David.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
This Was The Last Day You Could Have Opt-Ed Out From The #myHealthRecord If You Wanted To.
Do not delay if you want out...but you now have until January 31, 2019!
David.
David.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
This Is The Most Considered Commentary On The #myHealthRecord From A Clinician Perspective – And It Comes From A Guru In the Field.
Dr. Sam Heard published this last
week. You may want to read and opt-out!
It’s not My Health Record, it’s Yours
Published on November
4, 2018
I
am a general practitioner and a long standing proponent of electronic health
records but I am going to opt out of the Australian Government’s My Health
Record (MyHR). This will, for the first time in history, create health
records which are not under the custodianship of health professionals. This
will be done without the person’s consent. I consider this to be dangerous.
I
may opt in when I can see advantage for me, and that will be when it really is
MY Health record. I work in a context where many people use the shared record
and both they and we are grateful. But they understand what is going on and
have consented. It was a local thing. Now it is out of control. Literally, out
of your hands.
Whose Health Record?
Health
records have only been personal for a hundred years or so; before that they
were daily logs in hospital wards or outpatients. GPs have been keeping
reasonably comprehensive individual health records for many years with letters
to and from hospitals and specialists, pathology and radiology results, and
progress notes – which are the GPs’ reports of the interaction with that
person. General Practitioners, with your funding, have generated this resource.
Who sees the Value?
As
health care has got more complicated this comprehensive record has become more
valuable. In view of this, and the fact that patients move and change their
GPs, society has legislated that a person should be able to get a copy of their
record and give it to their new GP. If that record is electronic (which is
almost always the case these days) you would hope that they might be able to
receive it over the internet and incorporate it into the new doctor’s software.
It may seem unbelievable, but it usually comes on paper! Even when the same
software is used by the practices at each end! If not paper then it will be
“electronic paper” as a fax, a pdf or html. I received a ‘wodge’ of paper from
a nearby GP’s dot matrix printer when I first went into practice nearly 40
years ago. It wouldn’t fit into my folder as the size was not standardised.
Despite a lifetime of work to create a standard health record format, (known as openEHR) that could outlive systems and
software, I still get paper and faxes. Never a record we can incorporate into
our software.
Ownership or Access?
Ownership
of health records, particularly electronic health records, is ambiguous. The
simplest axiom is to accept that it is the property of the person who is the
subject of that record and the set of authors of that record. The subject of
the record (or their guardian) can give access to whoever they want. It
has not
to this point been the government’s health record in any
sense, but MyHR starts to blur that boundary.
In
fact, MyHR supposes that the government is a better curator of your health
record than your GP or some other provider who is attempting to meet your
health interests. In the absence of standardisation, there is always pressure
to centralise. Although this is attractive to bureaucrats it is fraught with
many problems, most of which we have not yet faced.
Is it Accurate or Complete?
There
is another change that has taken place: public concern about the accuracy of
digital records – health or otherwise. Giving people access to their digital health
records is a check and balance on the completeness and accuracy of these
records and is helpful if people have concerns (and know how to access them).
Patients in some parts of the world can look at their doctor’s records on line
– and show them to others. It is rare that they can add to them, but there is
increasing interest in co-production of health information between health
professionals and the person themselves. This will allow entry of measurements
such as blood sugar and blood pressure, logs of exercise and perhaps the fact
that they have stopped or not taken prescribed medication or have started a
treatment they did not get from a health professional. After all, only people
themselves can know what medications they are taking or have stopped.
Dangers of a Single National Database
Hacking
“If
it is on the internet, you probably need to see it as public at some time in
the future”, a speaker at a security conference said to me recently. The
ex-foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, said the same thing on Tomorrow Tonight on
the ABC last week. Wow, that goes against the grain. Why is MyHR a particular
risk?
The
larger and the more centralised a data repository, the higher the risk of
security breaches. The ransom to unlock a hacked national database is likely to
be many millions of dollars so it is very attractive. It is certainly true that
a very high level of security is possible for such a monster database but
governments will never have the resources that a company like Facebook has to
spend on security; and yet 50 million Facebook records were recently hacked.
That is twice as many as can possibly be in MyHR. There is an even more
important risk to security in health care. Health care is now the biggest
employer in most settings involving more than 1.5m
people. Your relatives and personal adversaries are likely to work in
health care or know someone who does. They are actually insiders –
administrative and clinical people who have access. By contrast to MyHR, a GP
practice has a very small database largely unknown to an outside agency and it
is relatively secure as risks are local and more likely to be known. But the
safest place for you to keep your entire health record may be with a special
agency who could do that for you safely. Or be enabled to hold it yourself with
an encrypted backup. Hospitals and GPs have been doing this by default. You
probably have some old films or reports around. But to have agencies like this
we need far more standard approaches than are available.
Making Corrections
Once
information is in the national database it will be inordinately more difficult
to remove and correct it than when it is only stored locally. We are not known
to the government. Inevitably, and many (hundreds? of) times a day, health
professionals will write in the wrong person’s record and save it to MyHR. This
may sound neglectful, but it is difficult to prevent completely. Once that
information is pushed up to the national health record it needs to be removed.
The real problem is, it is not in your health record, and someone who doesn’t
look at their health record might have it in theirs for years, or forever.
Health
records can get all sorts of stuff in them. Junk, errors, value laden
non-sense. A GP I worked with when I was younger described a person as a
“psychopath” in the health summary of the then paper record. This label may
have been accurate at some point but was clearly not when I asked her about it
years later. Another had “IQ 57” in her problem list. Computers bring further
problems with accuracy. A patient in a practice where I work was administered
“paracetamol” (an analgesic or pain killer) and then, due to lack of care, the
nurse classified the encounter and chose “analgesic nephropathy” from the list
of codes from a list presented after typing “analge”. Problematic entries like
these make it more difficult for people to navigate the health system without
prejudice or inappropriate treatment. These problems are very easy to correct
locally where the client and clinician are known but very difficult and time
consuming when it is anonymous.
Curating your Health Record
Currently,
if you want a mortgage you will usually have to agree to the lender getting
information from your GP. Some GPs fall for the lender’s request to forward the
entire record; something they do not have the right to do without your explicit
consent. I have not had one patient agree, when consulted, to send the entire
record to the insurance company. A considered report of key information is what
is required. It takes time and responsibility. But the situation may be
considerably worse if you have a MyHR. You can understand in the light of this
why the government has said earlier this year that it is inevitable that
insurance companies will get access to MyHR in the future, as people want to
get mortgages. Personal access control will not stop insurance companies
legitimately requesting access before providing a loan. GPs currently vet the
request and the health record, withholding sensitive and potentially
confidential information that bears no relation to health risk in the future
while providing information that allows assessment of risk pertinent to the
insurer’s decision. This will include data such as cancer diagnoses, blood
pressures, weights, smoking status, waist circumference and other measures that
are associated with shorter life expectancy. In the case of MyHR, who will
consider the interests of the patient?
Who Benefits from a Centralised Health Record?
There
is really no evidence to date that a national health record repository will
make any major difference to care and outcomes although it has been
particularly important in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory. Having
access to accurate information about people as they move about the health
system is likely to be beneficial, particularly if you are mobile. But it has
to be trusted and complete in relevant aspects to be useful. While many people
who are mobile or have major illness will benefit from the sharing of health
information, it is unlikely to make a major difference to standards of care as
this information is already sought in most instances, or available in
correspondence. Very up-to-date prescribing will probably have some utility at
this scale.
So
how can it be argued that consent is not required? I am very happy for people
to ‘opt in’ once they believe that they will benefit and I am sure there are
many people who will. The risk of privacy breaches, of inaccurate or incorrect
information being recorded and the lack of curation will be balanced for some.
They and their health providers will have access to information at the point of
care around the country. The costs and risks demand our consent; it must
not be assumed.
Further,
government agencies will undoubtedly have access for what are deemed to be
‘honorable purposes’ by governments of the day. Again, I think we should
have to consent to specific secondary purposes, understand the need for
completeness of information, and the potential benefits to us or others from
the involvement in some way. This is unlikely to occur on a repository of this
scale.
Is
making participation in the national health record repository involuntary the
best solution? The shift to “Opt out” means you get one if you take no action.
That is not respecting a person as a citizen.
Why would I want to Opt Out?
Being involved as Citizens and not Consumers
We
are now consumers and we consume healthcare at an alarming rate. Never mind the
over-treatment, the over-diagnosis – the more we get the better. That works
politically up to a point…happy consumers. But there are consequences to this
consumption apart from the waste. If we have been prescribed antidepressants
for a normal reaction to the loss of a loved one, or had an ECG for chest pain
that shows some ambiguous changes, or have a high blood pressure reading
because we are frightened and full of adrenaline, the content of our record
damns us in the future. It does so unnecessarily, as we actually have no health
problem, but in a way we cannot control. Consider the possible
consequences. Higher insurance premiums perhaps, more unnecessary tests because
the next doctor is anxious or a persistent shadow of mental illness or suicide
risk and difficulty getting travel insurance? The problem with our health
information is that it is a threat to our autonomy. If people have certain
information about us they can legitimately act on that basis, and defend it legally.
To be citizens and partake in society as autonomous individuals we must guard
our health information closely.
What Happens with Dr. Shonky, Stays with Dr Shonky.
When
an incorrect record is created in a shonky ’emergency clinic’ stating that we
had ‘pneumonia
requiring a major course of potent antibiotics for 14 days because it did not
respond to the first course‘ rather than a more likely diagnosis in
a fit person of ‘a viral lower respiratory infection‘ it stays in
that small emergency department. No one else knows. The more mobile you
are, the more you see different practitioners, the more you find free and
easily available services, the more your MyHR will be promoted as ‘valuable’
and the more full of noise it will become. There is little or no value in this
information, especially when compared to a comprehensive letter from a
specialist general practitioner or physician, whom you know well, providing
information relevant to the problem you want solved to another practitioner you
are going to see.
Less
educated people will be dealt the worst hand here and stories will slowly get
to the press – wrong diagnoses, wrong treatment and occasional major harm.
The Special Case of Children
I
am particularly concerned about children. Parents have persuaded government
that they have the right to access to their children’s MyHR. This sounds
reasonable. However, it is very rarely that children will benefit from having a
shared record as they are usually robust. I do accept that there are complex
paediatric situations where parents are likely to opt in and they and their
child will benefit.
However,
in the new nightmare, children will ALL have a record. Now, in this dystopian
future, consider the plight of the adolescent who is seeking contraception to
prevent pregnancy. After the age of 14, adolescents will be able to turn off
parental access to their health record. But will they even be aware of the
existence of this thing? Will Dr Shonky understand the implications of adding
certain information to MyHR? Most troubling is that the adolescent will
not be able to turn off access without parents being aware of this. How many
Adverse Childhood Events are going to arise because of the MyHR? The world is
not the middle class playing field that people working for government in
Canberra experience. What are the future consequences for children with hostile
or neglectful parents who seek care? I have heard that school visits have been
ceased by one practice because of parental access to records.
Is there a Utopian Future?
I
would like to offer some examples of health records that I think could meet our
needs, and by using the word ‘our’, I mean citizens and clinicians.
For
the young, IT savvy person who is most concerned about privacy, I would propose
an individual health record on their phone and backed up onto the cloud
maintained by a regulated cooperative agency. The health record would be
composed of transactions with different health providers, potentially in
different countries and even in different languages. This does require
standardised export from health professionals and hospital systems and a
means of access to a person’s health record but it is quite possible. There are
technologies now available that can be used to validate such records, enabling
the person to have a fully validated health record despite no one else having a
copy of it.
The
next level of control for citizens is where the health record is held by a
number of providers in a range of settings. Some information is likely to be
aggregated in one place by their provider of choice, but this service would be
paid for and the person able to move some or all of the record to another
provider. This model would involve EhrBanks, trusted aggregators and qualified
custodians of health information. These companies would hold some of the
information and links to other records on other systems. The links can access
and be able to pull down all the source records if required.
The
EhrBank companies would ideally be non-profit and allow individuals to consent
to ‘secondary’ use of their health information for specific purposes. A
representative group of clients could agree to use of data for research or
other proven benefits.
In
this future, I would see a national health record, but only for people moving
long distances and not having providers that were grouped geographically or
organisationally. You might just have your allergies there and your
prescriptions if that was of benefit.
Summary
This change to MyHR has
led to more than one million people choosing to ‘opt out’. I am concerned for
the people who have not had the chance to grapple with the consequences. I
believe that Australians should opt out of MyHR if:
1)
they believe that unknown people having access to their health information is
more of a concern than health professionals not having access to it
2)
their health record holds information that could damage them in the future
2)
they are under 18 (involving parents opting out their children at birth)
For
those who want to opt out, it might be time to consider an open platform that
allows a range of solutions to meet people’s needs, while ensuring control.
There are some budding examples.
Here is the link:
Frankly I have little to add. Sam's emphasis on real consent and the utility of shared records when properly done in the Aboriginal community are more than worth noting.
Read carefully and make up your
mind.
David.
Minister Greg Hunt Has Confirmed New #myHealthRecord Opt-Out Period End Date 31 January 2019
A win for many I believe!
What a magnificent backdown from a doomed and pretty tin-eared minister!
David.
What a magnificent backdown from a doomed and pretty tin-eared minister!
David.
Opt-Out Period has Been Extended For #myHealthRecord To January 31, 2019
The full Senate has endorsed a Motion from Senator Hansen for the approx 10 week extension.
Will provide time for further discussion etc.
David.
Will provide time for further discussion etc.
David.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Commentators and Journalists Weigh In On The MyHR Debate And Related Matters. Lots Of Interesting Perspectives - Week 17.
Note: I have excluded (or marked out) any commentary taking significant funding from the Agency or the Department of Health on all this to avoid what amounts to paid propaganda. (e.g. CHF, RACGP, AMA, National Rural Health Alliance etc. where they were simply putting the ADHA line – viz. that the myHR is a wonderfully useful clinical development that will save huge numbers of lives at no risk to anyone – which is plainly untrue) (This signifies probable ADHA Propaganda)
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Rushed My Health Record changes still missing the point
The Australian government seems obsessed with pushing everyone into its centralised digital health records system before they've even finished working out the rules. Why is that?
The latest round of changes to My Health Record announced on Wednesday address a few important community concerns, sure, but they fail to address the key structural problems.
Strengthening the safeguards in cases of domestic violence: excellent. Banning employers from requesting and using private health information: also excellent. Banning health information being released to insurers, even if de-identified: excellent once again.
A surprise win is the declaration that My Health Record is a "critical piece of national health infrastructure operating for the benefit of all Australians". The government won't be able to delegate its functions outside the Department of Health or Medicare.
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Denham Sadler
November 8, 2018
Govt caves to Labor MHR demands
Health
Greg Hunt: Signalling additional amendments to MHR legislation
The federal government will introduce further amendments to the My Health Record system, caving to a number of the recommendations from the Labor-led Senate inquiry.
But the government will not extend or suspend the opt-out period for MHR, which ends before the legislative changes are passed and guaranteed.
Health minister Greg Hunt said on Wednesday that further amendments would be tacked onto the government’s legislation amending the My Health Record system, which is currently before the Senate.
The amendments would increase the penalties for misuses of a MHR, strengthen security to protect people against domestic violence and restrict access to employers and insurers.
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Case study: What can we learn from Australia’s My Health Record experience?
Australia’s My Health Record initiative is big on vision, but has stalled in the implementation phase. Facing public distrust over data privacy, what can the program tell us about the opportunities and challenges of implementing an electronic health record in a complex healthcare market?
The benefits of electronic health records (EHRs) are clear. Many patients resent having to repeat their history to every healthcare professional they see. Money is wasted in duplicating diagnostic tests performed before hospital admission that are then repeated on admission, or where the results are not available when required. Emergency care can be compromised due to lack of accessible information.
Digitization can also provide a platform for further enhancements in care delivery, including implementation of evidence-based electronic care paths between primary and secondary (hospital) care, built on improved transfer of information between different healthcare teams. Patient engagement in his or her own care can also be improved through EHRs, potentially enhancing health literacy. Decision-support systems and artificial intelligence – which could improve safety and patient outcomes – could also be applied to an EHR in a way that would be impossible with current paper-based systems.
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MyHealth opt-out deadline looms, privacy concerns remain
By Melissa Clarke on AM
Download 1.74 MB
The deadline for Australians to opt-out of having an electronic health record created is less than a week away, but privacy protections promised by the Federal Government are yet to be legislated.
The Opposition is calling for the opt-out period to be extended until they are.
Some cross-bench senators want even more stringent safeguards.
But the Government says the system has been operating on a voluntary basis for years without any problems.
Duration: 3min 48sec
Broadcast: Sat 10 Nov 2018, 8:14am
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What you need to know about my health record
Health Consumers Queensland supports all health consumers to make informed decisions about their healthcare. My Health Record is a significant change in the way healthcare is delivered. Health Consumers Queensland believes there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation about My Health Record. The purpose of this special edition of eNews is to provide a summary of key points consumers might consider when making the decision whether to opt out or not, references to further sources of information, and some questions that may guide consumers through the decision making process.
We hope this information supports your decision-making about My Health Record.
- What is My Health Record?
- How do you decide whether to opt out or not?
- Some factors to consider
- Security settings and privacy
- Your ability to maintain an online record
- Young people
- Domestic and family violence
- Sensitive health issues or life circumstances
- Government access to your records
- Secondary use of data
- Those most likely to benefit
- How binding is my decision?
- There is so much information about My Health Record. How can I be sure that what I’m reading is reliable?
- Making a decision
- How do I opt out?
- Further information
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My Health Record's privacy chief quits, amid claims agency 'not listening'
By Ben Grubb
9 November 2018 — 4:00pm
The director of privacy at the agency behind My Health Record has quit, Fairfax Media can reveal, amid claims the organisation and Health Minister Greg Hunt have not been taking seriously enough the concerns of the agency’s internal privacy experts.
The resignation of the Australian Digital Health Agency’s director of privacy Nicole Hunt last month comes at a crucial time for the agency, which has faced criticism over its security and privacy policies, as it prepares to automatically enrol all Australians into having the online digital health file unless they opt out by November 15.
Ms Hunt has worked in roles across federal and state governments, including at the NBN, NSW Police, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The ADHA refused to confirm the resignation despite Ms Hunt's LinkedIn profile showing she now works in privacy at ANZ Bank.
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Greg Hunt refuses to give My Health Record update as MPs push to extend opt-out period
Reports of lengthy phone waits and hotline systems crash suggest many people opting out in final weeks
Fri 9 Nov 2018 04.00 AEDT Last modified on Fri 9 Nov 2018 04.02 AEDT
A spokeswoman for Greg Hunt says about 4% of Australians had opted out as of October when the government had anticipated an opt-out rate of 10%. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
The health minister, Greg Hunt, and the Australian Digital Health Agency have refused to give an update on how many Australians have opted out of the My Health Record system.
All Australians who have not opted out by 15 November will have a My Health Record automatically created in their name, sparking fears from privacy experts that the public has not had sufficient time to opt out as demand increases before the looming deadline.
Although the government has bipartisan support for a range of new safeguards first recommended by Labor, the opposition is considering a plan to move an amendment to extend the opt-out period when legislation comes before the Senate next week.
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The opt-out period should be extended and My Health Record properly evaluated
The Australian Privacy Foundation fully supports recent calls by the Opposition Parties, Dr Kerryn Phelps, lawyers, clinicians, educators and others to extend the period when people can opt-out of being registered for a government owned and controlled My Health Record.
There is obvious broad disquiet and substantive community concern: over a million people have opted out; there have been reports of recurrent crashes of the opt-out web site and helpdesk; and the number of people wanting to opt-out seems to have jumped, in line with the recent increased publicity.
This disquiet and concern can largely be attributed to the paucity of information about the opt-out campaign and the lack of balanced information of My Health Record on the government’s websites which only spruik claimed benefits. People have not been given all the information they need on which to make an informed decision.
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My Health Record opt out deadline looms
07/11/2018 / 11:33
#tech6PR6PR Chris Ilsley 6PR Perth Tonight Andrew Bycroft Cyber Resilience Institute cyber security My Health Record
The deadline to opt out of My Health Record is looming, so we ask cyber-security expert Andrew Bycroft, CEO of the Cyber Resilience Institute, what all the fuss is about.
Download this podcast here
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Millions of Australians yet to opt out of 'My Health' record system
Sunrise November 6, 2018 9:56AMTopics
Millions of Australians are yet to opt out of the 'My Health' record system despite warnings over privacy concerns.
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GPs warn children's privacy at risk under My Health online system
By Felicity Ogilvie on PM
Download 1.98 MB
The Government is under pressure to change the rules surrounding the My Health online Record so that teenagers have a greater say over who can see their confidential health information.
A GP who has spent 10 years treating teenagers in a school in Hobart says he is pulling out for fear that their issues of mental health and sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy prevention will be leaked to their parents via the My Health site.
The Federal government has moved to strengthen the privacy of adults' data, but it's yet to say what it's going to do about children.
Duration: 4min 18sec
Broadcast: Tue 6 Nov 2018, 6:48pm
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8th Nov 2018
System crashes as My Health opt-out deadline nears
Author: Janelle Ward
When the opt-out period for My Health Record (MHR) opened on 20 July, suddenly it seemed the whole nation cared strongly one way or the other. So much so that the three-month window to opt out was extended to four months to allow extra time for debate.
That window is set to close next week, with calls for another extension falling on deaf eras, and the pressure on the opt-out helpline in recent days has reportedly been immense.
If you want to opt out, go to this government website link.
The aim of MHR makes sense – to allow you and your healthcare providers immediate digital access to your medical history. Emergency treatment can be administered with far more certainty if medical staff are aware of any issues.
The fears? That a wealth of personal information might be hacked, that privacy is not guaranteed and that agencies permitted to access data could pass on sensitive information.
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Amendments Strengthen The Safety And Privacy Of The My Health Record
AMA President, Dr Tony Bartone, said today that the AMA supports the Government’s proposed amendments to the My Health Record Act, which address concerns raised by the AMA, especially around privacy, confidentiality, and access by insurers.
Dr Bartone said the AMA had worked closely with Minister Hunt and the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to make changes that will provide greater confidence in the security of the Record for doctors and patients.
“We initially worked with the Government on a first draft of the Bill to fix the concerns about warrant access, and to allow people to delete their record, which gives them the practical ability to opt-out at any time should they choose,” Dr Bartone said.
“These amendments are now in the Bill.
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Sydney Health Ethics considers the ‘ins and outs’ of My Health Record
Dr Cynthia Forlini, Research Fellow (editor)
By 15 November 2018, Australians with Medicare coverage will have to decide whether they want to opt out of My Health Record (MHR), an online centralized summary of personal health information. If they have not opted out before then, an electronic health record will be automatically created. Those, like me, who are enrolling in Medicare as adults or even on behalf of children, will have the chance to opt in through the medicare enrolment form. Whichever scenario applies, MHR gives us pause for thought about our health and the significance and meaning of the data it generates.
By 15 November 2018, Australians with Medicare coverage will have to decide whether they want to opt out of My Health Record (MHR), an online centralized summary of personal health information. If they have not opted out before then, an electronic health record will be automatically created. Those, like me, who are enrolling in Medicare as adults or even on behalf of children, will have the chance to opt in through the medicare enrolment form. Whichever scenario applies, MHR gives us pause for thought about our health and the significance and meaning of the data it generates.
How are people deciding whether to have a MHR, or not? An analysis of the public-facing content of the MHR website showed that the reading level is too high for the general Australian population, which could limit accessibility for those with low literacy levels and difficulty communicating in English. A recent qualitative study reports that a sample of Australian women registered for MHR based on the benefits of having a digital health record that could be accessed by multiple providers but these benefits did not transpire in practice. These findings raise questions about whether Australians are accessing all the necessary information to make decisions about MHR, but also their expectations for how MHR might benefit their healthcare.
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Break-in at the memory bank
- 12:00AM November 8, 2018
It’s 2050 and you’re taking your medication. You swallow some antibiotics and, for good measure, your digitally enhanced brain downloads an antivirus update to ensure its health, too.
This sounds farcical, but it seems cyber security companies are readying for this day. They want you to entrust your digitally enhanced brain of the future to their care.
Last month, cyber security firm Kaspersky and the Oxford University Functional Neurosurgery Group produced a joint paper on the advancing science of deep brain stimulation, which involves delivering electrical impulses.
They suggest DBS may not only treat movement and neuropsychiatric disorders but also could supplement and enhance human memory.
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Pressure to extend health record opt-out
Greg Hunt is under pressure to extend the My Health Record opt-out period. (AAP)
The federal government is facing calls to extend the opt-out period for My Health Record, after announcing a swag of changes to the online records system.
8 November, 2018
Australians have a week left to opt-out of the nation's controversial online medical records system, with the federal government revealing plans for further changes to protect its data.
But the coalition is under pressure to extend the opt-out period beyond November 15, until the changes have been properly dealt with by parliament.
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday announced the government would pursue harsher penalties for those who misuse the system.
People found guilty of improper use of My Health Record would face up to five years in jail, instead of two, and the maximum fine would more than double to $315,000.
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More changes to My Health Record
The government will be introducing further amendments to MHR, including protections for people fleeing domestic violence and tougher penalties for misuse
Health Minister Greg Hunt has announced the government will be introducing further amendments to the My Health Record legislation.
Comprising a second round of amendments, these changes include increased penalties for improper use of My Health Record – with the maximum criminal penalty increasing from two to five years’ jail, and an increase in maximum fines for individuals from $126,000 to $315,000.
Proposed provisions will also aim to ensure that a person cannot be the authorised representative of a minor in the My Health record system if they have restricted access to the child, or may pose a risk to the child – or a person associated with the child.
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Privacy protections bolstered for My Health system
By Stephanie Borys on The World Today
Download 1.90 MB
The Government has announced changes to the My Health system, as the opt out deadline edges closer.
Labor has welcomed the announcement but says Australians should be given longer to decide on whether they want a digital health record.
Duration: 4min 9sec
Broadcast: Wed 7 Nov 2018, 12:25pm
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ANZ reckons people power will push My Health Record data to insurers
By Julian Bajkowski on Nov 7, 2018 11:15PM
Reveals underwriting engine overhaul with UTS.
Insurers facing imminent legislative exclusion from ever accessing My Health Record data – de-identified or otherwise – are optimistic policyholders could soon proactively volunteer information on themselves to find the most appropriate coverage at the best price.
It might sound like a fantasy dreamt-up in a privacy parallel universe.
But at ANZ Wealth’s underwriting division, the pricing hard heads doing the numbers on risk reckon if the trust battle with the public can be won, there will be improvements for customers and businesses alike.
OK, so it’s a big if… but being able to trust banks and insurers again might be nice. Let's dare to dream for a moment.
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Insurers to be banned from accessing de-identified My Health Record data
Government backs further changes to My Health Record
The government plans to make a range of additional changes to the legislation governing the My Health Record system to help assuage privacy concerns, including banning insurers from participating in the ‘secondary use’ framework for access to de-identified data.
Health minister Greg Hunt in August introduced a bill that made a number of changes to the eHealth record system, including requiring police to obtain a warrant before accessing My Health Record data and allowing individuals to have their records deleted (currently, if an individual wishes to cancel their eHealth record access is removed but the data is retained).
The House of Representatives in September passed the My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018; the bill is currently before the Senate.
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MHR privacy to be further strengthened to prevent abuse of system
Amanda Lyons 7/11/2018 3:37:08 PM
Greg Hunt has announced legislative changes to the safety and privacy provisions of My Health Record.
The Federal Government has aimed to address further concerns about My Health Record and patient privacy with additional legislative amendments.
My Health Record has been the subject of much debate, with health professionals and patients expressing concern it will lead to breaches of sensitive health data.
These concerns were partially addressed earlier this year with tougher privacy provisions that enabled Australians to not just opt out of the system, but also cancel their records permanently.
But concerns remained, particularly in relation to vulnerable groups such as people experiencing family violence and teenagers, who may wish to shield certain health information from abusive partners or parents. Labor and the Australian Greens called for a Senate inquiry to explore these concerns, with its recommendations provided last month.
These concerns were partially addressed earlier this year with tougher privacy provisions that enabled Australians to not just opt out of the system, but also cancel their records permanently.
But concerns remained, particularly in relation to vulnerable groups such as people experiencing family violence and teenagers, who may wish to shield certain health information from abusive partners or parents. Labor and the Australian Greens called for a Senate inquiry to explore these concerns, with its recommendations provided last month.
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RACGP releases new guide to improving the quality of health records
Doug Hendrie 7/11/2018 2:10:04 PM
High-quality clinical data has a raft of benefits, from decision-making to medico-legal protection, according to Dr Rob Hosking.
eHealth expert Dr Rob Hosking believes a large part of ensuring quality patient data is ‘a matter of getting in the habit’.
Say the words ‘data’ and ‘quality’ together, and you would be forgiven if your eyes glazed over just a little.
But ensuring the data GPs input into their practice software is of high quality helps to support appropriate clinical decision-making and continuity of care. And good record-keeping is a vital part of medico-legal protection, according to Dr Rob Hosking, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee Practice Management and Technology.
‘Good record keeping is important for being able to defend yourself in a medico-legal case. Anyone who’s ever been in a medico-legal case will say, “I wish I’d written more”,’ he told newsGP.
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But ensuring the data GPs input into their practice software is of high quality helps to support appropriate clinical decision-making and continuity of care. And good record-keeping is a vital part of medico-legal protection, according to Dr Rob Hosking, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee Practice Management and Technology.
‘Good record keeping is important for being able to defend yourself in a medico-legal case. Anyone who’s ever been in a medico-legal case will say, “I wish I’d written more”,’ he told newsGP.
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My Health Record Changes Welcomed But Opt-Out Period Must Be Extended
Dr Kerryn Phelps has welcomed proposed changes to My Health Record announced by the Morrison Government today but has again called for an extension of the opt-out period until the changes can be properly dealt with by the Parliament.
Dr Phelps has raised significant concerns about privacy and security aspects of My Health Record, an electronic health records system into which around 17 million Australians will be automatically enrolled if they do not opt out by next Thursday.
Health Minister Greg Hunt today released a raft of possible changes, following pressure from doctors and other medical professionals, as well as a Senate Inquiry into the e-health records system.
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My Health Record: Hunt announces review of teen privacy settings
But the proposed changes will put children with serious health disorders at risk, say GPs
7th November 2018
The Federal Government will review whether parents should have automatic access to their child’s My Health Record once they’ve turned 14, amid concerns about protecting the privacy of teenagers.
Legislation underpinning the beleaguered billion-dollar system currently allows parents default access to the records of teens aged 14-17, unless the child actively changes privacy settings through the MyGov website.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt says the government will examine whether to change the rules.
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My Health Record: Greg Hunt to strengthen penalties for misusing patient data, addressing Senate's concerns
By political reporter Jane Norman
7 November, 2018
The Federal Government has announced further changes to its controversial My Heath Record system to reassure the public as the deadline to opt out of the digital database approaches.
Key points:
- The penalty for misusing patient records would increase from two years to five years in jail
- The maximum fine would more than double to $315,000
- The definition of parental responsibility will also be narrowed to protect victims of domestic violence
Health Minister Greg Hunt is resisting calls to suspend the roll-out of the scheme, and will instead propose a second round of amendments to the legislation currently before Parliament.
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More jail time, bigger fines for My Health Record misuse
- 12:00AM November 7, 2018
Tougher penalties for misuse of the My Health Record, rather than fundamental changes to the system design, will feature in the Morrison government’s final round of legislative amendments to the contentious scheme.
Amid lingering privacy and security concerns, and with only a week to go in the opt-out period, Health Minister Greg Hunt will today announce his intention to more than double the criminal and civil penalties associated with electronic medical records.
The maximum penalty for misusing or leaking information will increase from two years’ jail to five years’ jail, while the civil fine will increase from $126,000 to $315,000. The civil fine for failing to report a data breach will increase from $21,000 to $315,000, while other penalties and sanctions will also be increased.
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7 November 2018
Hunt bows to pressure over MHR safeguards
After bowing to demands for tighter safeguards in the My Health Record legislation, Health Minister Greg Hunt still faces calls to postpone the opt-out deadline that falls due next week.
The minister said today he had agreed to make the safeguard changes – which include tougher penalties for misuse of MHR data – in response to a Senate inquiry and “sensible and reasonable requests from medical authorities”.
The announcement came after a rush of people attempting to opt out of the troubled system reportedly caused a meltdown at the My Health Record call centre yesterday.
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https://inbox.news/newsroom/press-releases/4186/my-health-record-rescue-plan
Wed, Nov 7, 2018 12:39 PM
MY HEALTH RECORD RESCUE PLAN
CATHERINE KING
The Liberals are finally moving to clean up their My Health Record mess- by adopting Labor’s proposed changes - but they still need to act andextend the opt-out period.
This has been an absolute debacle and Australians need more time tounderstand the changes.
These changes have been made with only days left until the opt-out deadline closes.
The Liberals created this mess by shifting from an opt-in system to an opt-out system without making the necessary legislative fixes – and without explaining this fundamental change to the Australian people.
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Health Minister Greg Hunt boosts My Health Record 'misuse' penalty
By Dana McCauley
7 November 2018 — 11:36am
Health Minister Greg Hunt has unveiled long-awaited changes to the government's My Health Record legislation to address privacy concerns, protect young people and domestic violence victims.
The changes will include increased penalties - with fines more than doubling to $315,000, or up to five years’ jail - for those that misuse the e-health system.
The government will also conduct a review to consider whether it is appropriate that parents have default access to the records of children aged 14 to 17-years-old, after the founder of a free school
clinic said it was "too risky" to operate under the My Health Record system.
clinic said it was "too risky" to operate under the My Health Record system.
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My Health Record must have bipartisan support
MEDIA RELEASE: WEDNESDAY 7 NOVEMBER, 2018
The Consumers Health Forum has welcomed the Government’s proposed further reforms to the My Health Record legislation but has called for an extension of next week’s deadline for the full-scale introduction of MHR to give time for debate and settle the significant issues affecting public support of the new system.
“The increased penalties, stronger safeguards against domestic violence, new protections against employers compelling employees to show their MHR and prohibition on use of MHR data by insurers are among several key improvements to the scheme,” the CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells, said.
“The My Health Record is so important to the future of Australia’s health care, it is vital its effective start-up is not overshadowed by uncertainty and political disputation.
“The period for people to opt out of MHR is currently set for November 15 which will make it difficult to completely examine the proposed amendments to legislation which now go well beyond the Government’s previous revisions which take steps to to ensure that law enforcement agencies can only access a record with a warrant or court order and to allow the permanent deletion of records of people opting out.
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Health Minister Greg Hunt to announce My Health Record changes
By Dana McCauley
6 November 2018 — 8:00pm
Health Minister Greg Hunt is poised to announce long-awaited changes to the government's My Health Record legislation to address privacy concerns, as call centre workers reported a last-minute rush to opt out of the controversial e-health system.
The minister, whose office is due to brief the federal opposition on the matter on Wednesday, has been under pressure to suspend the government's My Health Record rollout after a Senate inquiry recommended its enabling legislation be substantially rewritten to safeguard patient data.
A spokeswoman for Mr Hunt's office confirmed late on Tuesday that an announcement would be made shortly.
Key stakeholders were confident Mr Hunt would agree to six amendments demanded by Labor, including ensuring that My Health Record "can never be privatised or commercialised" and neither employer doctors nor private health insurers could access records - including de-identified data.
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My Health Record: Technical issue crashes phone helpline just days before opt-out deadline
Claire Bickers, National Political Reporter, News Corp Australia Network
November 6, 2018 11:44am
A HELPLINE to opt-out of the My Health Record system has crashed due to a technical issue just days before the cut-off date when records will be automatically created for all Australians.
A call centre operator confirmed to News Corp Australia this morning the system had crashed.
“It’s currently down at the moment,” she said.
“We can’t say how long it has been out but it is likely to be back in an hour’s time”.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt rejected reports the outage was due to a rush of calls as Australians flocked to opt-out before November 12.
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Region’s healthy regard for new service
RESIDENTS have less than two weeks to opt out of the automatic creation of an online health summary, set to be rolled out nationally this year.
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Labor urges MHR opt-out extension
The My Health Record helpline has reportedly crashed, days before the end of the opt-out period
And Shadow Health Minister Catherine King has again called on the Morrison Government to further extend this period beyond the deadline of Thursday, 15 November.
According to the Courier-Mail, the opt-out telephone helpline crashed on November 6, with a call centre operator confirming to News Corp Australia that the system was “currently down”.
“We can’t say how long it has been out but it is likely to be back in an hour’s time,” she said on Tuesday.
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It’s not My Health Record, it’s Yours
Published on November 4, 2018
I am a general practitioner and a long standing proponent of electronic health records but I am going to opt out of the Australian Government’s My Health Record (MyHR). This will, for the first time in history, create health records which are not under the custodianship of health professionals. This will be done without the person’s consent. I consider this to be dangerous.
I may opt in when I can see advantage for me, and that will be when it really is MY Health record. I work in a context where many people use the shared record and both they and we are grateful. But they understand what is going on and have consented. It was a local thing. Now it is out of control. Literally, out of your hands.
Whose Health Record?
Health records have only been personal for a hundred years or so; before that they were daily logs in hospital wards or outpatients. GPs have been keeping reasonably comprehensive individual health records for many years with letters to and from hospitals and specialists, pathology and radiology results, and progress notes – which are the GPs’ reports of the interaction with that person. General Practitioners, with your funding, have generated this resource.
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Quarterly Data Breach Report is in and again the numbers are up!
On 30 October 2018, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) published the third Notifiable Data Breaches Quarterly Statistics Report, which reported 245 breach notifications, up from the 242 for the June quarter.
It is interesting that the breakdown of causes of breaches is consistent with the last Report. The causes were:
- human error – 37 per cent (last quarter 36 per cent)
- malicious or criminal attack – 57 per cent (last quarter 59 per cent)
- system faults – six per cent (last quarter five per cent).
The Report noted that “Many cyber incidents this quarter appear to have exploited vulnerabilities involving a human factor (such as clicking on a phishing email or disclosing passwords).”
The Report provided a breakdown across key industry sectors, being:
- health service providers – 45 breaches
- finance – 35 breaches
- legal, accounting and management services – 34 breaches
- education – 16 breaches
- personal services (including employment, training and recruitment) – 13 breaches.
This ranking is consistent with the ranking in the last quarter.
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My Health Record opt-out system back online after crash
By Dana McCauley
6 November 2018 — 10:53am
The My Health Record opt-out helpline is up and running again after a system failure this morning, when centre workers said they had been "inundated" by those rushing to opt out before the deadline.
"The issue has now been resolved," a spokeswoman for the Australian Digital Health Agency told Fairfax Media.
Callers to the telephone opt-out service were told the system used by call centre operators had crashed on Tuesday morning, as Australians rushed to opt out of the controversial e-health system.
"We've been inundated with calls," one operator said. "They are working as quickly as possible to get it up and running again."
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My Health Record system crashes as Australians rush to opt out
By Dana McCauley
6 November 2018 — 10:53am
The My Health Record telephone opt-out service has overloaded and crashed as Australians rush to opt out of the controversial e-health system before the November 15 deadline.
Callers to the helpline are being told the computer system used by call centre operators has crashed.
"We've been inundated with calls," one operator said on Tuesday morning. "They are working as quickly as possible to get it up and running again."
One patient was advised to "try again later or tomorrow" and that the line would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Instant access to medical history a 'wonderful' success
by Maddelin McCosker ADHA Propaganda
5th Nov 2018 4:05 PM
FOR years, Brenda Klein carried all of her medical information in a briefcase with her to medical appointments and hospital visits.
At 78 years old, Ms Klein had 'many, many years' of medical history, examination history, medication lists and history plus discharge summaries.
After finding the My Health Record database, which stores all of her medical history in one place, Ms Klein was able to put her briefcase away for good.
"I think it is the most wonderful scheme,” she said.
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November 5 2018 - 8:41PM
Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network are reminding people of the My Health Record opt-out period
Jess Whitty ADHA Propaganda
The My Health Record is connected to 95 per cent of MPHN medial centres.
People across the Murrumbidgee are being reminded that there is less than two weeks left of the My Health Record opt-out period.
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