining to health concepts independent of a particular consumer\patient, such as medications, diseases,investigations or interventions.
                    
Clinical Pathway: A plan of care, drafted in advance for predictable patient groups which is developed and used by a multidisciplinary team. It forms part of the written documentation, includes outcomes (clinical indicators) to be achieved and the capacity for recording and analysing variance.

Clinical Terminology: Clinical terminology concerns the meaning, expression, and use of concepts or terms in the healthcare record or other clinical information system. eg SNOMED

Cloud Computing: Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand. The term ‘cloud’ is used as a metaphor for the internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network.

Code: A controlled representation of a concept or group of concepts. Codes may be alphabetic, numeric or combinations of these and are constrained in meaning and use. The code may be structured to indicate a hierarchy

Code set: A list of defined concepts and their preferred terms, arranged in hierarchies with a unique representation (code) allocated to represent the concept.

Coding: The process of assigning alphanumeric or numeric symbols to convey information in accordance with an agreed classification system.

Data: Is information that has been translated into a form that is more convenient to move or process. It can represent real world facts, concepts or instructions in a formalised manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing.

Data Element: The smallest named unit of information in the model that can be assigned a value, e.g. age.

Data warehouse: A database that stores information from other databases using a common format.

Decision Support Information System: Process where the computer stores a set of best practice rules or knowledge and checks information entered into the system against that information, or displays this guidance. 

De-identified Data: Data about a person or persons is termed ‘de-identified’ when the identity of the individual person or persons to which the data refers is not apparent, and cannot reasonably be ascertained from the data.

Dial-up connection – a widely used method of accessing the internet. A dial-up connection uses ordinary phone lines to connect one computer to another via a pair of modems

Differential backup– a type of backup that only includes files that have been modified or added since the previous full or incremental backup. However, the files are not marked as having been backed up

Digital certificate: a digital certificate is a mechanism used to verify that a user sending a message or data is who he or she claims to be

Encryption: encryption is the process of converting plain text characters into cipher text (ie. meaningless data) as a means of protecting the contents of the data and guaranteeing its authenticity

Firewall: a firewall is used to provide added security by acting as a gateway or barrier between a private network and an outside or unsecured network (i.e. the internet). A firewall can be used to filter the flow of data through the gateway according to specific rules

Full backup: a backup of all files residing on a computer/server hard drive. The files are marked as having been backed up

Hard disk/drive: a hardware device used for storing programs and data on a computer. A computer may have more than one hard drive

Hardware: physical components of a computer, such as a monitor, hard drive, or Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Health Informatics: The application of information technology and concepts to improve healthcare.

Healthcare Identifier (HI): A HI is a unique 16 digit number which will be used to identify healthcare providers and individuals. Legislation was passed on 24th June 2010 to enable this.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): The description language used ot create hypertext documents that can be viewed on the World Wide Web.

Healthcare Provider Identifier: Individual (HPI-I): A HPI-I is allocated to healthcare professionals and other health personnel involved in providing patient care. Healthcare providers will be able to access their own record to check health information and request updates.

Healthcare Provider Identifier: Organisation (HPI-O): A HPI-O is allocated to accurately identify organisations (such as a hospital or general practice) where healthcare is provided..

Health Level 7 (HL7): A Standards Australia approved method for electronic data exchange in health care. It enables disparate computer applications to exchange key sets of clinical and administrative information. The most common use in Australian general practice is in the transfer of pathology results from the laboratory to practice systems.

Incremental backup: a type of backup that only includes files that have been modified or added since the previous full or incremental backup. The files are marked as having been backed up

Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI): An IHI is a unique 16 digit number that will only apply to individuals for use in health information records alongside their name, date of birth, sex and address. No clinical information will be linked to the identifier by the Healthcare Identifier Service that is run by Medicare.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO): An International standard setting body and the world’s largest developer and publisher of International standards.

Interoperability: the ability of health information systems to work together within and across organisational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of health care for individuals and communities.

Informed Consent: Permission granted by an individual to use their health information for a specific purpose, with an understanding of what they are agreeing to.

ISP (internet service provider): an ISP is a company that provides to companies or individuals access to the internet. You typically connect to the ISP using a modem and dial-up connection, a broadband connection or ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

Mail server: a server used to forward email, whether the email is sourced internally or externally and whether the destination email address is internal or external

Mirrored hard disk: this is an additional hard disk that contains a mirror image of the original disk. If the original disk fails or becomes faulty, the mirrored disk can then be used

Modem: acronym for modulator-demodulator: it is a device used to transmit computer information across the telephone network (by converting computer or digital signals into analogue signals and vice-versa). It can be used to allow users to connect to the office network while they are away from the office (e.g. at home or travelling), or to connect computers to the internet via a dial-up or broadband connection to an ISP

National Electronic-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA): The National E-Health Transition Authority was established by the Australian, State and Territory governments to develop better ways of electronically collecting and securely exchanging health information. NEHTA’s strategic priorities in the adoption and implementation of e-health in Australia are to urgently develop the essential foundations required to enable e-health; coordinate the progression of the priority e-health solutions and processes; accelerate the adoption of e-health; and lead the progression of e-health in Australia.

Network: a collection of connected computers and peripheral devices used for information sharing and electronic communication

Network access point: this refers to a physical socket via which a computer can be connected to the network

Network drive: in the simplest case, a network drive is a complete hard disk/drive on a network server that is made available to users on the network. Note that a hard drive on a network server can be logically split into multiple drives, with one physical hard drive. Each logical drive is allocated a letter of the alphabet, e.g. the ‘F drive’. Logical drives can be used as an access control mechanism, by only allowing certain users on the network to access the data on the logical drive

Network interface card (NIC): also called a network adapter, an NIC is a hardware device (located inside the computer) that allows the computer to connect to a network and communicate with other computers on the network

Network operating system: software that controls and manages how the network operates, such as authenticating users by requiring them to enter a username and password for activities such as accessing the network and controlling printing

Non repudiation: this term means that you cannot deny having performed a transaction, e.g. if you send an email to your bank asking them to transfer money out of your account, nonrepudiation means you cannot later deny having sent the email. Use of encryption and digital certificates provides non repudiation capabilities

Operating system: software that controls how a computer hardware and software components work. For example, Macintosh™, Windows™ and Linux are types of operating systems

Peripheral device: a device attached to a network or a computer, such as a modem or a printer

Proxy/Proxy server: in the context of accessing the internet, a proxy server typically acts as a control point by being the central point of access for users to the internet

RAIDS : Redundant array of independent disks

Reboot: when you restart your computer. You might be required to reboot your computer in some instances, eg. after you have installed new software to enable the changes to take effect.

Registry: this contains system configuration information and controls how your computer operates. It should never be tampered with unnecessarily as this can lead to your computer not functioning properly

Router: a device that provides connectivity between networks, e.g. between your internal network and the internet. A router forwards data from one network to the other and vice-versa

Semantic Interoperability: The ability that information exchanged between systems can be clearly and consistently understood.

Server: this is typically a computer in a network environment that provides services to users connected to a network (or ‘clients’), such as printing, accessing files and running software applications. A server can be used as a central data repository for the users of the network

SNOMED-CT (Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terminology): One prerequisite to the safe exchange of clinical information between healthcare providers is the establishment of a common, coded clinical language. SNOMED-CT is a commercially available general medical terminology, initially developed for the classification of pathological specimens. It is considered to be the most comprehensive multilingual health terminology in the world. There are almost 800,000 descriptions in SNOMED CT, including synonyms that can be used to refer to a concept.

Software: a program or (group of programs) which performs specific functions, such as word processor or spreadsheet programs

Spam: unsolicited email. Often it is simply nuisance email, but it can entice you to provide confidential personal information, eg. baking passwords

Spyware: programs that are downloaded from the internet onto your computer (sometimes without your knowledge) to covertly send back information to the source, eg. your personal details

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): an encryption protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting documents securely over the Internet. It allows for authenticated and encrypted communication between browsers and servers, or between different servers.

Standalone computer: this is a computer that is not connected to a network or to other computers

Trojans: these are unauthorised programs hidden within authorised ones

Unified Modelling Language (UML): A standardised general-purpose modelling language which includes a set of graphic notation techniques to create visual models used in the field of software engineering.   

URL (acronym for Uniform Resource Locator): in the simplest case, it is the address for an internet web page, such as http://www.hotmail.com

Virus: a program that can create copies of itself on the same computer and on others. They corrupt programs

Worm: worms are much like computer viruses, but do not attach themselves to other programs.

XML (Extensible Markup Language): A reduced version of SGML, designed for the Web, that allows customised tags to be embedded in documents.



Last Modified: 27 April 2012
Authorised By: e-health unit, Practice Innovation and Policy

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