Switched off Google Gemini in Android Auto

Some weeks ago my car's Android Auto system upgraded itself from Google Assistant to Google Gemini. This has been mildly annoying, until I needed urgent medical care. 

I didn't mind too much, that when I asked to be navigated somewhere Gemini would give me a tediously detailed description of the building, before asking if I wanted directions there. However, this week I was on the highway and needed urgent, but not life threatening, medical attention.  So I asked Gemini the waiting time at the nearest Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, run by the ACT Government.. I was impressed when Gemini immediately responded that there was no waiting time and no patients in the queue. So I headed there, only to find a queue of 8 and a 45 minute wait. It actually took 2 hours to be seen, but then I received excellent care and am fine. 

Had Gemini given correct information, I could have chosen a different medical service. Had my condition proved more serious, the outcome could have been much worse (last time I left the same clinic in an ambulance).

I have switched off Google Gemini in Android Auto. 

MyGovId is Robodebt II?

Medicare Card with Wrong Name

Australian company directors have until 30 November to register with MyGovId. The ABC reported that about a million have not yet done so and each risk a fine of $13,000. The registration requires providing multiple forms of identification, with matching names. This may prove impossible by following the instructions issued. This may result in a situation similar to RoboDebt, where a badly designed automated government system caused suffering for a section of the Australian population, and is now the subject of a Royal Commission. The Australian Government needs to extend the deadline and clarify how IDs are matched.

A few weeks ago I called Medicare to have my name changed on my card, to match what is on my passport. This was so I could link it to my MyGov account. I was told my name had been changed, and was able to link it to MyGov. I elected not to have a new physical card issued, and was assured this would be okay.

However, yesterday I checked my online Medicare record, and discovered that while my Medicare record has the correct name, the facsimile of the card shown on screen has the old name. So I requested a new card. My medicare record now shows a new card, but still with the old name. So on the one screen it says for "Thomas Worthington" the card is issued to "Tom Worthington".

The MyGovId instructions say to enter the name on the card. But that name is not the name on my Medicard records, or my passport. Is this the only case in which following the instructions will not work?

Broadband Nurses to Lower Medicare Cost

From 1 November 2010 patients can claim on Medicare when
examined by suitably qualified nurses. The nurse can examine a patient on their own (without a doctor), write some prescriptions and referrals.

What might be useful is nurse practitioners linked to doctors by broadband. A nurse practitioner could record the patient history and make an examination. Then, where necessary, the nurse could contact a doctor online. The patient details would appear on the doctor's screen along with live video. The doctor could then make a quick assessment. In most cases they would simply confirm the nurse's diagnosis. But they could request further tests, write a prescription, or ask the patient to come in person.

As the nurse practitioners can now set up practice for themselves, this could change the balance of power in the medical profession and lower costs. Most visits to the doctor would be eliminated. The nurse would be the one the patient goes to see and so the nurse would decide if patient needs to see a doctor and which doctor they will see.