Event Summaries
Event summaries are a core component of HealthConnect. They provide an electronic overview of a visit to a doctor or hospital, or some other health care event. They contain only the information that is relevant to the future health and care of the consumer, rather than the comprehensive notes that a doctor may keep as a record of a consultation. With the consumer's consent, these event summaries may be retrieved and exchanged at any time via a secure network by an authorised health care provider.
An event summary includes information such as:
- observations;
- allergies;
- tests ordered and results obtained;
- diagnoses;
- care plans agreed;
- services/treatments provided (eg immunisations);
- medications prescribed and dispensed; and
- services requested (eg referrals).
A key area of HealthConnect research and development work is the development of a framework that specifies what information should be included in event summaries and how this will be recorded. The framework allows for different type of events - for example - discharge from hospital, prescribed medication or diagnostic test results, as well as defining what information is collected for such events.