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Don't get your hopes up as to how useful this is. In Australia we have had federal government digital health record capability for something like 5 years now. T

Don't get your hopes up as to how useful this is. In Australia we have had federal government digital health record capability for something like 5 years now. There was all sorts of moral panic about issues at the time it was mooted - around privacy and so on and was opt in. I saw it as a great idea, as I have chronic health issue and thought it as a useful journal for use by medicos in my ongoing care. However despite having GP (physician) visits and haemotologist visits multiple times a year, and blood tests and even surgical biopsy tests there are no records of these being added. I mention it to my doctors and the boxes are ticked as far as I know on forms. The only things that make it to my record are simple scripted medicines (presumably because they have government reimbursement, through the PBS) and immunisation records such as for COVID and flu. Certainly no effort has been made to scan or digitise any CT records and similar imaging from before the health records system was brought in. So it all seems a bit of a boondoggle and waste of resources.

troad 4y ago
Interesting. My experience is somewhat different, but also does not commend the Australian system. I did not opt in, but my general practitioner uploaded everything anyway. Important details were entered incorrectly - I was listed as having conditions I do not have - which I imagine could have had catastrophic consequences had another doctor relied on any of it. I don't think I was even notified the record was created, I seem to recall discovering it by chance, but I could be misremembering. Worth mentioning is the fact that under the law as it was passed, this (in my case incorrect) data could never be deleted. Once the botched roll-out began, the law was thankfully amended, and I was allowed to have the whole thing taken down.

troad 4y ago

Interesting. My experience is somewhat different, but also does not commend the Australian system. I did not opt in, but my general practitioner uploaded everything anyway. Important details were entered incorrectly - I was listed as having conditions I do not have - which I imagine could have had catastrophic consequences had another doctor relied on any of it. I don't think I was even notified the record was created, I seem to recall discovering it by chance, but I could be misremembering. Worth mentioning is the fact that under the law as it was passed, this (in my case incorrect) data could never be deleted. Once the botched roll-out began, the law was thankfully amended, and I was allowed to have the whole thing taken down.