The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is calling for the Australian Government to increase usage of My Health Record by allied health practitioners with training and incentives.
The college also wants the Federal Government to overhaul My Health Record to make it fit-for-purpose for patients, GPs and other health professionals after a nationwide survey found 31% of GPs rarely or never use it.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said: “The other critical thing the government needs to do is increase usage among other specialists, allied health, paramedics, and other health services, such as with training and incentives.
“This is key, because we all need to be working together off the same medical records to get the best outcomes for our patients.”
She said the digital health record system needed 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,” Dr. Higgins said.
“Automation will also make it more useable, such as automating data capture from GP records when patients consent.”
Early findings from the RACGP’s annual Health of the Nation survey showed nearly one-third of GPs rarely or never use My Health Record. This came after a Productivity Commission report found the system was ‘plagued by incomplete records and poor useability,’ with less than 2% of documents being seen by GPs.
My Health Record is the national health data system which keeps key health information, available to patients and their healthcare providers anytime, including in an emergency.
“We’re calling for the Federal Government to overhaul My Health Record to improve its useability for Australians, GPs and other health professionals.,” Dr Higgins said.
“My Health Record can’t fulfill its potential to be the one-stop store for Australians’ health records without investment to improve its useability.
“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. However, this work must continue to be prioritised because it will have significant benefits for Australians, and our health system.”
Dr Higgins said that with improved useability, My Health Record would support better patient care, and better health for Australians.
“It will also make our health system more efficient and generate significant savings for the health budget – the Productivity Commission also estimated better use of electronic medical records systems can save up to $5.4 billion each year by reducing the time patients spend in hospital, and $355 million in duplicated tests in public hospitals,” she added.
“The potential savings in general practice and other health settings would also be substantial. 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.
