Specialists will face a new push to connect to the Government’s My Health Record system over the next year, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) says.
More than a decade after the e-health initiative was first announced, and despite almost two billion dollars funding, it appears that very few specialists are using the MHR in their private practices to view or upload patient data.
Dr Jill Tomlinson, AMA Federal Councillor and a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Melbourne, said she understood between 10-20% of private specialist were now registered for the MHR, but only about 5% were actively using the system – for example to view patient records or upload new data.
The ADHA was unable to provide the limbic with specific data on how many private specialists are either registered or actively using the My Health Record (MHR) system and the Agency’s website only lists current data on the proportion of GPs and pharmacists that are connected.
However, it revealed at the end of 2017 that just 3% of specialist provider organisations were connected to the system.
A higher proportion of specialists can potentially access the record in their private or public hospital work – as at 30 June 2020, 67% of private hospitals with inpatient facilities were registered for the MHR, and 53% were actively using the system.
Only 16% of day hospital/surgeries were registered, with just 5% using actively using the MHR.
That compares to 94% of GPs being registered, and 84% using the record.
GPs get priority for MyHealthRecord
The ADHA said its initial focus was getting primary health providers connected, but it was turning its attention to increasing use of the MHR by specialists over the next 12 months.
In July, it provided $40,000 to each of nine specialist software vendors to upgrade their systems so they could seamlessly integrate specialists’ clinical information systems to the MHR.
The software upgrades – expected to be available in this year or next year – should enable specialists to upload letters and prescriptions records to patients’ MHR records as part of their existing clinical workload.
“In addition to funding, the Agency will provide design expertise to work with each vendor’s design teams to co-produce improvements in design with their users,” the ADHA said in a statement.