This year the Australian Federal Government is expanding the My Health Record system to all Australians, unless they say that they don’t want one.
My Health Record is a digital summary of a person’s key health information which is being created for every person with a Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card, unless they choose not to have one.
What is included in your My Health Record?
Your My Health Record could contain:
- Medicines you are taking or have been prescribed by your doctor
- Your organ donation decision
Your doctors and other healthcare providers may be able to see and add information to your My Health Record, including:
- A summary of your medical history, conditions and treatments
- Hospital discharge information
- Diagnostic imaging reports
- Pathology reports
You can add:
- Information about any allergies and adverse reactions you may have
- Emergency contacts and their details
- Personal health notes
- Advance care planning information (this records your wishes about your healthcare in the event that you are unable to communicate)
- Information about other medicines or
- vitamins you might be taking, like over-the-counter medicines
You can also customise access to your My Health Record by setting access controls including restricting who can see your information, or cancel your record, at any time.
A three month opt-out period will be held from 16 July to 15 October 2018. After this point, records for all those people who did not opt-out will be created on 13 November 2018.
