Plus there’s a new vice-regal appointment, a bunch of awards, and a new educational opportunity.
Gastroenterologist, researcher, and patient advocate Dr Ray Boyapati has been appointed as chief clinical officer at AI medical scribe developer Lyrebird.
Dr Boyapati has been with the company since December as clinical director. He is also on the Australian Digital Health Agency’s AI-enabled care expert advisory group.
“Clinical technology earns trust or loses it in a very specific place: not in a demo, but in a busy clinic at 6pm with a complex patient, incomplete information, and a decision that actually matters,” he wrote on LinkedIn about his appointment to the CCO.
“That gap is where most healthcare AI fails. It’s also where I’ve spent my career.
“What brought me to Lyrebird wasn’t a pitch deck. It was evidence that the team already understood this and that they’d built something worth believing in.
“Spending time with founder and CEO Kai Van Lieshout and the broader team made it clear that clinical trust isn’t a marketing claim here. It’s an operational commitment, held by people who genuinely care about getting this right.
“That commitment is now being tested at real scale at Lyrebird: thousands of clinicians across Australia and the UK, and the single largest deployment of AI clinical documentation in the NHS.
“That’s an extraordinary moment.
“The best healthcare technology isn’t imposed from outside. It’s built with the clinicians and institutions who carry the consequences.”
The company announcement said Dr Boyapati brought “clinical depth that is genuinely uncommon at the executive level” to Lyrebird.
“As we build this, grounding every decision in clinical reality is the standard and Ray’s continued practice makes that possible,” said Mr Van Lieshout.
“His perspective ensures our work is tested against the pressures providers actually face, building something clinicians can genuinely rely on to sustain the care that brought them to medicine in the first place.”
Former nurse gets regal nod
Former nurse and Royal Flying Doctor Service senior executive Caroline Wells has been appointed as the 30th governor of Tasmania.
Ms Wells was director of nursing at Hobart Private Hospital in the early 2000s, before spending 18 years at Diabetes Tasmania as a senior leader before taking over as director of health advisory and research until October 2023.
She was a director of RFDS Tasmania for 15 years before becoming chair of the board in November 2024. Ms Wells has been a member of the premier’s health and wellbeing advisory council since July 2019.
“I cannot tell you how humbled I feel to be named the 30th governor of our state,” Ms Wells wrote on LinkedIn. “Life certainly moves in strange ways.
“The role of governor is a privilege and with it comes with great responsibility. My initial shock has now turned into a feeling of great honour as I prepare to take on this important role. I am looking forward to making a real difference and supporting Tasmania to be the best it can be.
“As I look ahead to the swearing-in ceremony on 17 June, I will be stepping away from my current roles and getting ready for my new role.
“However, I am excited about continuing to connect with our Tasmanian community in my new role and I have no doubt that our paths will cross in the future.”
Also in today’s edition:
- $1.5m extra for Cohealth, but where is the review?
- NSW opens up Thriving Kids to EOIs
- Australia’s private health sector is fighting with itself
- NSW Health ‘deeply committed’ to combating antisemitism
- Richer residents preferred, unstaffable beds left empty: review
- Healthcare’s new weak link: the power bill
- Biggest investment in health in WA’s history
ITAC award winners
Ageing Australia has announced the winners of its Innovation Transforming Aged Care awards at its ITAC conference in Brisbane this week.
Capacity building: Acknowledging exceptional efforts to strengthen the aged care workforce through innovative capacity-building initiatives.
The Clinical Placements with Older People program is a national, university-led initiative transforming how nursing students experience aged care. CPOP creates high-quality, later-year placements that showcase the clinical complexity and career opportunities in gerontological nursing. Delivered in partnership with eight universities and over 200 care settings, the program combines expert facilitation, evidence-based learning and strong industry collaboration. Since 2023, more than 1800 students have completed placements, with significant increases in final-year participation and growing interest in aged care careers. CPOP also upskills educators and strengthens supervision across the sector.
Other finalists were Silverchain’s group capability and research and innovation teams, and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Education Centre’s Action Learning Institute, Kalyra.
Data insights: Recognising initiatives using data analytics, data insights or predictive modelling to improve decision-making, enhance outcomes for older people or improve business operations.
The ELDAC Digital Dashboard, developed by Flinders University, is transforming end-of-life care in residential aged care through the intelligent use of existing data. This purpose-built Power BI tool reorganises routinely collected clinical information into real-time insights aligned with palliative care best practice, without requiring new data or compromising data sovereignty. It enables earlier identification of end-of-life needs, improves care planning and strengthens governance. Co-designed with sector stakeholders, the dashboard integrates seamlessly into existing systems and workflows. Provided free to the sector, it is scalable and sustainable. By making end-of-life care visible, measurable and actionable, ELDAC is driving more coordinated, person-centred and compassionate care for older Australians.
Other finalists were Feros Care and the mecwacare Technology transformation team.
Research and development: Highlighting a commitment to evidence-based innovation, translating research into practical solutions that address current and emerging challenges in aged care.
Registry of Senior Australians Primary Care Project team has delivered a landmark five-year national study using linked big data to transform understanding of primary care in aged care. Analysing data from around 480,000 older Australians, the project identified critical gaps in service use, including underutilisation of preventive, mental health and specialist care, alongside significant regional variation. It demonstrated that continuity of care and preventive service use are strongly linked to reduced hospitalisations and mortality. Co-designed with over 50 stakeholders, findings have directly informed national policy, clinical guidance and reform discussions. As the first comprehensive study of its kind, it provides a powerful evidence base to strengthen integration between health and aged care systems, supporting safer, more coordinated and outcomes-focused care for older Australians.
Other finalist was Whiddon (Information and Communications Technology).
Technology transformation: Honours visionary use of technology to drive meaningful change in aged care.
The Optimising Aged Care Transfers project team, led by Monash University, addresses critical gaps in information sharing during transitions between residential aged care and hospitals. These transitions are high-risk periods, yet essential clinical details – such as medications, diagnoses, and baseline function – are often incomplete or missing across settings, contributing to preventable hospitalisations and readmissions.
Other finalists: JessieConnect, ECH, Uniting NSW.ACT Digital Technology.
Related
New course from the ADHA
A new intermediate level eLearning course, run by the Australian Digital Health Agency and the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, is now available to further advance clinical safety practices across Australia’s digital health workforce, building on the success of the introductory course released last year.
Designed for professionals working in all fields in digital health, the intermediate course applies to the design, delivery, and operation of digital health solutions.
AIDH CEO Anja Nikolic said participant feedback from the introductory program highlighted a desire for a deeper understanding of how clinical safety principles are applied in the healthcare sector.
“As digital health continues to enhance the way care is delivered, there is a growing opportunity to support professionals with learning that strengthens practical judgment, governance and confident application of clinical safety principles,” Ms Nikolic said.
“This new course supports those capabilities by standardising practices to consider and assess clinical safety implications in real-world settings.”
The intermediate course aims to support learners to:
- promote and foster a culture of clinical safety within digital health products and services;
- explain the importance of clinical safety and governance across the digital health lifecycle;
- apply key clinical safety activities across digital health products and services; and
- examine how clinical safety is managed through governance structures.
Designed across seven modules, the course takes approximately 4.5 hours to complete, with learners able to progress at their own pace. It has been endorsed for AIDH’s CHIA Program as continuous professional development.
Organisations interested in hosting the course within their own platforms can contact help@digitalhealth.gov.au.
The course forms part of the National Digital Health Capability Action Plan, which supports the National Digital Health Strategy 2023-2028.
To enrol in the Clinical Safety in Digital Health – Intermediate course, visit the Agency’s Online Learning Portal.