Australia Moves Closer to Nationwide Electronic Health Record as Nation’s Leading Pathology Laboratories Join Initiative

Feb 12, 2018 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

Doctors’ advocacy organization praises potential of ‘My Health Record’ but voices concerns about functionality, interoperability, and added burden placed on providers

Australia’s goal of implementing a nationwide electronic health record (EHR) system received a major boost when the country’s largest pathology laboratories signed agreements with the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to join the project. But the My Health Record system has yet to fully win over providers as the Australian Medical Association (AMA) raises concerns over functionality, interoperability, and the added burden placed on healthcare providers.

ADHA Chief Executive Tim Kelsey praised the addition of pathology and diagnostic organizations to the My Health Record platform. In Australia, pathology laboratory is the term to describe what are called clinical laboratories in the United States.

“The largest diagnostic organizations in Australia have now agreed to share their test reports with Australian consumers,” Kelsey said in an ADHA news release. “We are working to deliver a My Health Record for all Australians next year, unless they choose not to have one. Health consumers will benefit from this significant commitment by the pathology industry and their software partners.”

Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Tim Kelsey says his agency in 2018 will be creating a universal electronic health record for all the country’s 24.8 million citizens, though patients will have the option to opt out of the My Health Record project. He called the “significant commitment” of pathology labs to the project a major step forward. (Photo copyright: ADHA.)

In May 2017, Sonic Healthcare, Australia’s largest pathology provider, became the first private pathology company to join the My Health Record initiative. That news was followed by agreements between the ADHA and pathology companies Primary Health Care, Australian Clinical Labs, and seven other software vendors and pathology laboratories, including:

• Cirdan;
• Genome.One;
• Infinity Path;
• McCauley Software;
• Medical-Objects;
• MyHealthTest; and,
• Victorian Cytology Service.

The ADHA also finalized service agreements with additional software companies that will enable diagnostic imaging providers to link up to My Health Record by the end of 2018.

AMA Says My Health Record Lacks Functionality and Critical Features

In 2012, Australia announced the roll out of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record, the original initiative to create a citizen-controlled secure online summary of health information, which later was renamed My Health Record. According to The Australian, more than 5.3 million Australians are now using My Health Record, a 500% increase in the number of shared health summaries uploaded in 2016-2017 and a 200% rise in interoperability with private hospitals.

Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia President Bruce Latham, MBBS, welcomed the announcement of the increased functionality for My Health Record.

“The Australian pathology sector has been working in support of the national eHealth agenda for a number of years,” Latham stated in the ADHA news release. “Work is now progressing to connect both public and private labs to the My Health Record, and patients nationally will start to see their pathology reports in their My Health Record.”

Developers and program administrators of My Health Record predict it will generate savings of AU$123 million from:

• Reduction in adverse drug events;
• Fewer duplicated diagnostics tests; and,
• Cost savings by 2020-2021.

However, the AMA, Australia’s doctors’ advocacy group, outlined its concerns about My Health Record in a Pre-Budget Submission to the Australian federal government. While praising the project’s potential to “not only save money, but save lives,” the AMA argued the national repository of healthcare information needs improved features and functionality to meet its potential.

“… more work is required,” the AMA wrote. “The return on investment will hinge in the short term on ease of use for medical practitioners who upload the clinical data. Interoperability with the multiple software packages used across the medical profession and broader health sector must be seamless.

“Problems uploading specialists’ letters, poor search functionality, time-consuming adaptations to existing medical practitioner work practices, or inappropriate workarounds will erode clinical utility and deter doctor use—and, more importantly, take time away from focusing on the patient,” the AMA concluded.

Automatic Enrollment Concerns AMA

My Health Record began as a self-register model, but as the program goes nationwide in 2018, it will do so using an “opt-out” model. This means citizens will be enrolled automatically unless they ask to be removed from the program. According to the ADHA, the automatic creation of My Health Record for all Australians will begin in mid-2018. The government’s goal is to provide access to My Health Record to all 24.6 million Australians by June 30, 2018.

The federal government’s switch to an opt-out system for My Health Record drew concerns from the AMA.

“Doctors do not have time to talk their patients through the My Health Record arrangements for opt-out, privacy, [or] setting access controls in standing consent for health providers to upload health information. This is the work of the government. Doctors must be allowed to focus on what they do best—caring for patients,” the AMA stressed.

Clinical Laboratories Have Stake in Outcome

According to Healthcare IT News Australia, the Australian government has spent AU$2 billion ($1.53 billion USD) so far developing what could become a white elephant if general practitioners and hospital groups don’t see a clinical benefit in its use.

If Australia is successful in creating a fully-functioning and widely-used national repository for health information, it will be among the first countries to do so. In 2002, the United Kingdom (UK) kicked off a nearly decade-long effort to create a national EHR system for the UK’s single-payer tax-supported health system. Ultimately, the government pulled the plug on the initiative after spending 12.7 billion pounds ($17 billion USD) trying to complete the project.

That result, and lessons learned from Australia’s experience, should inform American healthcare policy makers. It remains a daunting effort to implement a single electronic patient health records system. Of course, pathologists and clinical laboratory administrators have an interest in this issue, since medical laboratory test data represents the largest proportion of an individual patient’s permanent health record.

—Andrea Downing Peck

Related Information:

Australia’s Largest Pathology Labs Sign Up to My Health Record

Private Pathology Reports to Go Live in My Health Record

E-health Revolution Gather Pace as more Services Pledge their Backing

Australian Medical Association Pre-Budget Submission 2018-19

National Expansion of My Health Record in 2018 Confirmed in Budget Announcement

GPS and Hospitals Claim My Health Record Not Fit for Purpose as Alarming Low Usage Figures Are Released