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Central Government, Government CFO, Government Procurement, Healthcare IT

Australia passes new e-Health law

By Shahida Sweeney | 27 June 2012 | Views: 3545

Australia’s widely-debated personally-controlled e-Health record (PCEHR) system has passed both Houses of Parliament – with e-Health services to become available from 1st July 2012.

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This PCEHR legislation clears the way to roll out Australia’s e-Health programme. This programme, and related laws, will operate concurrently with Commonwealth, state and territory privacy laws.

Initially, consumers can register for the e-Health system using a dedicated 1800 number. An on-line registration website is being finalised by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, enabling citizens to register on-line through a dedicated portal.

The PCEHR reforms agenda will save the Australian Government and related agencies US$11.5 billion (AUD$11.5 billion) over 15 years.

These savings stem from expanded use of health information management systems, on-line registration capabilities, improved information-sharing between healthcare providers, and consolidated patient record-keeping programmes.

The PCEHR legislation clarifies guidelines about who can enter health information and who can read or change this information. Among these guidelines, patients can access their own e-Health record. They can also track who else has accessed their record.

Patients can upgrade their privacy settings to suit personal needs. But only doctors, or other health professionals, will be allowed to create medical notes on a patient’s file. Patients can add notes about their general health, but not be able make medical notes.

The PCEHR offers an opt-in system, although it remain unclear how this opt-in system will work.

The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) is the “managing agent” for Australia’s PCEHR programme on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing.

Recently, NEHTA signed up aged care software vendors on its e-Health Panel. This Expression of Interest panel enables vendors to provide software solutions to aged care providers. These providers include operators managing residential aged care facilities and community care services.