There’s a fair bit of discussion, and confusion, going on at the moment around the government’s new health tracking tool, My Health Record.
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The record is an online summary of your health records to be accessed by health professionals, and to be used in cases of emergency.
Consumers have until October 15 to decide whether they want to opt out of the system or not.
Previous governments have proposed an opt in model, where people could decide if and when they wanted to be a part of it, but under the present system, it’s one in all in unless we opt out.
As the government website states; “This year, you will get a My Health Record unless you tell us you don’t want one”.
It’s important to point out that not all aspects of our past health history, eg. scans and test results, will automatically appear in our record from day one.
Patients will need to discuss with doctors what information should be uploaded.
Predictably, many of the concerns being raised are around the security of data.
We hear of frequent cases in the media where organisations, both government and non-government, have been hacked, information has been leaked, or information has been sent to the wrong people.
This hardly gives us confidence that personal health information is going to be kept safe.
The levels of access, who can see the information, and under what circumstances they can see the information, can be controlled by the consumer.
But this in itself is a worrying point.
Remembering that many people will be left opted in simply because they don’t get around to opting out, or because they aren’t aware that the whole thing was happening anyway, the onus will then be on them to adjust their own settings.
Who is going to help elderly people and people with poor computer skills to do this?
Muddying the waters for rural and regional people is that the peak health organisation for rural and regional residents has recommended patients stay opted in.
The National Rural Health Alliance argues the record will benefit regional patients, who may be affected by isolation, reduced access to health professionals and slower response times in an emergency situation.
Luckily there is time for us all to do our homework, and consider what’s best for us.
