Digital health Open Mic night draws a crowd

Federation University’s second Digital Health in Ballarat Open Mic Night, held on 25th July, attracted a large crowd of local health workers, students and community members. The July open mic event was jointly coordinated by Federation University, Ballarat Innovation and Research Collaboration for Health (BIRCH) and Ballarat Health Services.

Open mic night attendees gathered at Oscar’s Hotel in Central Ballarat to hear from four speakers drawn from the health sector, the university and the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI). The four speakers shared a common commitment to developing and implementing digital technologies to support and enhance patient experiences.

Tina Smith, Regional Business Analyst in Client Information Support with Ballarat Health Services (BHS), and Kate Nolan, Chief Information Officer with Ballarat Health Services, took the audience through the status of evolution of patient digital health records at BHS and across the Grampians Rural Health Alliance.

Tina Smith and Kate Nolan from Ballarat Health Services

Andrew Macleod, Technical Manager at CeRDI, introduced two health focussed data portals developed by CeRDI: the Wimmera Information Portal, an online spatial data tool developed to help address social disadvantage; and the Data Press Project, a spatial data portal created to support clinicians, researchers and workers responding to domestic violence across the Central Highlands region.

Andrew Macleod of CeRDI

Vishaka Sharma, a health care data visualization PhD candidate, discussed the process of developing and revising health diagrams designed to be used by both clinical and non-clinical individuals to benefit different health care settings.

Vishaka Sharma, Federation University PhD candidate

The open mic session was followed by networking drinks.

Digital Health in Ballarat open mic nights will be held every two months in central Ballarat, providing an open platform for students, researchers, health workers and other interested individuals to briefly present on digital health initiatives, proposals or problems in need of a solution.

Should you wish to book a presentation slot for an upcoming open mic night please email Federation University Project Support Officer Helen Hunter on h.hunter@federation.edu.au.