Debate over benefits and privacy concerns in the proposed Australian e-health scheme

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 11 2010

There has been a move towards complete computerization of health and related information in the Australian Government’s e-health scheme that will be set up in the next two years. This scheme is purported to cost $467 million of taxpayers’ money. The plan has been criticized because of the fear that all test results; prescriptions etc. will then be available on a national database and accessible over the internet.

The federal government in an attempt to calm fears related to privacy violations has made statements that this record system would be “personally controlled” and patients would be able to withhold information or bar people from accessing their information.

The choice of joining the records will also be optional. However all Australians will automatically be given a new identification number that can be linked to their medical records. At present the lower house has passed legislation for mandatory 16 digit unique health ID numbers (Individual Healthcare Identifiers or IHIs) to be assigned to every Australian next financial year. Doctors, nurses and health professionals will need permission from the patient before they can access records.

The government promises that this way a patient can access their medical records from anywhere, anytime. The budget papers say, “Australian consumers and authorised healthcare providers will be able to  access their personally controlled electronic health records via the internet…It will help reduce avoidable hospital admissions, adverse healthcare incidents relating to medication mismanagement, and the need for duplicate tests and procedures because original results are not available between care settings.”

The new method also promises to replace medication errors that are made when pharmacists misread badly written prescriptions. Now pharmacists will be paid 15c every time they dispense a prescription downloaded from the database. This measure though effective in removing errors will be costly to taxpayers. It will need an extra $75million over five years. This scheme will also prevent duplication of tests saving millions.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon in her statement yesterday said that 190,000 Australians needed hospitalization each year for medication error and this is costing the health system a whopping $660m. Ms Roxon said,” About 8 per cent of medical errors are because of inadequate patient information…Clear, quickly available information will reduce such incidents, avoid unnecessary tests and save scarce health resources.” She also cited the benefits of the scheme saying, “Patients will no longer have to remember every detail of their care history and retell it to every care provider they see…They will be able to present for treatment anywhere in the country and give permission for health professionals to access their relevant history.” She assured that, “Patients will control what is stored and decide which medical professionals can view or add to their files.”

A total cooperation from all states and territories can make this scheme a success believe the experts. The Council of Australian Governments has yet to sign off on this $286m cost over four years. Consultations with consumers and medical professionals regarding this scheme are also pending.

Last week a report said that this new e-health scheme in the long run could save the Australian health system $7.6 billion annually by 2020 and prevent 5,000 deaths each year.