2022 is shaping up as a transformational year for specialist medical practices in the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network region.
My Health record update
Viewing and uploading documents to My Health Record is now standard practice for most healthcare providers and expected by many patients. 95 per cent of Australians now have a My Health Record, and pharmacists, GPs and public hospitals are overwhelmingly using it.
My Health Record use among specialists has spiked since it became accessible through clinical software in late 2021. Documents uploaded by specialists and viewed by other healthcare providers increased by 23 per cent in January 2022. Treating specialists can now upload specialist letters to My Health Record for better communication with GPs.
Why should medical specialists use My Health Record?
- Fast access to key health information to support you in caring for your patients.
- Help improve clinical decision making.
- Avoid duplication of tests, scans and diagnostics.
- Medicine reconciliation tasks and prescribing.
- Help to inform end-of- life care decisions.
Practice managers will be thankful for the time saved that would otherwise be spent chasing up paper or faxed records from other practices. This will boost your business efficiency and reduce costs.
Patients will appreciate the more efficient and person-centred care that your practice can provide by using My Health Record. Many patients now expect to be able to log in to My Health Record and conveniently view a snapshot of their health history. They feel safe knowing their healthcare providers can access this in an emergency.
Quick links
- How to prepare and register your organisation for My Health Record
- Check to see if your clinical software is conformant with My Health Record
- Registration:
- Videos for specialists:
- Australian Digital Health Agency: My Health Record for specialists
Latest clinical software updates – exciting news for Genie and Zedmed users
Practices using Genie can now upload specialist letters to My Health Record from within their clinical software. View the fact sheet (.pdf) for more information.
Practices using Zedmed also have new and enhanced My Health Record functionality.
Visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website to find out the latest updates for your clinical software including summary sheets and software simulators.
Meet Sonia Zahra, your NWMPHN digital health expert
Sonia Zahra is the new NWMPHN Digital Health Projects Program Officer and is your dedicated contact person. Sonia can support you to register for and get the most out of My Health Record.
Sonia has over 25 years’ experience in health care. She is a qualified practice manager, an accreditation surveyor and has considerable experience supporting health professionals in digital health and quality improvement.
Sonia can be reached on (03) 9347 1188 or by email to digitalhealth@nwmphn.org.au
Upcoming education sessions for medical specialists
My Health Record for specialist medical practice: optimising patient care
Sonia will be joined by Samar Omar, a digital health educator at the Australian Digital Health Agency, for this webinar on Tuesday, 5 April 2022 (12pm – 1pm).
The session is designed for medical specialists and practice managers and will support you to get the most out of My Health Record for your business and your patients.
ADHA education
The Australian Digital Health Agency has a range of online training sessions including 3 new digital health modules. Visit training.digitalhealth.gov.au
