This appeared last week:
Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
GPs cry My Health Record 'overhaul' and more briefs
Also, Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand is set to launch a national programme ensuring cancer therapy adherence.
By Adam Ang
September 27, 2024 07:17 AM
Australian gov't urged to raise My Health Record funding
An organisation of general practitioners in Australia has called on the federal government to upgrade the country's digital health record system.
"We’re calling for the federal government to overhaul My Health Record to improve its useability for Australians, GPs, and other health professionals," said RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins in a statement.
This comes as RACGP found from the initial result of its annual survey that nearly a third of Australian GPs are rarely or not using My Health Record. More than 2,000 GPs are polled yearly in RACGP's Health of the Nation survey.
"My Health Record can’t fulfil its potential to be the one-stop store for Australians’ health records without investment to improve its useability," Dr Higgins stressed.
She insisted that My Health Record must capture more patient information and make it easier for GPs to search them, as well as ensure data interoperability and timely notification when patient records are updated. Dr Higgins also recommended implementing automation tools to make the system "more usable," particularly in capturing data from GP records.
Recently, the country's Productivity Commission found My Health Record "plagued by incomplete records and poor usability." Last year, the Strengthening Medicare Task Force also called for the modernisation of the "clunky" digital health records system.
Here is the link:
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/gps-cry-my-health-record-overhaul-and-more-briefs
Isn’t this just pathetic. If the Government has not worked out what the myHR needs to be after 12 years (it was initiated in 2012!) is there any chance insight and a purpose will suddenly drop from the sky?
And in the same week we have:
‘It’s a big job’: Doctors demand overhaul of $2b health data platform
Joseph Brookes
Senior Reporter
26 September 2024
Almost one in three doctors aren’t using a national patient record database despite more than a decade and $2 billion of development, leading to fresh calls this week for an overhaul that can deliver productivity gains and prepare the platform for automation.
Health minister Mark Butler says ongoing upgrades funded by the government in 2023 and 2024 will deliver a better My Health Record (MHR) and “rich insights” from patient data.
But he is facing pressure for an accelerated usability overhaul from the Royal Australian College of GPs, which have linked the struggles to rising out of pocket costs for patients.
“It needs to capture more information for patients and be easier for GPs to search. It should share information with GP practice software and notify GPs when patients records are updated to support patient care and safety,” RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said.
“Automation will also make it more useable, such as automating data capture from GP records when patients consent.”
‘Clunky’: Health Minister Mark Butler says not enough data is flowing through My Health Record
Despite having existed in some form since 2012 and controversially switching to an opt out model in 2019, use of MHR is patchy, while the underlying platform is plagued by incomplete records and poor usability
A Productivity Commission report in May said only two per cent of documents uploaded to MHR are being looked at by other doctors, with some seeing the platform as a “shoebox of PDFs”.
According to RACGP survey results published this week, 31 per cent of doctors rarely or never use it.
The Productivity Commission’s report estimated a $5.4 billion windfall from better use of electronic medical records around the country because it would reduce patients’ time in hospital, while automation and artificial intelligence could deliver even more.
“The potential savings in general practice and other health settings would also be substantial,” Dr Higgins said.
“This money could then be re-invested back into reducing out-of-pocket costs for patients to help in the current high cost of living climate.
“We’re calling for the federal government to overhaul My Health Record to improve its useability for Australians, GPs and other health professionals.
In response to findings from a 2023 taskforce, which included the RACGP, Mr Butler accepted the platform needed an overhaul. He followed up with a $429 million funding commitment in the next federal Budget, which was topped up in the latest Budget in May.
“My Health Record is now old technology,” Mr Butler said in a statement to InnovationAus.com on Thursday.
“It still uses the old PDF format that Labor installed when we were last in government. It was cutting edge then, but it’s clunky now.
“That’s why the Albanese government is upgrading My Health Record to transform it from a ‘PDF document system’ to a data rich platform to provide rich insights to consumers and health professionals.”
Behind the scenes, the Australian Digital Health Agency responsible for MHR has been transitioning away from a single vendor for the platform, Accenture.
The tech services giant has clashed with the agency while being paid $750 million to operate MHR after securing contracts that broke procurement rules.
The issues led to a move away from Accenture — which now represents one third of vendor costs for MHR, down from 100 per cent prior to 2021 — and prompted a wider consideration of insourcing national health platforms.
In the meantime, users of the platform are frustrated.
“It’s a big job to improve our flagship national health data system, and we recognise that the Australian Government and the Australian Digital Health Agency are taking steps to this end,” Dr Higgins said. “However, this work must continue to be prioritised because it will have significant benefits for Australians, and our health system.”
Here is the link:
https://www.innovationaus.com/its-a-big-job-doctors-demand-overhaul-of-2b-health-data-platform/
Isn’t this
just pathetic. If the Government has not worked out what the myHR needs to be
after 12 years (it was initiated in 2012!) is there any chance insight and a
purpose will suddenly drop from the sky? Also there is no evidence I can see the RACGP (or anyone else) has a clue what to do with it as well! Let us remember it costs millions of dollars per month and has never been proven to offer any real benefit!
I said it was a lemon in 2012 and it still is. Way past time to kill it off and spend the money on something useful!!!
David.
2 comments:
re:
"My Health Record can’t fulfil its potential to be the one-stop store for Australians’ health records without investment to improve its useability," Dr Higgins stressed.
She insisted that My Health Record must capture more patient information and make it easier for GPs to search them, as well as ensure data interoperability and timely notification when patient records are updated."
My Health Record is called that because it is intended for the person, not health practitioners.
The claim was that it enables people to "take charge of their health care".
Two things are now apparent.
1. Nobody knows what "take charge of their health care" means
2. Very few people want to "take charge of their health care"
The people have spoken,. Nobody wants it.
If the bureaucrats and health care practitioners want a system for health care providers to use, then My Health Record is not it, neither is it a starting point.
To be clear, the original architecture would have been close to the answer, but the original system was never built.
My Health Record is a magnificent example of the sunk cost fallacy. And would be an embarrassment to the Health Department to admit it.
At least its harmless, unlike RoboDebt and RoboNDIS, but it's the same culture:
The dangerous culture that created Robodebt and RoboNDIS
Marie Johnson
Innovation Aus
27 September 2024
https://www.innovationaus.com/the-dangerous-culture-that-created-robodebt-and-robondis/
Will all the purpose, policy and engineering changes over the years with questionable and conflicting drivers. As other have stated this is more a political tool than a health or consumer tool.
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