Biography:
Prof. Bain’s initial training was in clinical medicine and he spent 12 years in that field, in a range of roles from primary through to quaternary settings. He has post graduate experience in all the key clinical disciplines, has worked in a number of public hospitals across the state, and had exposure to a broad range of primary care settings. That time was punctuated from 1999-2001 with post-graduate training in information technology, which was augmented by a PhD in Information Systems, specifically on technology ecosystems in healthcare in 2014. During his tenure he has held several positions in several prestigious institutions including Melbourne Health, Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service and Ambulance Victoria (AV) in a broad landscape in Management Information Systems and computer based modelling, developing and implementing Information Strategies in support of the State government cancer reform agenda and improved data governance. In 2011, he commenced his role as the inaugural Director of Health Informatics at Alfred Health in Melbourne and in 2015 as the inaugural Chief Health Information Services Manager at the Mercy Hospitals Victoria Ltd. In November 2017 he commenced his current role as the inaugural Professor of Digital Health at Monash University in Victoria. His personal career interests reside in the areas of the use of technology and data for health delivery improvement in all healthcare settings, with particular interests in digital health, in usability of technology, and in the outcomes of technology use. He has a unique skill set and experience with which to follow through on this passion and he continues to be a thought leader in this area, with a strong national profile in the health informatics domain. As a result he is called upon to participate in numerous national and international committees and events as a health informatics / digital health expert. His research and teaching at Monash includes the critical topic of EMRs and their implementation. Whilst at Monash he has driven and published national-first research on EMR usability which he published in the IJMI in 2021. Up to date, he holds a patent in a hospital modeling system, several internationally recognized awards, a large number of international publications including books, Membership of internationally recognized Professional Groups and Committees and he has been invited to speaking engagements worldwide.
What in digital health is “free” ?
It is a particular challenge to deliver equity of access and equity of outcome when it comes to deploying digital health solutions into LMICs, with many tools and technologies designed for high income settings and representing a substantial cost.
In this talk Professor Bain will examine these challenges in more detail and provideexamples from around the world where “free” or “low cost” technologies and tools have been – or could be – used to provide solutions in LMICs. These examples extend from the standards space to the end user application space.