Aboriginal LGBTI woman, Esther Montgomery, is living with a number of chronic health conditions including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and stage 2 renal disease.
She is encouraging everyone to find out the facts about My Health Record to decide whether it’s right for them.
“The whole point of My Health Record is that all the current medications I am on will come up on My Health Record,” Esther said.
“If I travel to Victoria or New South Wales, and anything happens to me, health professionals need to know what medication I am on.”
Esther’s initial concerns about confidentially were overcome when she learnt more about My Health Record’s privacy and access controls.
“It’s something that you really need to think about and the LGBTI community really need to think about it – enough with the scaremongering, you’re LGBTI and you’re aging, you’ve got chronic disease, you’ve got illness, people need to know,” Esther said.
“Don’t listen to everyone else. You really need to think about what’s good for you – you’ve got to ask questions.”
The Benefits
- Your health record can contain a summary of information such as your medications, medical conditions, immunisations, pathology and medical imaging results, hospital, specialist, GP and allied health visits.
- When you have a My Health Record, your health information can be viewed securely online, from anywhere, at any time – even if you move or travel interstate.
- Your important healthcare information is available in one place and easily accessible by your doctors, specialists or hospitals.
- Because healthcare providers have better access to clinical information, they have a more detailed picture to make decisions, diagnose and provide treatment.
- In emergency situations, treating doctors have been able to use My Health Record to provide the appropriate treatment quickly.
- You don’t need to remember the dates of medical visits, tests, medicine names or dosages and you can add allergy information and advance care plans to your record.
Security and Privacy
- It’s your record and you control what information it contains and who can view it. This includes setting up SMS or email notifications to know when a healthcare provider first accesses your record, setting access controls to restrict who can and can’t see your health information, adding personal notes and reviewing your own health information. You can also ask your doctor that some information not be uploaded to your record.
- Only health professionals involved in your care are authorised to access your record. Heavy penalties apply for inappropriate use.
- Security is a key design element of the My Health Record system, which adheres to high level Australian Government security requirements.
- The My Health Record system is protected by legislation which governs the way the system is accessed, managed and used.
By the end of this year, all Australians will have a My Health Record created for them, unless they choose to opt out by 15 November 2018. For more information visit myhealthrecord.gov.au or call the help line on 1800 723 471.
