Push to unify e-health records in Oz

July 15, 2009:A proposed national e-health record platform for Australia promises to ensure patients have access to more expedient and better informed medical treatment, according to Ian Chalmers chief executive of industry body Medicines Australia.

Welcoming this week's decision by the Australian Health Ministers' Conference to move towards establishing a secure national e-health system, Chalmers said patients and healthcare professionals would be the big winners.

"If healthcare professionals understand what treatments a patient has received and what medications have been previously prescribed and dispensed, they will be much better placed to determine quickly the most appropriate treatment option.

"This initiative goes to the core of Quality Use of Medicines. An e-health record will help ensure doctors and other health professionals prescribe the right medicine to the right patient at the right time and at the right dose. "This is a significant step in ensuring medicines are used correctly and avoiding adverse outcomes through the misuse of prescription medicines."

The Australian Health Ministers’ Conference has announced that national consultations are set to begin on the legislative framework to underpin the governance, privacy and agreed uses for national healthcare identifier numbers essential to a secure national e-health system.

National consultations are set to begin on the legislative framework to underpin the governance, privacy and agreed uses for national healthcare identifier numbers essential to a secure national e-health system.

Healthcare Identifiers are unique numbers that will be given to all healthcare providers, healthcare centres and healthcare consumers to synchronise patient information between the myriad of private and government healthcare providers and systems.

The Australian Health Ministers’ Conference claims there is a clear link between avoidable patient deaths and poor medical records management.

It is investigating a proposal to allocate all Australian residents an Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) to support better communication between healthcare providers involved in patient treatment – but no patient will be forced to use it to access any health service.

The IHI service will be managed initially by Medicare Australia. This will be separate to its funding and claims functions. The IHI will not replace a patient’s Medicare number, which is used for claiming government healthcare benefits.

The IHI service will hold only enough information to clearly identify the person. No clinical information or medical records will be stored in the IHI service and an IHI will not need to be declared for an individual to receive healthcare.

The Australian Health Ministers’ Conference will consult with industry stakeholders during July and a discussion paper detailing the legislative framework can be accessed online at www.health.gov.au/eHealth/consultation.

The discussion paper notes that "25 per cent of a clinician’s time is spent collecting information. Current health information systems are disjointed which often results in healthcare providers operating with incomplete or incorrect information"

It expects the HI Service will be operational by mid 2010 although "discussions between governments about a national privacy framework across all jurisdictions and its implementation may not be completed by that time"Mr Chalmers said a national e-health record would also provide an important opportunity to deliver an advantage to Australia's extensive clinical trial capability. "There is an opportunity to capture greater value from an e-health record system by ensuring the system also provides remote access to the medical records of trial participants in Australia who have consented to such use of their details. "Remote access to trial data would remove geographical barriers to participation in clinical trials.

"This would shorten the time taken to complete clinical trials in Australia and would therefore improve Australia's attractiveness as a destination for global investment in clinical research.

"Medicines Australia has long argued for a national e-health system. I congratulate the Australian Health Ministers' Conference for taking forward this initiative.

"It is important that all stakeholders have the opportunity to consider this proposal carefully. I look forward to engaging with the Health Ministers during the consultation period."