Is This The Quality Of Medical Input and Curation We Want From Our #myHealthRecord If We Have To Have One?

This appeared on November 28, 2018.

Joint media release with Australian College of Nursing - Nurse champions for My Health Record

The Australian Digital Health Agency, in collaboration with the Australian College of Nursing (ACN), has appointed six Nurse Champions to drive engagement with the My Health Record nationally.

“Our Nurse Champions will work with the Agency, ACN and the broader nursing profession to educate and enable nurses to use the My Health Record in their everyday practice,” said Australian College of Nursing CEO Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN.

“The six Nurse Champions represent the nursing profession’s passion for digital health and the potential benefits it offers for improving delivery of quality health care in Australia,” said Adjunct Professor Ward.

“Our Champions work in a range of health settings with each bringing a different perspective of nursing. They will be a key resource for ACN and the Agency as we seek to better understand the needs of nurses and patients as My Health Record is put into practice.

“I am proud to have these nurses represent our profession and be the face of this health innovation which will help improve patient outcomes.”

“We want to ensure that nurses are well supported, fully aware and ready to engage with the My Health Record and know how to get the best from it for themselves and their patients,” said the Agency’s Chief Medical Adviser, Dr Meredith Makeham.

“The Nurse Champions program is one of a series of collaborative initiatives between the Australian College of Nursing and the Australian Digital Health Agency to ensure nurses are aware of and are professionally equipped to use My Health Record.”

The My Health Record is an online summary of key health information where individuals can safely store, access and share their important health information. Having a My Health Record means an individual’s important health information including allergies, medical conditions and treatments, medicine details, and scan reports can be accessed through one system. For patients and authorised healthcare providers, information is accessible anytime including in a medical emergency.

“As a registered nurse in a rural general practice, I work with patients with multiple co-morbidities and healthcare providers. Many of my clients are elderly and they, along with their carers or significant others, often struggle to accurately track their many health encounters and changes to their medications. I use My Health Record as a vital repository (at a point in time) for key health information including shared health summaries, medication histories and event and discharge summaries. I recommend its use to enable timely access to patient information.”
Julianne Badenoch, Registered Rural General Practice Nurse

ENDS

For interviews, please contact Jessica Pham on 0403 295 934.
For media enquiries for ADHA, please contact the ADHA Media team on 0428 772 421 or email media@digitalhealth.gov.au.

About the Australian College of Nursing

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is the national professional organisation for all nurses and its aim is to ensure that the Australian community receives quality nursing care now and in the future. ACN is a membership organisation with members in all states and territories, health care settings and nursing specialties. ACN is also the Australian member of the International Council of Nurses headquartered in Geneva. An organisation not afraid to challenge industry issues affecting the nursing profession or Australia’s health care, ACN is a well-connected and educated national body that drives change with people of influence to enhance the delivery of health services to the Australian community. ACN’s membership includes nurses in roles of influence, including senior nurses, organisational leaders, academics and researchers.

Social media channels:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acnursing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/acn_tweet
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/australian-college-of-nursing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acn_nursing

About the Australian Digital Health Agency

The Agency is tasked with improving health outcomes for all Australians through the delivery of digital healthcare systems, and implementing Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy – Safe, Seamless, and Secure: evolving health and care to meet the needs of modern Australia in collaboration with partners across the community. The Agency is the System Operator of My Health Record, and provides leadership, coordination, and delivery of a collaborative and innovative approach to utilising technology to support and enhance a clinically safe and connected national health system. These improvements will give individuals more control of their health and their health information, and support healthcare providers to deliver informed healthcare through access to current clinical and treatment information. Further information: www.digitalhealth.gov.au.

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Here is the link:

https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/news-and-events/news/joint-media-release-with-australian-college-of-nursing-nurse-champions-for-my-health-record

I discussed issue regarding incentives last week here:

https://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2018/11/isnt-adha-attempting-to-corrupt-key.html

Now we have this which seems to suggest a distinct shift in the discussion regarding the myHR. Since it started it has always been that GPs (or Aboriginal Health Workers) would be the providers of a curated Shared Health Summary (SHS) and now it seems that Nurses are to be encouraged and incentivised to do this work. (Not that I have anything against nurses - some of my best friends are nurses as they say - but, put simply they are not doctors.)

At the very least it means that a doctor will need to understand just who created and checked a SHS before acting on any information it contains. It is hard (and maybe risky) enough to put any weight on reports from other GPs you don’t know and I suspect the problem is compounded with nurses being part of the picture.

Am I being cynical too suggest this is just the ADHA / Government trying to avoid paying GPs to curate SHSs by transferring the workload to nurses?

I am not a fan of slippery slope arguments but one can envisage that soon pharmacists etc. will be dragooned into a similar role. Surely all this must diminish the level of trust the public can have in the data held in the system even more than it is at present?

I wonder will it be made clear to patients just who prepared the SHS they are looking at and will they be asked if they asked to consent to that arrangement?

The whole thing just continues to drift away from the concept of a system to help doctors and patients share their care.

David.