MONTHLY

e-Bulletin

7 May 2010

IN THIS ISSUE

§         UPCOMING EVENTS

§         LUNG HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRES

§         eREFERRAL SYSTEM – FEEDBACK SOUGHT

§         AUSTRALIAN LUNG FOUNDATION NEWS

§         APSR NEWS

§         INTERNATIONAL PLEURAL NEWS

§         OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

UPCOMING EVENTS

Paediatric Respiratory And Sleep Medicine Update

To mark the retirement of Dr DM [Gus] Cooper

This International Videoconference with presentations by leaders in the field from Canada, USA, UK and Australia will be held Friday June 18th 2010. Please click here for more information.

5th AH & MR Congress 2010

The Australian Health & Medical Research Congress is to be held on 14 Nov to 18 Nov 2010 at Melbourne Convention Centre.

The Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand is hosting a symposia as part of the Congress on Monday 15th November 2010.

www.ahmrcongress.org.au

Website Calendar

Please check  www.thoracic.org.au/meetings/other-national-international-meetings often, as upcoming events of potential interest to TSANZ members are regularly posted here. Branch meetings and other smaller local events are listed on the page for the corresponding branch location.

LUNG HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRES

Please view this press release, which describes a series of three interactive lung health questionnaires from ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) and GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) incorporating some of the latest research on how patients perceive the burden of the respiratory symptoms of asthma and rhinitis.  This initiative was launched on the recent World Asthma Day, 4 May 2010.  The questionnaires may also be accessed directly at this link: www.whiar.org/Questionnaire.html

AUST GOVT ELECTRONIC REFERRAL SYSTEM

Feedback and Comments Invited

The eReferral Release Package 1.0 has been developed by NeHTA and is intended to foster the ongoing development of a series of national specifications and methods to support the appropriate exchange of clinical and administrative information between clinicians. The package contains 3 documents, set out below, and the eHealth Expert Advisory Group is seeking feedback on the content of these documents.

1. The Business Requirements and Specifications document describes the high level requirements for the creation, delivery and receipt of referrals for patient, typically between GPs and specialists.
2. The Solution Design document defines national guidelines and specifications in order to allow future interoperability.
3. The Core information Components document defines the information components being recommended for use when exchanging referrals within Australia.

The eReferrals package can be found at:

www.nehta.gov.au/e-communications-in-practice/ereferrals

The RACP welcomes any decisions up till the 10th May 2010

AUSTRALIAN LUNG FOUNDATION NEWS

Test your Lungs Day

As part of 2010: International Year of the Lung, World Spirometry Day will be celebrated on 14th October 2010. The Australian Lung Foundation are conducting a “Test your Lungs Day” event in every capital city where free lung function testing will be offered to the general public. If you are a physician, respiratory nurse, physio, industry partner or patient volunteer who can assist on the day, contact Karen Wright 07 3251 3637 or projects@lungfounation.com.au

Better Living with COPD – A Patient Guide

15,000 copies of this new patient resource has been well received by patients, physiotherapists, respiratory care practitioners and allied health professionals. To view the resource online, visit www.lungfoundation.com.au and scroll down on the home page. You can either download and print the Patient Guide chapter by chapter or order a copy by using the link then complete and return the Order Form along with your payment. Copies are available for $10.00 + p/h. Contact Kylie Hetherington on 1800 654 301 or alfadmin@lungfoundation.com.au with any queries.

New Lung Cancer Patient Support DVD

In partnership with The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Kylie Johnston Lung Cancer Network (an initiative of The Australian Lung Foundation) developed this resource specifically for newly diagnosed patients. It provides expert medical information from a team of health professionals involved in caring for people with lung cancer together with experiences from people living with lung cancer. The first copy is FREE – multiple copies are $5.50 (gst inc) to cover p/h. Order your copy via www.kjlcn.org.au or call 1800 654 301.

2010 Membership

Just a quick reminder that 2010 Membership of The Australian Lung Foundation is now overdue – you can either renew your subscription with your TSANZ membership or download the membership form from www.lungfoundation.com.au and click on ‘Membership’ in the green bar.

APSR NEWS

Short Term Research/Training Fellowships

Applications are invited for Short Term Research/Training Fellowships offered by The Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR).  Please click the links below for detailed information about this programme and an application form.  Please note that applications close 31 July 2010.

APSR_Research_Fellowship_Info.pdf

APSR_Research_Fellowship_AppForm.doc

Call for nominations

APSR Research Award and APSR medal to be awarded at the APSR Congress.  Nominations close 31 July 2010 – more information here.

Respirology E-TOC

Please click the links below to access the online Table of Contents for the April and May editions of Respirology.

Respirology_15-3_ETOC.pdf

Respirology_15-4_ETOC.pdf

APSR Bulletin

Please click here for the latest edition of the APSR Bulletin

APSR Respiratory Updates

Please click here for the latest edition of APSR Respiratory Updates.

Infant and Preschool Lung Function Testing Survey

On behalf of the ATS/ERS Infant and Preschool Lung Function Task force Dr. Graham Hall would like to ask for your support in completing a short survey on the clinical use of infant lung function testing.

Please visit www.apsresp.org to access the survey.

Online Registration now available - 15th Congress of the APSR

This will be held in Manila, The Phillippines on 22 - 25 Nov 2010.  See www.apsr2010.org for more information and online registration.

INTERNATIONAL PLEURAL NETWORK

Please click here for the January 2010 edition of the International Pleural Newsletter

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

CPX International (formerly ISEIRE Inc)

Please click here for a letter from Paul Older of CPX International, inviting TSANZ members to join and help create an Australian Chapter of the society.

Australian Government Medicare Benefits Schedule

Please click here for a letter from the Director of the Medical Benefits Reviews Task Group regarding a Quality Framework discussion paper and nominations for Committees.  Please note that nominations close 21 May 2010.  The discussion paper is available for download here.

University of Sydney Short Course:  An Introduction to the Application of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health.

Run by Health Economists from the Health Economics Collaboration, this course is for those wishing to become familiar with how to approach health care decisions with economic considerations in mind. Our course is targeted at policy makers, clinicians, researchers, managers and others working in the health sector who deal with economic issues.

The course is being run on Friday 14 May 2010 at the University of Sydney.  For more information about this professional development course, including speakers, course curriculum and registration, see the following link or send your enquiry to heconomics@health.usyd.edu.au

www.health.usyd.edu.au/heconomics/activities/shortcourses

Cancer Learning Newsletter

Please click here for the April 2010 edition of the Cancer Learning Update newsletter