Transcript of interview - with Madonna King on ABC 612 Brisbane - 12 April 2011
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Previous MinistersE & OE – PROOF ONLY
TOPICS: E-HEALTH RECORDSMadonna King: And now, do you understand this e-health concept, what you will be able to access, and what kind of privacy protections will surround it?
Nicola Roxon is the Health Minister, and she will outline today what it all means. Ms Roxon, good morning.
Nicola Roxon: Good morning, nice to talk to you again.
Madonna King: What kind of information will be available?
Nicola Roxon: Well, what's going to be available, and what we've released today, is our concept of operations, but it's open for further consultation and feedback from the community, and what it makes clear is that any person who chooses to, from 1 July next year, will be able to be part of an electronic health system, and what that means is that important information about you, can be accessed by you at any computer, and probably any iPhone and Blackberry, into the future, which will have your current medications, any particular allergies, information that you might want stored there about emergency contacts and others, will be on the system...
Madonna King: Will it have access to my visits to the doctor, for example, or any specialists' appointments?
Nicola Roxon: Well, this will be all a matter for the individual, as you know at the moment, people can go to their doctor, their regular doctor will have a whole history about them that they keep in their GP system...
Madonna King: Yes.
Nicola Roxon: ...in their own practice, but the frustration is if you go to a specialist somewhere else, you mightn't have that information if you have to go to hospital, if you're in an aged care facility.
We are now designing a system so that all of those health professionals can store information about you, in their own systems, but you will be able to access it with a special code, and have a look at, or show a new health professional, if you need to, what a particular test might have shown 12 months ago, what your current medications are, if you've become unwell when you're travelling, you'll be able to have that at your fingertips.
Madonna King: And a special code is like a pin number?
Nicola Roxon: Yes, that's right, there's going to be - and this is part of what was released today, because we need to have a very detailed discussion, both with the community, but also with the software industry and the technological people, to actually make sure that the authentication system and the security systems, are very clear.
Madonna King: Alright, we'll come to that in just a moment, but is the pin number like an ID number, but it's [inaudible] system?
Nicola Roxon: No, look, what it's like really, although there'll be an extra layer of protection, is really like doing your banking online, or using your credit card, you have a number, but you need to have an access code as well, and you will be able to give that information to your regular GP, if you want to, you'll be able to give it to people on one-off occasions, if you want them just to access a particular bit of your information.
Really, the main convenience for this system will be for those people who have chronic illnesses, the very young, and the very old, who use the health system a lot.
Madonna King: You say there needs to be a community conversation about it, and you say convenience is one of the big advantages, are you concerned about any element of it?
Nicola Roxon: No, look, I think there are always some difficult questions, and some of the most difficult questions are actually already contentious issues within the health system right now...
Madonna King: Like?
Nicola Roxon: I do need to explain to people that - well people worry about privacy, but there are no good privacy controls on information that a GP or health professional might hold of yours right now, in a paper record, or in their own system, so we have questions asked, oh, but will the nurse at the practice be able to see the information...
Madonna King: Yes.
Nicola Roxon: ...well, that question now is one that is not always well answered, and this system will provide more protection for Australians, but it will still operate in the current health system, where we need to share some of that information between treating health professionals, when you give permission.
Madonna King: So if there is that ability, will the information be subject to some kind of national database?
Nicola Roxon: No, what will be in place, and this is an important part of what we've released today, is the government is not building, like some other countries have, one big, huge, database, or warehouse of information about everybody's health records.
What we're building is the connections in the system, so that with your permission, information that your GP currently separately holds, will be able to be linked up with information that the pathologist will hold about you, or the specialist, or the hospital, and again, all with your permission, and that is the beauty of what's being built.
Some of the information will have to be held by government, like probably the summary information about each person's health, because that's what is being proposed, would be available in emergency circumstances, but other information will be held by the individual health professional, or by a particular part of the health system...
Madonna King: Okay, but if I can access mine on my phone or on my computer at home, surely there must be some concerns about security, given even some of your own colleagues had their emails hacked recently?
Nicola Roxon: Well, I think there's always concerns about security, and designing the system to minimise any risks from that, is absolutely crucial.
The point I was just making is, people sometimes forget when it comes to health discussions, that there are a lot of those issues that people grapple with now, and our design of this e-health system, is set to improve that, it doesn't take away that there are sometimes going to be contentious issues about what a person may want kept in their record, or who will access it.
One of the - let me give you an example. No-one knows if someone's flicking through your paper files at a hospital, let alone in a current general practice, we just know that people use very professional standards, but with your e-health record, you'll actually have a register of anyone who has accessed your information, so you'll actually be able, as a consumer, to see that your GP is checking your records, to see whether tests come in, but you would also then be able to be alerted if someone perhaps who no longer had permission to access your records, has breached those securities.
Madonna King: Nicola Roxon, thank you.
Nicola Roxon: It's a pleasure.
Madonna King: And that's Nicola Roxon, the Federal Health Minister.
If you have any concerns, are you happy to be part of the trial which will roll out in Brisbane, so Brisbane will go ahead of the July 12 national start date, your GP in Brisbane might ask you today, whether you would like to join this trial? If he or she does, what's your answer? 1300 222 612, is this a step in the right direction? Are there security concerns that worry you about? You let me know this morning, 1300 222 612.
Ends.
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