Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Sunday, January 24, 2021

As It Is The Beginning Of The Year It is Time To Ask Again For The Evidence Of Value Being Delivered By The #myHealthRecord.

This is typical of the propaganda being distributed by the ADHA regarding the #myHR.

My Health Record

My Health Record is a secure online summary of a person’s health information.

Health care providers authorised by their health care organisation and involved in a patient’s care can view and add information.

The system gives primary care providers access to timely information about their patients, such as:

  • hospital discharge summaries
  • shared health summaries from a patient’s previous regular GP
  • event summaries from a patient’s interactions with a different GP, such as a GP at an after-hours service
  • prescription and dispense records
  • pathology and diagnostic imaging reports.

The My Health Record system helps to:

  • avoid adverse drug events
  • enhance patient self-management
  • improve patient outcomes
  • reduce time spent gathering patient information
  • avoid duplication of tests and services.

How can we help?

We have resources to help health care providers connect to the My Health Record system, and can also help with education and training to use the system effectively.

My Health Record QI Workbook

Visit our QI Toolkits page to get started.

Quick steps for providers to get started

  1. Read the registration process overview.
  2. Go through the organisation readiness checklist.
  3. Attend education sessions and webinars on My Health Record. Upcoming sessions are listed on the My Health Record website and on our events page.
  4. Register your practice for My Health Record.
  5. Develop your understanding of how to access and use My Health Record by reviewing clinical software simulators and demonstrations.
  6. Review common misconceptions about My Health Record, especially privacy and security concerns.

Here is the link:

https://nwmphn.org.au/for-primary-care/digital-health/my-health-record/

To me there are two separate issues with this frequently reproduced material.

The first issue is the claim that the system provides timely access to this information when very few clinicians bother filling out and submitting the high value documents that might just add some value to other users. Figures of less than 1% of encounters being filled out are probably over-estimates given the total numbers of these documents held (e.g. clinician created discharge summaries, clinical summaries and referrals). Timeliness is also hardly a feature of what is in the system.

The second issue is that despite waiting for years the evidence that the #myHR helps with adverse drug events, clinical outcomes and the like has never been provided – not even in non-peer reviewed form that I have seen. Have anyone else seen it?

All this is, of course, because the #myHR is not actually designed to do what is claimed and almost certainly never will until a total strategic rethink of what it is meant to be and what actual use case is addresses. Just being a pile of documents does not cut it for $2B and counting! I reckon we should ask the ADHA to put up or give us all our money back!

David.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

After nearly 10 years in operation surely there must be some patterns to indicate the stated benefits are being realised?

Anonymous said...

"After nearly 10 years in operation surely there must be some patterns to indicate the stated benefits are being realised?"

Why?

The Department of Health, NEHTA and ADHA and their expensive consultants have made many claims as to benefits but have never have explained the mechanisms. As far as we know there has only been cost. If there have been any benefits they have not matched the obscene amounts of money spent on a simple but dumb idea.

Anonymous said...

Was it not suppose to save 6000 lives a year at some stage?

Seems the measure of sucess is some computer somewhere at least once every week connected to upload. It is a bit sad. Still I am sure they have all learned a great deal and in avoiding the mistakes of the past they will create all new mistakes and head in the opposite direction to the rest of the sector.

Anonymous said...

Why?

Gee let me think - maybe because they are suppose to be accountable to the people of Australia.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they could publish the report on the study that was supposed to prove how useful MyHR was in A&E situations.

I guess no report means no benefit,

Anonymous said...

What efforts/steps have been made to obtain that A&E report?. It would be really interesting to read. And it would give an instant answer to how useful the MHR thing is.

After all, did we not hear at Health Connect (Circa 1995) and from then on that "If someone from NSW is holidaying in Perth and washes up on a beach needing urgent care......." - It was the justification for the damned thing and here we are 10 years on unable to tell whether it is any use in that situation.

I am also very interested to know whether/how ED clinicians find it at all user friendly when they are under the pump?

Let's get our hands on this jolly report and take a good hard look at it?

Anonymous said...

No Health Department t (Federal, State and Territory) has been able or prepared to release any clear evidence which demonstrates (proves) unequivocally what goals the MHR HAS met and what goals it HAS NOT met.

Anonymous said...

as they say... no news is good news.

Sarah Conner said...

Do a FOI request via https://www.righttoknow.org.au/ I am sure readers would help if you are unsure how to do this. I recommend using this site rather than direct. This way it is in the public domain and on record.

Sarah Conner said...

Not to put you off just to set expectations - https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/5948/response/16632/attach/4/FOI%20Request%20REQ%200004056%20Decision%20Letter%2024%20January%202020.pdf

The luvvies at ADHA will try everything to prevent access to information.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah,

Another obstacle to get in my way is that I am not an Australian citizen, nor based in Australia - and so I suspect that will void any FOI request I make.

Are there any local enthusiasts who might be prepared to have a crack at doing that?

I'd be happy to help it is just that I don't think an application going from me would even get through the initial hoops.

Long Live T.38 said...

Any individual or organisation can make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). You don’t have to be an Australian citizen or even be in Australia to make a request.

Anonymous said...

@Sarah Conner - you have to admire the BS. We cannot release the benefits because of ‘cabinet in confidence’. What a load of toss. The benefits were included in a document to the PM&C but would be a seperate information asset. Or has cabinet been privy to some less than defendable going-ons?

Brian Conway said...

As a clinician, the current use I find for the MyHealthRecord is essentially the Medicare data, so if they say they have seen a specialist but can't remember who or when, I can see both of those things, if they say they have had a blood test, (as long as it was not at a public hospital - so non medicare) I can see where that was done and look it up outside of MHR (somehow they have declared it a breach of privacy to upload children's results in South Australia to MHR and as I am a paediatrician that is not very helpful to me). It fails however because MHR does not capture NDIS interactions, private health interactions e.g. seeing a speech pathologist not under enhanced primary care plan, nor in all states public hospital admissions and certainly not public hospital outpatient encounters, though may list them if medicarised. Recently I was able to see results and DC summaries for a child holidaying in QLD when they returned to SA, but it is very hit and miss. Also it can be useful to see if anyone has charged a once in a lifetime item eg 135 for autism or 137 for Trisomy 21, (but I could also check that via PRODA). So not comprehensive enough for my liking.

Anonymous said...

@Brian Conway

How much would you pay to have access to the MyHR?

Brian Conway said...

Well I pay with my time looking it up! Not sure I would want to take out a subscription!

Peter Padd said...

Brian’s Conway, is it safe to assume you also pay by contributing to its collection of stuff? Events summaries or something similar?

April Patterson said...

There is always the other intended use for MyHR. That being a political tool. Does the MyHR still hold value in this area for the Government? Perhaps that is hidden in the Cabinet-in-confidence business case and benefits document?

Where transplant lacks the blanks get filled by other means. Again eroding trust in governments and makes Greg Hunt look foolish.