06-08-2009, 11:33 AM
Renee Viellaris
June 08, 2009 12:00am
PATIENTS' private medical files will be shared among health professionals under a Rudd Government plan for a contentious healthcare card.
From the middle of next year, the Medicare card will provide doctors, dentists, pharmacists and paramedics with an encyclopedia-like file on patients' medical histories, medications and treatments.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said patients would receive better treatment, as medical errors and the expense of performing lost tests were slashed.
"We've made a decision that every Australian will be allocated a unique health identity," Ms Roxon told The Courier-Mail in an exclusive interview.
"It would be a card, most likely with a chip that would store your information on it, which you would then provide to health professionals and give them access to it when you wanted them to see it."
While the medical community has given cautious support to the plan, privacy bodies want certain safeguards attached.
Concerns over the security of online health information were raised earlier this year when The Courier-Mail revealed that the names and medical details of about 100 Sullivan Nicolaides pathology patients were posted on the internet.
Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis is investigating whether the episode was an accident or a breach of the company's security.
She has advised the Government's National e-Health Transition Authority, which is in charge of electronic health projects, to attach "sensitivity labels" to certain medical histories, such as those relating to sexually transmitted diseases.
Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pesce said patients had to be able to control access to their information.
"This sounds like a good first step towards introducing electronic records which can help improve patient safety and health outcomes," Dr Pesce said.
"However, patients need to have control over what is placed in their records and must be assured rigorous privacy safeguards are in place."
Ms Roxon said privacy was a concern for the public, so the model would be patient-controlled and patients would determine who could view their files, with the exception of paramedics.
"I think it would need to make sure there is a mechanism for emergency services staff to be able to access it without your permission, because obviously you may not be able to when the ambulance arrives," she said.
Ms Roxon said she expected the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to make strong recommendations for e-health in its final report this month.
It is estimated that in the past decade about $5 billion has been spent on failed e-health proposals.
The Howard government planned to introduce the Access Card - essentially a national identification card - which would have contained health plus welfare and tax details.
The measure was scuttled by Labor when it won office in 2007.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story...%2C00.html
June 08, 2009 12:00am
PATIENTS' private medical files will be shared among health professionals under a Rudd Government plan for a contentious healthcare card.
From the middle of next year, the Medicare card will provide doctors, dentists, pharmacists and paramedics with an encyclopedia-like file on patients' medical histories, medications and treatments.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon said patients would receive better treatment, as medical errors and the expense of performing lost tests were slashed.
"We've made a decision that every Australian will be allocated a unique health identity," Ms Roxon told The Courier-Mail in an exclusive interview.
"It would be a card, most likely with a chip that would store your information on it, which you would then provide to health professionals and give them access to it when you wanted them to see it."
While the medical community has given cautious support to the plan, privacy bodies want certain safeguards attached.
Concerns over the security of online health information were raised earlier this year when The Courier-Mail revealed that the names and medical details of about 100 Sullivan Nicolaides pathology patients were posted on the internet.
Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis is investigating whether the episode was an accident or a breach of the company's security.
She has advised the Government's National e-Health Transition Authority, which is in charge of electronic health projects, to attach "sensitivity labels" to certain medical histories, such as those relating to sexually transmitted diseases.
Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pesce said patients had to be able to control access to their information.
"This sounds like a good first step towards introducing electronic records which can help improve patient safety and health outcomes," Dr Pesce said.
"However, patients need to have control over what is placed in their records and must be assured rigorous privacy safeguards are in place."
Ms Roxon said privacy was a concern for the public, so the model would be patient-controlled and patients would determine who could view their files, with the exception of paramedics.
"I think it would need to make sure there is a mechanism for emergency services staff to be able to access it without your permission, because obviously you may not be able to when the ambulance arrives," she said.
Ms Roxon said she expected the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to make strong recommendations for e-health in its final report this month.
It is estimated that in the past decade about $5 billion has been spent on failed e-health proposals.
The Howard government planned to introduce the Access Card - essentially a national identification card - which would have contained health plus welfare and tax details.
The measure was scuttled by Labor when it won office in 2007.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story...%2C00.html