This appeared earlier today.
My Health Record: after 12 years and more than $2bn, hardly anyone is using digital service
Research shows many Australians find medical records not uploaded and clinicians fail to see benefits of using the national online database
Melissa Davey Medical editorMon 6 Jun 2022 03.30 AEST
Last modified on Mon 6 Jun 2022 03.31 AESTTwelve years after the introduction of My Health Record, Australians are struggling to access their medical information, while clinicians report frustrating difficulties uploading and finding vital health details such as pathology results and diagnostic tests.
The latest annual report from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows just 2.69 million of the 23 million people registered for a My Health Record accessed it in 2020-21. While this is an increase of 14% from the previous year, it was largely driven by people accessing Covid-19 vaccination records and Covid-19 test results.
The chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum (CHF), Leanne Wells, said while upgrades to My Health Record to include access to vaccination information and Advanced Care Plans were welcome, day-to-day health records from consultations, emergency department visits, hospital discharges, pathology, and diagnostic testing were still missing from many records. This is despite more than $2bn being spent on the system since it launched in 2012.
These items represent the vital health information that should be shared between health service providers, however, consumers report that their expectations are not met when these are not visible, or are only visible on supply from some, but not all, providers,” Wells said.
“CHF research on consumer experiences with digital health … reveals that consumers have high levels of willingness to share their health information with and between health care providers.
“However, the lack of sharing and access to relevant health information causes frustration and concerns about safety and quality of care.”
Wells said health providers were simply not uploading these documents. She said uploading records was not always straightforward and clinicians, especially GPs, had consistently raised issues about the system design.
A PhD candidate with Monash University’s school of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Alex Mullins, led research into physicians’ and pharmacists’ use of My Health Record in the emergency department.
“From my research we know that My Health Record is a valuable tool for pharmacists,” she said.
“Over 18% of patients who present to the ED are having their record accessed by pharmacists.
“Clinicians are seeing benefits in using the system, which may explain why there has been a significant increase in use by ED doctors, nurses and pharmacists over the past two years.”
But overall use is still low, she found. Mullins’ analysis of hospital log data revealed less than 2% of patients who present to the emergency have their My Health Record accessed by a doctor or nurse.
Challenges to date have included many clinicians failing to see benefits of My Health Record use.
Mullins said some clinicians need further training on accessing the records, and that incomplete information in the patient record also meant the information was not always useful.
When outdated or irrelevant information is included in the record, this could also lead to trust issues, Mullins said. Some hospitals also have their own record systems which clinicians find easier to access, she said.
More here:
Well worth a read and fits with my earlier blog yesterday – comments welcome!
David.
2 comments:
Not only is hardly anyone using MyHR, even fewer are getting any benefit and the government is not getting the enormous savings that were predicted in the original business case and repeated when it was made opt-out.
The fact that this white elephant is still chewing up money is a failure in governance, mostly by the political party that claims to be "the better economic managers"
The MyHR is an embarrassment first and a total waste of time, effort and money second. It is being propped up by fake news, exaggerations and wishful thinking.
The MyHR should be an easy target for the new government. Nobody (apart from those with their snouts in the public trough) would miss it and the money could be directed to nurses in the public and aged care systems where it would be more usefully employed and appreciated.
“Over 18% of patients who present to the ED are having their record accessed by pharmacists.
“… overall use is still low, she found. Mullins’ analysis of hospital log data revealed less than 2% of patients who present to the emergency have their My Health Record accessed by a doctor or nurse.”
There is a huge difference between accessing MYHR and a clinician or pharmacist getting value from it.
It looks as though some clinicians and pharmacists have built into their protocol a MYHR look-up just in case there is something useful.
This
“Challenges to date have included many clinicians failing to see benefits of My Health Record use.”
Suggest that there is not much benefit.
Post a Comment