What is it?
My Health Record is a secure online summary of your health information. You can control what goes into it and who is allowed to access it. You can choose to share your health information with your doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Why is it so important?
It means that if you need to attend a hospital or Emergency Department, the staff can see your most up-to-date medications and conditions, which will allow them to provide you with the best care and treatment. This is especially important if you are a little older or struggle to remember the types and doses of your medications, and any recent changes to them.
Pharmacies, Pathology and Radiology can now all be uploaded, meaning your relevant and most up-to-date medical information is easily accessible to health professionals when required. This is great if you frequently travel interstate.
How to Register
Visit myhealthrecord.gov.au and ask your doctor at each visit to upload a new summary for you.
How to opt-out
From this July the Government will be starting a 3 month opt out period. This means that after October, all those who have not chosen to “opt-out” will automatically have a record created for them. Remember, the whole idea of the My Health Record is to save lives – it allows health professionals like your doctors and emergency staff fast access to your health information if, for some reason, you are unable to tell them while in need of medical assistance. Some people would prefer not to have their medical data made available through their My Health Record due to privacy concerns. The data in your My Health Record is secure and you can control who can access it, however it’s totally your choice. If you want to opt out, you can, but as medical professionals, we think it’s a move in the right direction for providing ultra-convenient and high-quality healthcare for all patients.