Government systems

My Health Record is an electronic summary which may contain some of a patient’s key health information and is available to all Australians. It is accessible by patients and registered healthcare providers involved in their care and allows information to be shared securely to support improved decision making and continuity of care.

It can contain information created and uploaded by healthcare providers, the patient and can also come from sources such as Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Healthcare providers authorised by their healthcare organisation can access My Health Record to view and add patient health information.

Through the My Health Record system you can access information about your patients from other healthcare providers or services involved in that person’s care. This may give you access to information you have not directly received. Benefits of using My Health Record include validating and verifying clinical information, avoiding duplication of tests and diagnostic imaging, avoiding adverse medication events, access to immunisation details and the ability to provide continuity of care.

My Health Record includes the ability to upload and view:

• shared health summaries
• discharge summaries
• event summaries
• prescription and dispense records
• pathology and diagnostic imaging reports (see next section below for further information)
• pharmacist shared medicines lists
• specialist letters
• aged care transfer information
• e-Referrals
• goals of care
• advance care planning documents
• immunisation information
• Medicare information

There are several system generated overviews that bring together information held across the patient’s My Health Record which make it quicker to find key information.

Some common situations for accessing a My Health Record include:

• a new patient presents at your general practice and you have no health record for them
• travelling/itinerant patients without a usual GP/general practice
• patients who are unable to provide or recall information about their health
• patients with chronic or multiple conditions
• patients seen by an after-hours home-visiting GP
• patients who have had a significant change to health status and requires an updated summary to be recorded.

There are clear clinical benefits from having access to a patient’s health information in My Health Record that would otherwise not be visible to you.

My Health Record also has business benefits. It can be a financial stream for practice owners though the eHealth Practice Incentives Program (ePIP).

The ePIP aims to encourage practices (and providers) to keep up to date with digital health and adopt new digital health technology as it becomes available. There are currently five eligibility requirements:

1. Integrating healthcare identifiers into electronic practice records
2. Secure messaging capability
3. Data records and clinical coding
4. Electronic transfer of prescriptions
5. My Health Record system

The size of the ePIP payment is dependent on the size of the practice and is a maximum payment of $12,500 per quarter. Practices must comply with all five eligibility criteria to continue to receive the ePIP payments. For further information, visit the Services Australia website.

Currently, pathology and diagnostic imaging reports can be uploaded by pathology laboratories and imaging providers who choose to be connected to the My Health Record system. Once uploaded, the reports are immediately available to healthcare provider organisations involved in a patient’s healthcare.

Most pathology and diagnostic imaging reports are available for patients to access 7 days after upload, allowing time for GPs to review and discuss results. Pathology reports for blood clot monitoring, known as the international normalised ratio (INR) test, diabetes monitoring (HbA1c), COVID-19 and respiratory infection tests (such as influenza) are available for patients as soon as they are uploaded to My Health Record.

Changes are being made to make it a requirement for all pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to share reports to My Health Record by default, following legislation changes that took place in early 2025.

The Australian Government is establishing rules regarding the health information that pathology and diagnostic imaging providers must share to My Health Record.

It is expected the 7-day delay will be removed to provide patients with faster access to their pathology and diagnostic imaging reports. However, there may be some circumstances where there will still be a delay, for example, to support clinical safety or where there are concerns for the safety or wellbeing of the patient.

The RACGP will continue to update members as these changes take place. For further information and updates, visit the Modernising My Health Record webpage.

The my health app enables consumers to view key health information contained in their My Health Record securely and easily from a mobile device. Consumers can now view electronic prescriptions and access their Active Script List in the app, reducing the need for multiple health apps to keep track of essential health information.

Consumers can access the following key health information in the my health app, once it has been uploaded to My Health Record:

• medicine information history
• pathology results, including COVID-19 test results
• diagnostic imaging reports
• proof of vaccination history and upcoming immunisations
• medical conditions view
• allergy and reactions information
• hospital discharge summaries
• advance care planning documents
• emergency contacts
• organ donation choices
• find and book a health service

Consumers can also view multiple records in the my health app where they are a nominated or authorised representative for a family member.

For further information, visit https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/myhealth  

Electronic prescribing allows for the prescribing and dispensing of medicines without the need for a paper prescription, which can improve efficiency and medicines safety. Patients can choose to receive their prescription by SMS or email containing a link to a unique ‘token’. They may also choose to have this added to an Active Script List (ASL).

It is not mandatory to prescribe electronically. Patients have the choice to receive either an electronic prescription or a paper prescription but cannot receive both.

Electronic prescribing provides convenience and choice to patients, but most importantly it improves safety through prescribing and dispensing efficiency and accuracy, reducing the risk of transcription and dispensing errors.

How do electronic prescriptions work?

Patients receive an electronic ‘token’ by SMS or email, which they can present at a pharmacy to have the medicines dispensed. A token is a unique QR code which sits in an encrypted and secure electronic Prescription Delivery Service.

The token is scanned by the pharmacy to unlock the electronic form of the prescription. If the patient has a repeat for a prescription, they will receive a new token from the pharmacy that replaces the original token. Once the token is scanned and dispensed by a pharmacy, it becomes invalid and cannot be reused.

Benefits of the token include removing the need for a physical paper document which can be easily lost or damaged. A token can also be sent to another person to pick up medicines on behalf of the patient.

Active Script List (ASL)

An Active Script List is a token management solution that contains a consolidated list of a patient’s active prescriptions. Once registered, patients no longer need to keep track of each electronic prescription token. The ASL allows patients to attend any participating pharmacy, provide consent for the pharmacy to access their list, and have that pharmacy dispense their medicines.

Once patients register at a pharmacy for an ASL, any electronic prescriptions they are issued are automatically added to their ASL, including repeats. Patients can choose for their medicines not to be added to the ASL at the point of prescribing and GPs can manage these requests via their clinical information systems.

ASL is an opt-in feature and patients can register for the ASL with their pharmacy and then provide viewing access to their healthcare providers. When a prescription is generated, it appears in the patient’s ASL unless the patient requests the prescription is not uploaded.

Apps to manage electronic prescriptions

There are a number of mobile apps available to help patients manage their electronic prescriptions and some pharmacies have their own apps. The my health app provides access for patients to view electronic prescriptions and register for ASL.

Suitability

You will need to consider if electronic prescribing is appropriate for each patient. Patients will receive one token per medicine they are prescribed. Some patients may have difficultly managing multiple tokens, so ensure they are aware of this feature prior to prescribing electronic tokens. These patients would benefit from registering for an Active Script List with their preferred pharmacy, as the patient wouldn’t need to keep track of their individual tokens.

Provider Connect Australia was introduced in 2022 as a free initiative operated by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) connecting healthcare organisations with their business partners to streamline updates of practice details and the services they provide in a single source. PCA has been a great step forward in reducing red tape for general practice.

Currently, when a GP leaves or starts working at a general practice, multiple forms with the same information need to be sent out to a range of business partners so they can update their information. These partners include hospitals, Primary Health Networks (PHNs), Medicare, heath services directories, online appointment booking and consumer review platforms, professional bodies and associations, secure messaging and information exchange providers and a range of other services that support general practices and GPs to deliver healthcare.

Business partners registered with PCA can also send changes to their details automatically to your practice as well.  

PCA streamlines the update of information across multiple business partners by allowing services to integrate with practice management systems so that when the local general practice system is updated other businesses are automatically updated with the new details as well.

When you’re registered with PCA, you can update the practice details once and PCA will update them in multiple locations. This has many benefits, including reduced administrative work, more accurate exchange of information, reduced duplication and streamlined notifications.  

The National Health Services Directory (NHSD) is connected as a business partner. If you’re registered with PCA, you can opt to share updated information with the NHSD which will be immediately available to your patients and potential future patients. This includes information such as staffing changes, doctor availability, clinic opening hours, vaccine availability, and fee details. 

For further information on PCA and to register, visit the Australian Digital Health Agency’s website.