My
Health
Record
is
set
to
be
rebuilt
and
modernised,
and
primary
care
IT
infrastructure
uplifted,
via
a
major
government
investment
into
digital
healthcare.
The
upgrades
were
announced
late
last
week
to
coincide
with
the
release
of
a
report
[pdf]
by
the
Strengthening
Medicare
Taskforce.
Health
minister
Mark
Butler
said
this
year’s
budget
would
contain
funding
not
only
to
sustain
the
My
Health
Record
system
beyond
June
30,
but
to
significantly
upgrade
it.
“If
genuinely
it
is
going
to
be
the
centrepiece
of
a
connected
digital
health
system,
we
have
to
improve
its
functionality,”
he
said,
“Currently,
it’s
a
pretty
outdated,
clunky,
pdf
format
system
that
needs
to
be
able
to
underpin
a
real-time,
fully-integrated
digital
health
system.
“So
we
recognise
that
the
Commonwealth
has
the
first
responsibility
to
move
here
and
to
upgrade
the
nature
of
the
My
Health
Record.”
My
Health
Record
started
life
as
the
personally
controlled
electronic
health
record
(PCEHR)
in
mid-2012.
The
taskforce
recommended
in
its
report
that
the
system
be
“modernised”,
which
Butler
backed.
He
noted
that
the
fix
would
not
be
quick:
“[It’s]
going
to
take
a
significant
period
of
time
to
rebuild
the
My
Health
Record,
make
it
into
a
genuinely
2020
system
that
has
the
ability
to
underpin
real-time
integration
and
interface
between
patients
and
healthcare
providers.”
In
addition
to
reinvigorating
My
Health
Record,
the
government
intends
to
push
more
of
the
health
sector
–
beyond
general
practitioners
and
pharmacies
–
to
use
it.
He
said
only
11
percent
of
specialists
use
it,
and
only
one
in
five
diagnostic
image
results
is
uploaded
to
the
system.
“Time
and
time
again,
a
patient
goes
to
their
doctor,
talks
about
their
conditions,
and
their
tests
are
not
available
for
the
GP
to
look
at
and
use
as
part
of
their
diagnosis
and
treatment
decisions,”
Butler
said.
“We’ve
got
to
do
better
there.”
In
addition,
budget
funding
also
needs
to
be
found
to
create
better
connectivity
and
integration
between
clinical
information
systems.
“We
have
almost
countless
different
clinical
information
systems
operating
at
state
level,
Commonwealth
level,
and
in
different
parts
of
the
private
sector,
and
they
generally
don’t
talk
to
themselves
at
all
or,
if
they
do,
they
don’t
talk
to
themselves
very
well,”
Butler
said.
The
taskforce
recommended
connecting
health
data
“across
all
parts
of
the
health
system,
underpinned
by
robust
national
governance
and
legislative
frameworks,
regulation
of
clinical
software
and
improved
technology.”
It
also
sought
an
“uplift
in
primary
care
IT
infrastructure”.
The
report
laid
out
a
future
vision
“of
a
primary
care
system
where…
data
and
digital
technology
are
better
used
to
inform
value-based
care,
safely
share
critical
patient
information
to
support
better
diagnosis
and
healthcare
management,
empower
people
to
participate
in
their
own
health
care,
and
drive
insights
for
planning,
resourcing,
and
continuous
quality
improvement.”
About Author
