What are your thoughts on My Health Record?
Will you be opting out?
Will You Be Opting out of My Health Record?
Poll Options
- 67Yes - I'm concerned about data being stored and used in this way
- 61No - The benefits outweigh the costs
- 13Undecided - I'll wait and see
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Comments
No I think OP was asking for thoughts on their health record.
I think it's a record containing information about their health.
I liked the part of the OP that contained the relevant information.
I spend hours a day waiting for secretaries to send through to me faxes of letters, medications lists, etc so MHR, if implemented correctly, will be really useful in this regard. It will hopefully prevent a lot of busywork in hospital and streamline healthcare, avoid duplication of potentially dangerous investigations.
All that convenience will come at a cost. Visit TheRegistry site for how state and fed agencies are storing and selling our data.
Think back to the Census debacle.Proceed with caution.
What costs are associated with this?
Zero, just a chance that it could be hacked
I initially misread that as "zero chance that it could be hacked" haha
Surely we all pay for this, one way or an other? 2 billion apparently:
https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/gps-and-hospitals-cl…
Also free access by government agencies (including police)… Even if they decide to backtrack on that for now, future governments will definitely want access to that database
From the technical standpoint… it's a real PITA to setup. Or more specifically NASH certificates are horrible to work with.
MHR itself is actually quite good for GPs though. Practices receive funding from the government to sign X amount up a year. The downside is they have often have to repay large amounts back if they don't reach their target. That's why some GPs are very persistent in signing you up.
Medicare records found their way online. The government cannot be trusted with electronic health records. If the records go in then they keep them for 130 years or 30 years after death. No chance. All this from the same government that couldn't even get the Census right? I opted out.
I will be opting out (for a while).
I do think it’s an important thing, but I will be waiting until after they have ironed out all of the bugs.
I really don't care if people find out I once had a sprained ankle or a minor skin infection.
In any case, there will be a lot of protections and security on the data.
What about if you sought treatment for a stigmatised mental health issue, an abortion you didn't tell the partner about, or something like HIV status?
Do you really want your podiatrist seeing your fertility records?
Your hope there will be lots of protections isn't well founded. It explicitly opts you in to sharing your data with researchers, law enforcement and others.You can edit any entry in your record, remove anything you do not want in, leave only the stuff you are comfortable with. So what is the problem?
That is not the case.
You can place a restriction on visibility of individual records, but that can be over ridden. You cannot edit the content of a record permanently.
THIS.
What if you apply for a job in the medical field, or any field that can have access to your medical history?
What if you have, as mskeggs said, a stigmatised issue on your record?
If you care about your privacy, avoid it because it'll invariably be hacked or leaked. But practically there's not much people can do even with your medical information; unlike financial information which people can use for identity theft purposes and rack up credit in your name, etc. Biggest potential worries off the top of my head:
Employers using leaked information to assess job applicants (would not happen - the penalties would be mind-blowingly steep for big companies, and the effort and trouble would be impractical for smaller employers).
Health insurance using the information to deny giving insurance or claims - see 1. as it applies to big companies.
Someone using the information to either embarrass you or blackmail you (e.g. STDs etc) - this is honestly the most realistic risk, and even then it requires a combination of ill-intent, know-how, and willingness to blatantly break about a dozen laws, and can only apply to people who have embarrassing medical information, and/or people who're rich or famous.
EDIT: Scratch that… the more I think about it, the risk of this information being dangerous in a standalone fashion is still low, but the potential for it to allow others to link together other pieces of information (or just to add to existing information), for things like identity theft is actually fairly severe. E.g.: if it has your address, DoB, sex/gender, etc on it, that makes identity theft and social engineering a lot easier. Hmm.
Also, remember medicare number, name and DOB is all that is required to port your mobile.
Your records don't even need to be in MHR for them to be accessed by multiple third parties.
All of your information can frequently be accessed by staff at the practice including receptionists, 3rd party IT support, 3rd party software providers (e.g. Healthlink that transmits results to the practice) and the software providers themselves. Now if the practice is using a cloud based package (e.g. MD Helix) then you're medical information is being stored externally and god knows who has access to that.
The horror stories I've heard from dodgy reception/admin staff leaking personal information and test results is pretty high.
I was going to say the same thing.
Cloud.
Essentially the same thing as HealthRecord.
Yup that's right. The big pharmacy software packages are even starting to move to cloud now and they store info on you and your prescriptions.
No need to worry if you use Chemist Warehouse though. They developed their own in-house software package.
I don't trust the information will be as secure as they say but I won't be opting out.
I'm quite reasonably healthy so there isn't very much on my "My Health Record". I've got a few GP visits, pathology tests and that's about it so I don't care who has that info.
I’m not healthy any longer. I have many health issues and the older I get, the more health issues seem to arise.
I’m definitely not opting out. I set up my MHR at least 3 years ago and linked it to my myGov account at that time. I’ve had no problems.
When something happens to me, I want the medical professionals who are treating me to have as much information about me as possible. I probably won’t be in a position to give them any detailed information about my past health issues.
I am in the exact same boat. I am in a position where something as common as a car accident could put me in a life-threatening position (I am on blood thinners) so I would want to be in the exact same position as you.
I have a medical alert card in my purse - and a bracelet - yet its commonplace that they are overlooked in emergencies.
A close relative of mine works in the health care industry - you'd be surprised how flagrantly staff break privacy rules (see also the comment by username Clear above).
I have already opted out.
The govt 7 years ago promised opt in only…the govt changed and now its opt out. That alone shows how quickly your data can be grabbed for purposes you don't want. I simply do not trust the govt to keep the info secure, way to many people will have open access to it to keep it safe, and the break glass provisions mean that any attempt you make to restrict access can be trivially over-ridden.
It might be easy to say you have no reason to fear what is on your record now, but imagine you go out one night and have a few too many drinks and end up in a hospital. They test you and you show a high blood alcohol result. You want that in your record?. I saw a demo of the myhealth system the other day and the patient in question was being treated for a stroke….what was at the top of her record…suffered from depression, alcoholism, blah blah blah. Tell me that would not be of interest to an insurer.
The problem is that most of the protection the govt speaks of is legislative, and legislation can change over night.
I'll pass thanks.
I agree, and will add the benefits to health consumers are limited.
No responsible health professional will rely on a record without double checking with you, so you will still need to supply info on histories prior to treatment.Do you want your optician seeing your fertility treatments if you live in a small town?
Also honestly the people with most to gain from this system - those with complex or significant health issues and need their information going from doctor to doctor to specialist, etc - are also going to be the ones with most to lose should it get leaked, which it will.
I simply do not trust the govt
i've opted out. i don't see any benefit. you always opt in later in
Like DNA tests, these will eventually be filtered through to the insurers so they can price your insurance accordingly. This won't be done immediately, but via privacy erosion over the coming decades. Protect your data. No-one else cares more about you than you.
This is one single reason why I am opting out.
DNA can be used for discriminatory pricing in Life Insurance.
But hang on. Under your duty of disclosure you are required to disclose all relevant health issues when you apply for life/trauma/income protection insurance. So you can't get away with pretending you're healthy anyway not unless you want to risk your policy being useless when they find out you were lying.
How do I opt out?
Thank you. You're the only one to link it… OP, please add to description ;)
But what if my opt out request gets hacked? :/
Note that if you miss the opt out window, a record is created that can never be deleted, just inactivated.
This means the data it contains remains.If you opt out, you can always opt in later, if it proves useful or desirable.
I am opting me and my kids out, and will reconsider in a few years if there are no horror stories.Thanks, that's my reading of it as well on the page Set privacy and security controls:
Removing information
You can remove clinical and Medicare documents in your My Health Record. This means that healthcare providers won’t be able to access these clinical documents, even in an emergency. If you change your mind, or remove a document by mistake, you can restore it.
My account seems to have been made about a month ago. I did not opt in for this. I tried to opt out today but could only delete it. Fortunately no information in it yet.
I thought it was a good idea… But apparently the company running this is the same company involved in Trumps human trafficking program, so that made my decision for me
Just think this is crazy, when you have to opt out or you are automatically opted in, when organ donation is the other way round. Organ donation shpuld be the same. Everyone is automatically opted in, with the option to opt out if you wish. We have people on long waiting lists who could be helped if this was changed
We have people on long waiting lists who could be helped if this was changed
and everyone else facing the moral hazard of a competing interest to their survival in the event of a hospital visit. No thanks!
I can't really tell what you're trying to say, but opt-in organ donation is crazy. The default stance should be that you're entitled to your organs. "For the greater good" is not always a good reason for everything.
Next post you'll be advocating Organ Harvesting?
fast cash..
I and my wife opted out yesterday. I have had several referrals to specialists in the last couple of years. These referrals include a summary of your medical history and medication. These referrals have all been inaccurate in part. They often refer to very old medications even ones that have been no use and discontinued very quickly. If the docs in my med centre can't get it totally correct then how is the government going to manage it.
Then there is the trust of the government. Would you trust a government and public service that have mangled superannuation policy the way it is now? It's not just the government but almost anyone in the medical business can read your stuff. Then there is police and other services. It won't be long before local councils get access for tracking parking fines.These referrals have all been inaccurate in part. They often refer to very old medications even ones that have been no use and discontinued very quickly.
That's (partly) what makes the referral accurate, not inaccurate!
If the doctor making the referral didn't include these references, the new doctor/specialist would not know what had been tried and not worked. I'll reveal a little of my story.
One of my ongoing health issues is long-term, (severe) depression. Because some doctors in the past didn't accurately and thoroughly record which anti-depressants and dosages I had been tried on, the psychiatrist I currently see, and who is doing wonderful work for me in conjunction with other health professionals, has had to go back over many of the same drugs. We wasted many months before finding one, or a combination of drugs, which have worked well for me.
In a worse scenario, these very old medications may refer to things which the patient may have had a dangerous allergic reaction to. I'd rather these things be noted on any and every referral rather than risk a repeated allergic reaction.
The best way to securely store online data like this is to … ummm, not store it online in the first place ?
Maybe have a look into the background of My Health Record boss Tim Kelsey, and the story of the UK national health record system, care.data.
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/17/cameron-advi…
Wesfarmers is selling Coles & keeping Flybuys because your transaction data is worth more than the sale of the product. Facebook still exists because of the data it has on people. Elections are won on data when companies like Cambridge Analytica use data to change audience behavior.
Now riddle me this batman. I go to the doctor - I get a blood test - the results come back - I get prescribed "x"ium.. At what point does the health record get updated? At what point does the "opt out" switch even block any of this transactional data from being recorded? Just because you opted out, would you even know it's not kept? Does opting out even make a difference? Are the news articles, and even this poll here to mask whats really happening? Is anyone even still reading this?
No one asked for a digital health record - it just appeared. It exists so companies will have access to YOU & your data to profit whether you like it or not.
Dark. I dig it.
My theory: this is a smokescreen to establish a national DNA database. Facial recognition is nearly upon us. The e-Census data stored longitudinal files on everyone.
I brought the popcorn but it's one of those slowly-slowly, catchy-monkey, merchant ivory jobs. So I tuned out.
Then again, I'm pretty much a ghost ;)
I’m going to opt out now.
Singaporean Prime Minister among 1.5m hit by cyberattack on health database
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-20/singapore-health-datab…
Anyone able to go past step 2 in the opt out form? Mine keeps barfing with "Mandatory field" but the only field I didn't fill out is a middle name (which I don't have).
have you done the captcha at the bottom. i had some scripts blocked and the captcha didn't show and it produced a similar message
Third party companies such as Telstra and Health Engine already have access to My Health Record information.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-24/digital-health-agency-…
Although the Government is now trying to close that loophole there is no way to safeguard your information once its with that third party. Health Engine recently got busted for proving client information to Slater & Gordon.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-25/healthengine-sharing-p…
This government is inept and don’t deserve to be in office.
Opted out. The government can not be trusted with data.
What if I opt out then just say next year I'm needing a medical document from a doctor I saw 10 years ago would I still be able to get that said document?
There actually is a good reason to op-out if you consider yourself "unhealthy"..
As there are limits put on GP's by Medicare, getting blood tests with MHR can and does prevent GP's from doing more tests within a given time period.
Yes, it does already happen without MHR if you visit the same GP, but if you GP shop and visit others, you can get the same blood tests you need again within a short time period.
I do understand that on the flip side, there is a limit imposed for a reason, and MHR will help prevent abuse. But sometimes when you have an illness that most specialists dont understand, regular blood tests can help aid those who do have a clue
Opting out for now. For those that has existing medical condition and want to make sure emergency staff have access ASAP, it probably is best to stay in. Of course there are other means to achieve similar goals without a central database.
For those that don't and pay private insurance, please note that the insurers will have access, either directly or indirectly, indirect as the insurers typically operates their own GP offices, the big ones anyway, so they'll have access. This means they can profile you and your family and tailor rates to match their risks. This typically is a good thing for them but a bad thing for your. This is a very common practice in some countries like the U.S. They can also potentially resell that information.
The government have shown they have no appetite in enforcing accountability. Take the recent PEXA cases around real-estate conveyancing as an example. The government introduced a 3rd party into the real-estate settlement chain, folks lost money to hackers, no one is accountable to pay back and people are left to bear the financial lost.
Its a record containing information about my health.