Ballarat residents wanting to opt out of the federal government’s My Health Record have until Thursday to get online and remove themselves from the system.
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It’s the second “opt out” deadline for the electronic health record, with the initial November deadline delayed due to privacy and security concerns.
The deadline to opt out was initially set for November 15 but the Senate approved an extension until January 31, with new laws introduced this month to strengthen the privacy and security protections within the system.
Under the new protections, people holding a My Health Record can permanently delete their record at any time, including any backups. And if they change their mind, they can choose to register for a record.
My Health Record is an online summary of a person’s health information that can be shared with doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Ballarat Health Services chief executive officer Dale Fraser encouraged people to remain in the system to optimise their health care.
“Ballarat Health Services acknowledges the benefits of a shared medical record. It will help our clinical staff to care for our community by understanding their complete and unique medical circumstances,” he said.
“We do also understand that it is an individual decision and some members of our community may wish to opt out of the service.”
The new laws also ban insurers and employers from accessing or using My Health Record information or to ask a person to disclose the information, for insurance or employment purposes – answering some of the concerns that critics of the system held when the scheme was first introduced.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone said the current My Health Record was a far better system than the one initially introduced.
“Australians can be assured that it’s as good as possible and it is going to aid in the clinical outcomes of a vast number of Australians and prevent unnecessary medication errors and unnecessary hospital readmissions,” Dr Bartone said.
“It's going to help with the mapping out the journey that is very complex through the whole health system, and hopefully become that backbone that improves the communications and connectivity that is sadly lacking in our health system at the moment.”
After January 31, a My Health Record will be created for every Australian who has not opted out of the system.
“Having a My Health Record places the control of a person’s healthcare directly into their hands,” said Australian Digital Health agency chief medical advisor Prof Meredith Makeham.
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