Patient records to be kept on cards
By Chris Jones
22apr04
DOCTORS will soon only have to swipe a patient's Medicare card to access their full medical history under a radical plan backed by both sides of federal politics.
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott will tomorrow discuss with his state counterparts his plan to have in place within five years a centralised database of patient records which could be viewed by doctors with the patient's consent.
Mr Abbott believes the system would reduce medical mix-ups and errors caused by communication problems or poor record keeping, and had the potential to save thousands of lives each year.
Under his plan, a system of electronic medical records linked via computer databases would replace paper-based file-keeping by doctors - but the information would be safeguarded by a "unique patient identifier" number or code held by the patient.
Individuals are also likely to be able to request the removal of some types of information from the database.
Australians already have a range of identification numbers allocated to them as they move through the health system, but the new scheme would create a single number to track patients across the private and public primary health and hospital sectors.
Mr Abbott concedes the move is likely to raise Australia Card-style concerns, but says there is no cause for alarm because the scheme is simply a more sophisticated version of the information bracelets worn by diabetics.
Federal Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton's office is maintaining a watching brief on the development of electronic health records.
Mr Crompton recently told a lunch that some form of biometric identifier, such a fingerprint, should also be attached to the system.
Opposition health spokeswoman Julia Gillard yesterday agreed that the smart-card technology could be a major key to reducing duplication and waste in the nation's public health system.
But Ms Gillard said an individual's medical history should not be kept on a central national database.
She said patients' records should instead be held across a number of separate databases and should only be accessed securely and through a unique patient PIN number.
"We've got to get smarter at linking together the information that currently sits scattered across the health system," Ms Gillard told the National Press Club.
"But clearly the detailed arrangements for unique patient identifiers, how they are to be regulated, and how they are linked to an upgraded Medicare card needs to be debated as part of the proposed national health reform process."
Ms Gillard also used her speech to float the concept of having every Australian registered with a local primary health care provider, such as a general practitioner, who would then be paid by the Government to chase their patients down for regular check-ups.
She said the scheme would potentially save millions of dollars from the Government's health care budget through better prevention of illnesses.
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