Closed: 31 August 2018
Originally launched in 2012 as the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR), My Health Record is Australia’s national eHealth record system. It is a repository for healthcare information that is accessed online by healthcare providers and healthcare consumers.
In 2017, the Australian Government announced that in 2018, every person with a Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) card who has not already registered for a My Health Record will automatically have one created for them, unless they choose to opt out of the system.
The RACGP position statement: My Health Record is available on the RACGP website.
On 15 August 2018, the Senate referred the My Health System to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry. The Committee have invited the RACGP to provide a written submission addressing aspects of My Health Record.
The RACGP is interested in understanding member’s use of, understanding of and concerns regarding, My Health Record. Members are invited to provide feedback on one or more of the issues outlined in the terms of reference below. Feedback will inform the RACGP submission to the Senate Committee.
The full terms of reference are:
- the expected benefits of the My Health Record system;
- the decision to shift from opt-in to opt-out;
- privacy and security, including concerns regarding:
- the vulnerability of the system to unauthorised access,
- the arrangements for third party access by law enforcement, government agencies,
researchers and commercial interests, and
- arrangements to exclude third party access arrangements to include any other party,
including health or life insurers;
- the Government’s administration of the My Health Record system roll-out, including:
- the public information campaign, and
- the prevalence of ‘informed consent’ amongst users;
- measures that are necessary to address community privacy concerns in the My Health Record
system;
- how My Health Record compares to alternative systems of digitising health records
internationally; and
- any other matters.