News
‘Overhaul My Health Record’: Health of the Nation preview
One third of GPs have rarely or never used My Health Record, according to the first findings to be released from the new 2024 RACGP report.
With the RACGP’s Health of the Nation report being released in October, its initial findings show a need for significant change.
The Federal Government must overhaul My Health Record, according to the RACGP, as early findings from its 2024 Health of the Nation report show 31% of GPs rarely or never use the digital platform.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins is now calling on the Government to overhaul the whole system to ‘improve its useability for Australians, GPs and other health professionals’ in light of the results.
The data was collected as part of the RACGP’s 2024 Health of the Nation survey, which will be released in full next month.
Dr Higgins said My Health Record cannot fulfill its potential to be the one-stop shop for Australians’ health records without investment to improve its useability.
‘It needs to capture more information for patients and be easier for GPs to search,’ she said.
‘It should share information with GP practice software and notify GPs when patients records are updated to support patient care and safety.
‘Automation will also make it more useable, such as automating data capture from GP records when patients consent.’
The call comes after a Productivity Commission report found My Health Record is ‘plagued by incomplete records and poor useability‘, with less than 2% of documents being seen by GPs.
Dr Higgins said a significant investment now could save up to $5.4 billion each year by reducing the time patients spend in hospital and $355 million in duplicated tests in public hospitals, according to estimates from the Productivity Commission.
‘The potential savings in general practice and other health settings would also be substantial,’ she said.
‘This money could then be re-invested back into reducing out-of-pocket costs for patients to help in the current high cost of living climate.’
She added that it was critical to get other specialists on the platform by introducing training and incentives.
‘This is key, because we all need to be working together off the same medical records to get the best outcomes for our patients,’ she said.
Log in below to join the conversation.
digital health general practice Health of the Nation My Health Record
newsGP weekly poll
Do you support the Queensland Government’s decision to make its pharmacy prescribing pilot permanent?