On a related matter - We did not qualify for the Broadband for Health Initiative as our ISP (iiNet) is not on the panel of approved ISPs. They refused to go through the red tape even though they comply on all levels AFAIK. No-one else can provide me with such a fast connection and I use this to run all of my phones on VOIP and connect to my data from home to work and visa versa. I therefore have no plans to change ISP as per the Dep of Health's suggestion and will have to forsake that bit of money. iiNet also told me that they had no intention of going through the application process - obviously not enough GPs in their network for them to bother about it T
Dr FM Janse van Rensburg BSc MBChB FRACGP FACRRM General Practitioner http://members.ozemail.com.au/~tvren/ Skype: thinus-v-r -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Simon James Sent: Friday, 24 November 2006 2:22 AM To: GPCG Talk Subject: [GPCG_TALK] PIP Again > On Thursday 23 November 2006 12:40 pm, Ross Davey wrote: >> J Collett wrote: >>> So, Medicare Australia is mandating encrypted 'email'? Not simply, >>> encrypted 'messaging'? Hmmm. >>> Jan >> >> No not really. To quote from the PIP Self Assessment form "Encryption >> used for the electronic transfer of patient information and/or >> clinical data.". >> Ross Davey >> > > meaning, to receive. don't need to send? > jh As Ross indicated, the ONLY concrete piece of source information about this requirement is: "Encryption used for the electronic transfer of patient information and/or clinical." By definition, if you don't transfer information electronically, you comply. I confirmed this with the Medicare Australia (MA) hotline prior to publishing my article on the PIP, however as I also noted in the article: "Many GPs have cited ambiguous and contradictory passages in the supplied documentation as a cause of confusion and frustration. As many people have publicly reported, conflicting answers from Medicare Australia to relatively straightforward enquiries have compounded these problems.". Based on what John Mackenzie has stated tonight, this continues to be a problem and I'm confident the following statement isn't correct, even if it came from MA. > Also, the answer from PIP hotline: > "To be eligible for the PIP IM/IT Incentive, practices are required to > use encryption to send electronic patient information and/or clinical > data." I'll seek clarification from higher up the food chain tomorrow, though it's past the compliance date for the first payment and most practices would have already settled on an interpretation. I think this would be a great 3rd tier "bonus" requirement for a PIP review next year, and would make the "I" in PIP a bit more relevant. My current feeling is that the requirements in their current form have manifested themselves as a reward for practices that have been proactive with their IT systems over the past few years, and have acted as a disincentive for many small practices who haven't kept up. All the best, Simon -- Simon James Publisher Pulse IT M: 0402 149 859 F: 02 9475 0029 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] W: http://www.pulsemagazine.com.au 3/61A Bream Street Coogee NSW 2034 _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk __________ NOD32 1879 (20061123) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Gpcg_talk mailing list [email protected] http://ozdocit.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gpcg_talk
