Welcome back to Inside Digital Health for 2025.
We're excited for next month’s C3.0 Connect. Care. Confidence. Summit 2025, which will delve into the future of clinical governance – a critical topic across the healthcare industry. We’ve got all the details below about what to expect and how to register.
Did you get a smartwatch or fitness tracker for Christmas? Our cyber security team has some tips to secure your smart wearable devices.
We’re also rounding up health news and innovations – including a sticky solution from scientists at Harvard University.
What would you like to see in Inside Digital Health? Let us know in the comments or by emailing social@digitalhealth.gov.au.
Exploring the future of clinical governance at C3.0
As the scope of digital health products and services grows, an evolving approach to clinical governance has become essential to ensuring patient safety, quality of care and community trust.
To explore the next iteration of clinical governance in digital health, the C3.0 Connect. Care. Confidence. 2025 Summit on 18 February will bring together leading innovators, service providers, expert clinicians and consumers for a day of panel discussions, case study presentations and Q&A sessions.
Co-hosted by the Australian Digital Health Agency and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the virtual summit will focus on building strong and effective clinical governance in the digital health space and will discuss the latest news and insights on Generative AI, supporting digitally enabled care and delivering person-centred services.
Speakers include Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM, CEO of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan, and Dwight and Dian Diercks President at the Mayo Clinic Platform John D. Halamka MD, MS.
The full program and list of speakers is available on the summit website.
Ahead of the summit, Agency Director Clinical Governance Chris Boyd-Skinner CF shared his thoughts on some of the topics that will be covered at the event.
Q: Why is it important to provide a platform for collaboration and conversations about clinical governance in digital health?
Chris: Health technology companies, clinicians, consumers and policymakers all have a role to play in making digital health safer and of high quality, so the more we can emphasise the importance of strong clinical governance practice among these groups, the better! It’s the right time to be having the discussion and, encouragingly, we are seeing great levels of engagement and interest in the topic right across the sector. The summit is a great opportunity to showcase best practice and practical examples of how to ‘do’ clinical governance in digital health.
Q: Digital health is evolving rapidly as new technologies, including AI, are adopted across the healthcare system. How can healthcare organisations and providers ensure these tools prioritise patient safety and maintain high standards of care?
Chris: With lots of new and emerging health technologies now out there, it’s great to be excited about how consumers, carers and clinicians can ultimately reap the benefits of improved interactions with the healthcare system. We also need to be quite mindful that the introduction of AI-enabled tools, for example, does carry some level of risk. So, it’s important to get in front of that with good education, the right policy and regulatory settings and support for the general public to make informed decisions about these technologies.
Q: How does embedding clinical governance in digital health systems help build trust among patients, providers and stakeholders?
Chris: Trust can really be viewed as the cornerstone to the adoption of digital health technologies. Embedding clinical governance in digital health systems fosters trust by ensuring high standards of care and patient safety. It promotes transparency and accountability, which are crucial for building confidence among patients, providers and stakeholders. With these pieces in place, we’re more likely to see increased use across the sector, which is a good thing for better connected care.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at C3.0 Summit 2025?
Chris: For me, bringing the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into the conversation is critically important. We’re going to hear from speakers who bring a unique vision on strategies to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in engaging with healthcare technology. This ranges from concepts like better co-design, cultural governance and new models of care that ensure digital health meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in a way that best matches cultural needs and perspectives.
The C3.0 Summit 2025 will stream live on 18 February 2025 from 10 am to 4 pm AEDT.
Visit the website to register.
Startups backed to address critical health issues
A device that helps surgeons find cancer cells during surgery is one of 8 startups to receive funding from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The government is investing $18.5 million to support the Australian startup companies to commercialise their research and help turn their discoveries into new medicines and treatment tools, including innovations that could restore vision, reduce pregnancy complications, improve treatment for inflammatory bowel disease and reduce the side effects of breast cancer treatment.
Slugs inspire new approach to oral wound care
The sticky mucus slugs produce to protect them from predators has inspired an adhesive hydrogel patch that could help manage painful oral lesions. The mucus has strong mechanical properties, allowing it to stick to wet surfaces and stretch about 10 to 15 times its original length.
Drawing inspiration from these attributes, researchers published findings in 2017 presenting a strong adhesive patch that works in wet environments and isn’t toxic to humans. Scientists at Harvard University have now applied the research to develop a product for use in dental medicine, which could be applied to manage oral lesions associated with chronic inflammatory conditions and to seal oral surgical sites.
Fix your gut with a hypnotherapy app
Hypnotherapy can significantly reduce irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) flareups, researchers have found, with clinical studies validating the use of an app, Nerva, to target the miscommunication between the gut and the brain.
Developed by Dr Simone Peters of Monash University, in collaboration with Mindset Health, Nerva uses gut-directed hypnotherapy to calm visceral hypersensitivity, hypervigilance and digestion.
A randomised control trial by Monash researchers with 244 IBS patients found 71% had a clinically significant decrease in abdominal pain, versus 35% in the control group, and 81% had an improvement in symptom severity.
IBS is the most common disorder of gut–brain interaction, affecting about 11% of the population globally. It is estimated to cost the Australian economy and health system billions of dollars a year.
Be smart about securing your smart health devices
Wearable tech is one of the top trends in health and fitness and it’s only getting bigger.
More than a third of Australians have a smart wrist device, such as a smartwatch or fitness tracker, according to 2023 research, and more than a million were sold in the first half of 2024.
These devices store a variety of personal and health data, often in apps on smart devices. This may include information about your location, heart rate, body temperature, activity levels and calorie intake and usage.
The growing demand for inexpensive smart devices has led to little or no security being built into some products. For example, some devices have default passwords that can be found on public websites and can’t be changed.
You can protect the data on your smart health devices with these simple steps from the Australian Digital Health Agency’s cyber security team:
- Connect only the devices you need to be online and know what you have connected. To check, turn off your wireless network and see what is no longer working.
- Keep the software up to date for all of your devices, including installing any updates to apps on tablets or phones. You can make this easier by enabling automatic updates, if available.
- Set secure passphrases on all your devices. If possible, use a combination of 4 or more random words with a minimum of 14 characters. Reset default passwords to passphrases and change passwords/passphrases on compromised accounts. Find more advice on setting secure passphrases from the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
- Configure privacy settings, when offered, to limit the amount of data the device can collect and store. Consider disabling any information sharing capabilities on devices. Check the privacy policies and any requests for data on any apps that you use with wearable devices.
- Purchase devices with security controls such as automatic software updates, the ability to change and set secure passwords to passphrases, and configurable privacy settings.
- Think about the data collected by the devices you use. For example, sharing the location and time of your daily run on social media could represent a physical security risk.
- Use secure networks to connect any smart and wearable devices. Avoid using public wi-fi to enter sensitive data into devices. Put a lock on your smart phone and change all default passwords to passphrases on your home wi-fi, router and devices.
Following these easy steps will help to keep the data on your smart health devices secure.
You will find more advice on securing mobiles and tablets at the Australian Cyber Security Centre. If you think your device has been compromised, you can lodge a report online.
If you’re looking for a role that’s professionally and personally rewarding and offers career growth and mentoring, check out the latest jobs at the Australian Digital Health Agency.
- Senior Adviser HR Services – applications close 27 January, 11 pm (AEDT)
- Cyber Awareness and Education Officer – applications close 29 January, 11 pm (AEDT)
- Mobile App Developer – applications close 3 February, 12 am (AEDT)
- Assistant Director, Workforce Strategy & Capability – applications close 5 February, 11 pm (AEDT)
- Full Stack Web Developer – applications close 6 February, 12 am (AEDT)
- Lead Threat Detection and Security Engineer – applications close 9 February, 11 pm (AEDT)
- Records Manager (Business Information Management) – applications close 9 February, 11 pm (AEDT)
- Branch Manager, Transformation Office – applications close 9 February, 11:30 pm (AEDT)
- Branch Manager, National Program Delivery – applications close 9 February, 11:30 pm (AEDT)
- Senior Lawyer Register of Interest – applications close 28 February, 11 pm (AEDT)
See more vacancies on our careers page.
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