This appeared a few days ago.
https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/news-and-events/news/media-release-my-health-record-system-upgrade-to-make-it-easier-to-set-security-controls-make-treatment-needs-known-and-help-avoid-issues-related-to-medicines
Media release - My Health Record system upgrade to make it easier to set security controls, make treatment needs known and help avoid issues related to medicines
13 March 2020: The My Health Record System is being upgraded on 13 and 14 March to improve usability for consumers and healthcare providers.
We have seen the important role My Health Record has played in large scale crises such as the Queensland floods and the recent bushfires, where pharmacists and hospital staff have relied on information in the My Health Record to provide care.
The changes in this new release improve the way a person’s medicines list appears in the My Health Record and will provide a better user experience for consumers logging into their own Record and setting security controls.
We are confident these improvements will continue to build trust within the community for the My Health Record and provide crucial support to the health system and consumers over coming months.
Security controls
Security and safety of health information is the main concern for both patients and their healthcare providers.
That’s why the latest My Health Record system upgrade has made it even easier for people to find where to set access codes, add emergency contacts and nominate representatives.
The images below are what people can expect to see the first time they access My Health Record after the system upgrade.
Interim CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency, Bettina McMahon, said one of the main changes in the latest upgrade of My Health Record makes it much easier for people to control who sees and accesses their health information.
Advance care planning
Ensuring that a patient’s loved ones and healthcare providers understand their wishes when they can't speak for themselves is very important.
Even if someone has documented their wishes, this information may not be readily available to healthcare providers in emergency situations. The latest system upgrade of My Health Record brings us one step closer. Consumers can also upload their own advanced care plans into My Health Record.
The upgrade has new functionality that allows healthcare providers to generate and upload Advanced Care Planning and Goals of Care documents into My Health Record via their clinical information system.
Advanced Care Plans detail future medical or health care preferences and provide guidance to family, close friends and medical professionals if someone is unable to communicate due to illness or injury. An individual or their healthcare provider can add this document to My Health Record.
A Goals of Care document contains a patient’s preferences for their end of life treatment and is agreed between the patient and their healthcare provider. It can only be completed and uploaded by the treating healthcare provider.
Medicines view
With 250,000 hospital admissions in Australia each year due to preventable medicine-related problems, improvements to the My Health Record system mean that both patients and health professionals will have access to more complete and accurate information about their medicines than ever before.
The Medicines View changes will ensure any differences in naming conventions for the same medication are reflected as a single medicine line eliminating unnecessary duplication; and identify where changes in medicine form and/or strength have occurred.
The upgrade to My Health Record will take place from 9pm on Friday 13 March 2020 until 2.30am on Saturday 14 March 2020 (AEDT). Some features or functionality in the My Health Record system will be affected. For assistance, call the helpline on 1800 723 471.
ENDS
There was also press coverage here:
My Health Record receives upgrade for improved security controls and advance care plans
The latest upgrade makes it easier for people to control who sees and accesses their health information.
By Dean Koh
March 13, 2020 05:21 AM
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) today announced that the My Health Record System will be upgraded over two days to improve usability for consumers and healthcare providers.
There will be three new features with the upgrade. Firstly, the upgrade will make it easier for people to find where to set access codes, add emergency contacts and nominate representatives. Next, consumers can also their own advanced care plans into My Health Record. A new functionality with the upgrade allows healthcare providers to generate and upload Advanced Care Planning and Goals of Care documents into My Health Record via their clinical information system.
A Goals of Care document contains a patient’s preferences for their end of life treatment and is agreed between the patient and their healthcare provider. It can only be completed and uploaded by the treating healthcare provider.
More here:
I have to say the changes to the Medicine View and the Access Controls seem pretty minor but the changes to the Advanced Care Directive (ACD) Section are really much more substantive and potentially troubling.
The addition of a Goals of Care document developed between the treating doctor and the patient – without explicit guidelines as to how this is to be shared with relevant others is a bit of a worry. The real value of the ACD is that, done well, it involves a process where the patient and all the relevant others come to know the patient’s wishes and will be happy to see them implemented as necessary – and not feel the need to do too much – or too little – as things unfold – confident they understand what the patient actually wanted.
I think the Goals of Care should be a document that is shared among all those who are impacted by it in some respectful and rational way that makes it clear that this merely documents what the patient wants to happen in various circumstances. That way there is maximum chance it is actually done as the patient desires.
I note that, as usual, the clinically vital #myHR is taken of line on a Friday night / Saturday morning when it would be of the maximum – if limited – use the ER staff. I wonder why that timing?
David.
I've just had a look at my myhr. I can't say I'm impressed. I wouldn't say the user interface is particularly user friendly.
ReplyDeleteThe medication view is via a secondary link "Allergies & Adverse Reactions and Medicines Information" - it's not at all obvious.
The link take you to "Available Medicines Information" although the first section is "Allergies and Adverse Reactions" followed by "Medicines Preview"
The first medication indicates that it was most recently dispensed on 3 March, which is incorrect - it was also dispensed on 16 March.
There are two other medications listed neither of which I now take.
These are for the last two years. If I change the selection date to "All", it adds a discharge summary from 2017 and the helpful note: "This document does not allow for a preview of medicines information. Click here to view the source document" which is a .pdf with no medications information in it.
There is no historical medicine information, only the latest (incorrect) dispensed information.
There is another page called "Medicines Preview - This is a list of medicines that have been prescribed and dispensed."
This is even less informative - it says:
"Information on Prescription and Dispense Records
No information is available."
But wait, there is another page: "Medicare Overview" which includes "Prescription information - PBS & RPBS" which is yet another list of 40 medications that have been prescribed and/or dispensed. That page also does not include my 16 March dispense.
And we are not finished yet. On the page "Pharmacist Shared Medicines List
Medicines list prepared by a pharmacist."
Nothing is listed.
So, one page shows incorrect and old medicine information, another claims there is none, a third contains yet another set of information some of which overlaps the first and the fourth is empty.
And if you have a Shared Health Summary, there may be more information about medications (according to the blurb in the website)
And this is an upgrade?
The timing makes it a normal working day shift for the developers in India where Accenture runs is operations from for MyHR.
ReplyDeleteAs for the functionality and user experience, you have to wonder if these “executives” actually look at the system or sign-off based on the glossy adobe XD presentations?