My Health Record to strengthen privacy protections after patient concerns
The Minister for Health announced two policy changes to subdue concerns about privacy from both patients and medical practitioners.
Two key policy changes will be introduced to overcome privacy concerns about My Health Record, the embattled online service that stores a summary of your key health information.
After discussions with the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Greg Hunt, minister for health, announced that significant changes will be made to the My Health Record Act "as soon as possible".
The new policies will prevent police or government agencies from obtaining information from My Health Record without a court order and enable users to cancel their record and permanently remove it from the database, for good.
The changes aim to remove the current ambiguity of how agencies access information stored in patients' My Health Record, and the process required to do so.
"The Digital Health Agency's policy is clear and categorical - no documents have been released in more than six years and no documents will be released without a court order," said Hunt in a statement Tuesday.
In addition, the federal government will look to improve education about the service.
"The Government will also work with medical leaders on additional communications to the public about the benefits and purpose of My Health Record, so they can make an informed choice," said Hunt.
CNET reached out for additional comment from the Australian Digital Health Agency, but did not immediately receive a response.
The policy changes were welcomed by the AMA with Dr Tony Bartone tweeting, "Government will strengthen privacy provisions under the #MyHealthRecord Act, removing any doubt."
Constructive discussions with Minister @GregHuntMP Government will strengthen privacy provisions under the #MyHealthRecord Act, removing any doubt. Court order minimum required. Robust additional communication to public to make sure they can make full informed choice re #optout
— AMA President (@amapresident) July 31, 2018
The RACGP echoed those sentiments in a statement released online Tuesday evening.
"When a patient steps into the office of one of our GPs, we want them to know that their health information is private and protected," wrote Dr. Harry Nespolon, president-elect of the RACGP.
It hasn't been particularly smooth sailing for My Health Record, so far.
Concerns about privacy and who can access patient health data have been front of mind in discussions about the service since July 16, when users were first able to opt out of the system. In the wake of privacy scandals such as the theft of patient data from 1.5 million Singaporeans, it's not hard to see why some might fear storing their information online. My Health Record received 35 mandatory data breach notifications during the 2016-17 financial year.
All Australians will automatically receive a My Health Record if they do not choose to opt out before Oct. 15. You can opt-out online and over the phone. The system, which is tied to Medicare, went down for several hours on July 26.
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