AMA Warning on Health Databases
The Australian Medical Association today warned that the development of regional health databases to facilitate the electronic exchange of medical records was unnecessary and could compromise patient privacy.
The warning comes as Australian health ministers release plans for "HealthConnect", an electronic system for sharing personal health information proposed by the National Electronic Health Records Taskforce.
AMA Federal President, Dr Kerryn Phelps, said that electronic health records could bring significant benefits for patients and doctors, such as reducing the likelihood of dangerous drug interactions or the need to undertake duplicate tests, but there were some issues that needed to be addressed before it could proceed.
"Firstly, HealthConnect is based on regional storage facilities," Dr Phelps said. "Advances in technology mean that regional storage facilities should be unnecessary and the data should be stored at the practice level. This would help improve security for patients."
"Secondly, the privacy of records needs strong legislative protection. The legislation currently before Federal Parliament does not provide sufficient protection for patients and needs to be substantially beefed up before it becomes law.
"On the positive side, the proposal allows for voluntary participation and says individuals can select what information they make available and to whom. There must, however, be no coercion on patients to opt-in and no detriment to either the patient or their practitioner when choosing not to participate.
"A Roy Morgan Research survey of 1,000 Australians commissioned by the AMA this month reveals that 66% would not consider their records safe if they were maintained and safeguarded by the Federal Government. Only 27% thought they would be safe in the Government hands.
"Almost two thirds (63%) agreed that if medical records were to be stored electronically, then the access of these medical records should be controlled by both the individual and their doctor. A further 18% felt their doctor alone should control access while 14% felt the individual alone should control access. Only 3% felt the government should control access.
"HealthConnect promises much, but it is critical that the privacy issues are fully addressed before the system comes into operation," Dr Phelps said.