Identifying risk 'hot-spots'

A new research project is analysing risks in health service delivery in order to prevent harm.

Using data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, the research team works out ‘hot-spots’ of risk – groups of practitioners receiving a disproportionate share of notifications – to improve healthcare quality and safety.

It involves coding data about each notification, connecting that with information from the public register, and trying to classify the nature of harm. Once the team has identified ‘hot-spots’ of increased risk, the research team liaises with the professional health sector National Boards to identify which ones they would like to pursue further.

The project is a partnership between AHPRA, the 14 Boards and The University of Melbourne.

Australians need more calcium

Calcium is missing in the usual intake of nutrients by Australians, according to two Government bodies.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Food Standards Australia New Zealand say that only one-in-four females and one-in-two males meet their calcium requirements from food.

Calcium is required for strong, healthy bones and teeth. Low calcium intake is also linked to osteoporosis – a low bone density condition.

Dairy foods are the richest source of calcium in the Australian diet.

Unravelling the legal complexities of running a practice

Join us at Morning Star Estate, Mt Eliza, on Saturday 20th June, to unravel some of the legal complexities of running a dental practice at the Practice Plus Practice Management Program. Three specialist lawyers will discuss associate contracts and service entities, equal opportunity and employment legislation.

These engaging speakers will answer your questions, both during their presentation, and informally while enjoying a relaxed lunch in the restaurant overlooking the beautiful Mornington Peninsula Estate vineyard and rose gardens.

This is a unique opportunity to benefit from the speakers' legal expertise, whether you are a dental practitioner or practice manager. It will also be an opportunity to meet ADAVB Vice-President, Dr Stephen Liew, who will introduce the day.

Further information 

• Practice Plus  
• Practice Management Program flyer

Contact details: 

Telephone: 03 8825 4614
Email: practiceplus.adavb.org

ADA meets with ACCC to convey concerns about PHIs

Every year the ACCC is required to submit a report to the Australian Senate on private health insurer (PHI) anti-competitive activities. The ADA always provides a submission as a part of that process. As a result of the ADA's testimony at the Senate Inquiry into Out-of-Pocket Costs in Australian Healthcare last year, the ACCC held  a meeting with the ADA to better understand PHI issues relating to dentistry.

The ADA highlighted the following concerns to the ACCC:

• lack of transparency and accessibility of PHI product disclosure statements
• lack of transparency regarding levels of rebates provided under PHI policies for all dental treatments
• penalising patients who choose providers who are not the PHI's preferred provider, by imposing a lower rebate.

The meeting was followed with a detailed submission by the ADA. The ADA thanks members who contributed by lodging complaints about PHI behaviour to the ADA and invites members to read the submission on the ADA website.

This is an abridged version of an article by Rick Olive, Federal President ADA Inc., which appeared in the ADA News Bulletin, March 2015.

Dental tips for young parents

ADAVB members provided oral health tips to parents and parents-to-be at the recent Melbourne Baby and Toddler Show.

At the ‘Ask a dental professional’ booth, members of the Branch’s Oral Health Committee, such as Dr Diluni Gunawardana (pictured),
answered many queries. Questions ranged from when oral care for babies should start to introducing a child to a dentist in a surgery.

For ADAVB, this was a great opportunity to provide information to parents about caring for childrens’ teeth, as it could help start life-long beneficial habits.

Getting your name off Whitecoat

Members, did you know that you can have your details completely removed from the controversial Whitecoat website?

ADA Inc says simply email providerservices@hicaps.com.au requesting that your name and the details of your practice be removed from all HICAPS websites. Include the details of your provider number and location address for all the locations where you are practising. State in your email that you wish for the details associated with these sites to be used for claiming purposes only.

This will not affect your ability to process claims through the HICAPS terminal.

ASIC releases Cyber Resilience Health Check

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released a report highlighting the importance of cyber resilience to regulated entities, and incorporated dental practices are amongst those affected.

The report is intended to help ASIC's  regulated population improve their cyber resilience by increasing their awareness of cyber risks, encouraging collaboration between industry and government, and identifying opportunities for them to improve their cyber resilience. It also aims to identify how cyber risks should be addressed as part of current legal and compliance obligations that are relevant to ASIC’s jurisdiction.

Click here to download the Cyber Resilience Health Check report.

Warning on lunch box fruit drinks

Many popular children's lunch box juices contain more sugar than Coca-Cola and parents should steer clear of them, the Obesity Policy Coalition says.

The organisation warns parents that with the school holidays ending, they should not assume products like juice are healthy just because of claims that they have "less sugar" or are "free from artificial colours and flavours".

The group's analysis of the lunch-box size poppers found many have the equivalent of five or more teaspoons of sugar in them, with several containing even more sugar than the same size serving of Coca-Cola.

The worst offender is Golden Circle's Sunshine Punch poppers, which its website describes as "perfect to fit in a school lunch box". However, it has more than 30 grams of sugar per serve, or the equivalent of 7.7 teaspoons.

Obesity Policy Coalition Executive Manager Jane Martin said parents could be forgiven for thinking fruit drinks were healthy.

'That Sugar Film' Screening and Q&A - Don't miss out!

Don't miss out on seeing one of the top 5 cinema released Australian documentaries of all time! Support the eviDent Foundation by attending a special screening of "That Sugar Film" at Cinema Nova, Carlton, on Thursday 16 April, 7pm.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Dr James Fernando, Deputy Chair of the ADAVB Oral Health Committee, and Jane Martin, Executive Manager, Obesity Policy Coalition.

 Find out more and book your tickets for you and your friends!

Cyber liability - what you need to know

A recent trend in cyber attacks is 'ransomware' and health professionals, including dentists, are at risk of having their data security breached. Dental professionals gather and store large amounts of personal patient details - and for this reason can be targets for hackers.

Australian Federal Police advise that there were over 70 instances of
such attacks on Australian dental practices last year.

'Ransomware' results in the encrypting of a business's data. The information is locked down so that it is no longer accessible by the business. The objective of this attack is that the business must pay the hacker a substantial 'ransom' in order to retrieve their data.

Cyber liability insurance is a necessity, in addition to standard security measures. Professional liability policies generally do not cover data security breaches.

Find out more:

How to protect your dental practice and a special DUAL insurance offer for members

ADAVB Newsletter April edition - Ransomware case study by DUAL

Ask for general advice from Practice Plus, the ADAVB's information and practice support for members