Personally controlled electronic health records
Hamish is 85 years old and is cared for by his 74‑year‑old wife and his 45‑year‑old daughter.
Through the use of his personally controlled electronic health record, Hamish's carers can see that his drug list is accurate, even though his pharmacist, district nurse, GP, multiple hospitals, specialists, and other agencies all participate in his care.
Sharing this information with his healthcare providers has helped him avoid getting sick due to medication errors from multiple prescriptions.
The Australian Government is investing $467 million over two years to establish the key national components to introduce a personally controlled electronic health record for every Australian who would like to use one, from July 2012.
Empowering patients
Patients for the first time will be empowered with easy‑to‑access information about their medical history, including medications, test results and allergies, allowing them to make informed choices about their health care.
Patients will control what is stored on their health records and will decide which health professionals can view or add to their files.
Streamlining health care
Personally controlled electronic health records will ensure an individual's health care information is available where and when it is needed. They will also substantially reduce costly medical errors and re‑testing that are common under the paper‑based system.
To achieve this, the introduction of personally controlled electronic health records will be supported by the States' own investments in core health information systems to allow health care providers to connect with the national eHealth system.
The Government will also work with the health sector to ensure the new eHealth infrastructure securely and efficiently connects with current data systems.
