Specialists have called for access to a GP-style incentive payment to connect to the nation’s digital health record system.
With specialists’ use of the My Health Record (MHR) system remaining low, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has called on the government to offer hospital and community-based physicians a “provider readiness” incentive to sign up and participate.
Currently GP practices can access incentive payments of $6.50 per patient up to $50,000 a year if they upload a quota of patient health summaries and meet other e-health readiness requirements.
In a submission to a Senate inquiry into the MHR, the College says specialist physicians should be entitled to a similar payment.
The major benefits of the MHR system will not be realised without specialist buy-in, the RACP says.
“We believe that comparable incentives to what are currently provided to GPs should also be provided to hospital and community-based specialist physicians if the goal is to maximise broad clinician uptake and fully leverage the benefits of MHR.”
Figures released by the Australian Digital Health Agency show that while more five million people have a My Health Record only 263 of 8243 specialist provider organisations (3%) were connected up to the system at the end of 2017. By comparison, 6210 of 9700 (64%) GP practices were connected to the MHR system.
In its submission, the RACP also calls for the opt-out period for the MHR to be extended beyond the current November 15 deadline until several outstanding issues are addressed.
Specialists’ lack of engagement in the MHR is highlighted in other submissions to the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee’s inquiry.