E-health records meet online deadline
Summary: From 1 July, consumers wanting to take part in the government's e-health records scheme will have the ability to register online, despite fears to the contrary.
From 1 July, consumers wanting to take part in the government's e-health records scheme will have the ability to register online, despite fears to the contrary.
After more than two years of development and over half a billion dollars worth of investment, the Federal Government will launch its personally controlled e-health record (PCEHR) system on 1 July. Last month, the government indicated the system would launch with a whimper rather than a bang, as patients will initially only be able to register for the records and add their own information through an online portal.
At the time, the government said it might struggle to meet the 1 July deadline for the online portal; however, the Department of Health and Ageing today said that, contrary to a report in The Australian, customers would be able to register online.
"From 1 July, consumers will be able to register online, through a Medicare shopfront or via phone, for a personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR)," the department said in a statement.
"The online portal will be available from 1 July 2012, so as soon as a person has signed up, they will be able to go online and view their record, and add a range of their basic health information."
Once in the portal, customers will be able to add emergency contact details, allergies, medication information and their own personal patient notes.
The ability to allow health practitioners to add information will start in September, the Department of Health and Ageing deputy secretary Rosemary Huxtable said last month.
"The next tranche of functionality is around provider registration, and the capacity for providers to upload clinical information. That will follow within a few months of 1 July," she said.
The government is expecting 500,000 people to register for the service in the next financial year.
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Talkback
What incentive will people have to sign up?Why will my life be better?
I expect a lot more functionality and ability if I invested $500mil.
Also, when you're visiting another Australian city, and you're carking it in a hospital floor, it may be handy for the doctor to be able to get your medical records, i.e. that 'basic information' you just added. That might make your life better.
Could you name one? If the system could do all it should, and we should as a nation have such a system I will jump for joy.
Opt in. Loading your own records. No facility for medical records, pathology, radiology results. A potted medical history is worse than none - a medical alert bracelet is more accurate and currently has better functionality.
Nehta should be shut down.
Most doctors won't bother using it if the vast majority of patients actually aren't on it.
Opt in for something as important as this is lunacy...but then again something has to keep the civil libertarians in a job..
I am concerned that all the scaremongering will delay both patients and providers from taking up the use of PCEHR, but personally I will be registering at the start of July and asking all of my doctors that I'd like them to contribute their summaries into the system - I can't force them, but I can at least stand up and be counted, or switch doctors. Personally if I avoid taking one inappropriate medication, it's well worth the $23 to me! And if one unnecessary duplicate diagnostic test is avoided, then unnecessary costs are avoided for both me, Medicare and my private health fund.
Yes, we need to take seriously the privacy and security aspects of the system, but overall the system should deliver better cheaper healthcare, surely an important goal with our aging population.