Australian Medical Association

AMA President Dr Steve Hambleton comments on the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record. He says that the Government has made it clear that they have not allocated any funding in the Medicare schedule to cover this new clinical service.

The AMA has introduced its own items for preparing and managing a shared health summary for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR).

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the Government had not created new items for doctors’ time and work with patients on the PCEHR and had not allocated any new funding in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to cover this new clinical service to be provided by doctors.

The AMA has drafted the AMA Guide to Using the PCEHR (the draft Guide) to assist medical practitioners to consider if they want to participate in the PCEHR system and if so, how they might use the PCEHR in their day-to-day practice.

The draft Guide has been informed by consultation with medical indemnity insurers and representatives of medical colleges, associations and societies. It has been written by medical practitioners for medical practitioners.

The AMA has produced a draft guide for doctors on how to use the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR), which is due to commence implementation from 1 July 2012.

The draft guide has been circulated for feedback from doctors and is available on the AMA website for professional and public comment prior to final publication.

The AMA conducted a survey of its members in January 2012 to ensure that the draft Guide to Using PCEHR is as useful and relevant to practising medical practitioners as possible. Responses were used to prioritise and inform the guidance given in the document.

The Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record System (the PCEHR) is an Australian Government program to provide Australians with a system of access to health information relating to consumers of healthcare.

The AMA has drafted the AMA Guide to Using the PCEHR to assist medical practitioners to consider if they want to participate in the PCEHR system and if so, how they might use the PCEHR in their day-to-day practice.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the Health Minister’s announcement about Medicare rebates for preparing shared health summaries for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) raises more questions than answers.

Dr Hambleton said it is still unclear whether Medicare rebates will be available for this new clinical service that GPs are being asked to provide for their patients.

The AMA submission on the exposure draft of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 highlights that the safety objects of the legislation will be undermined by the opt-in design of the system and the ability of patients to to effectively remove clinical documents from their PCEHR. The submission also makes several suggestions to improve the transparency of the governance arrangements for the PCEHR and to clarify the operation of the civil penalty provisions.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA was disappointed that the Government has failed to heed medical advice in finalising its Concept of Operations for the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR).

Dr Hambleton said the proposals could ‘de-medicalise’ electronic patient health information.

“Little has changed from the draft plan despite the sound advice provided by many medical groups, including the AMA, about what should be included on a patient’s health record.

“The Government has caved in to minority consumer groups.

The AMA submission to the Department of Health and Ageing on the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record System: Legislation Issues Paper should be read in conjunction with the concerns expressed in our submission on the PCEHR Draft Concept of Operations.