Health technologies play an important role in many areas of health. Digital information and communication help health services, practitioners and patients to monitor, track, record and manage their health more easily, securely, and often more quickly.
From video calls for telehealth consultations, electronic medical records, prescriptions, referrals and equipment – digital health tools provide many benefits.
However, to harness the full potential of digital health, people need to have a certain level of skills and knowledge, otherwise known as health literacy. Health literacy includes being able to find, understand and use information and services. Digital health literacy includes knowing how to use a computer, phone or the internet.
People can improve their health literacy by doing things like:
asking for more information if they need understand something better
taking a friend, family member or carer to healthcare appointments if needing extra support
asking for a translator if they need one
giving healthcare professionals full medical history details
An electronic prescription is a digital form of a paper prescription. It is a safe, convenient and secure option, that people can choose to receive their medicines.
Tokens
Most medicines can be prescribed using an electronic prescription. Your doctor will send a text message with a link to your electronic prescription to your mobile phone or email, which can be stored until you are ready to attend a pharmacy. The message will contain a unique QR barcode, which is also known as a ‘token’.
If you have any questions or issues with your electronic prescription tokens, you can discuss them with your doctor or pharmacist.
An active script list is a complete list of all electronic prescriptions and repeat prescriptions. It helps people who take multiple medicines to not have to keep track of several electronic prescription tokens or paper scripts.
People can register for an active script list at a pharmacy that offers registration. Authorised representatives, such as family members and carers can also register for an active script list on another person’s behalf.
My Health Record is a national digital record system. Everyone has a My Health Record account unless they’ve opted out. It offers a safe and secure place for people to access and store their key health information digitally. It is available to patients and healthcare providers and can be accessed anytime, including in times of being away from home and in a medical emergency, wherever there is an internet connection available.
Patient benefits
Having a My Health Record means you don’t have to remember things like dates of past appointments, test results, names of medicines and their dosages or carry around paperwork. While anyone can have one, people who have multiple health conditions and several clinicians involved in their care benefit the most. It is particularly useful for people who travel and has helped people displaced from their homes and communities during times of natural disaster.
What is in a record
Individuals and health professionals can upload information to My Health Record. This includes for:
allergies, medicines, adverse reactions
immunisation history
diagnostic imaging reports, such as ultrasounds and x-rays
pathology reports, such as blood test results
hospital discharge summaries
goals of care and advance care planning documents
organ donor status
emergency contact details
personal health notes
prescription and medicine dispense records and pharmacist shared medicines list
shared health summaries, which is a clinical record of your health status at a single point in time
event summaries, which contain information about a significant healthcare event you may have had
e-Referrals and specialist letters.
Managing privacy
My Health Record is protected by legislation and a range of security controls. All documents are set to give healthcare providers general access but people can change who they do or don’t want to access their information.
‘People can nominate a representative, such as family and carers, to view or help manage their My Health Record. People can also be an authorised representative for their child or older person who lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves.
How to access
To access My Health Record, you need a myGov account. myGov is a secure way to access Australian Government services online.
Diagnostic imaging (x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds etc) and pathology tests (blood, urine, tissues) help doctors to make more accurate diagnoses and decide on treatment options.
Recent changes to the law for healthcare providers means, that pathology and diagnostic imaging results will now start to be uploaded to a patient’s My Health Record more regularly and quickly.
Once reports are uploaded the patient can choose to share them (or not) with other members of their healthcare team – from a single and secure location.
Electronic referrals/requesting
Some pathology and radiology services have special software that allows doctors and other healthcare providers to send electronic (referral) requests for tests, meaning that the patient doesn’t need to remember to take a paper copy.
Murray PHN acknowledges its catchment crosses over many unceded First Nations Countries, following the Dhelkunya Yaluk (Healing River).
We pay our respects and give thanks to the Ancestors, Elders and Young people for their nurturing, protection and caregiving of these sacred lands and waterways, acknowledging their continuing cultural, spiritual and educational practices.
We are grateful for the sharing of Country and the renewal that Country gives us. We acknowledge and express our sorrow that this sharing has come at a personal, spiritual and cultural cost to the wellbeing of First Nations peoples. We commit to addressing the injustices of colonisation across our catchment, and to listening to the wisdom of First Nations communities who hold the knowledge to enable healing. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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