Health Minister Nicola Roxon told parliament on Wednesday an e-health system would improve safety, quality and patient convenience by ensuring the right people can get the right information at the right time.
Ms Roxon was introducing a bill to set up a national healthcare identifier system.
It would improve the exchange of information about patients and lay the foundations for an e-health record system.
Ms Roxon said there was now no single process to identify patients and healthcare providers.
For example, when a patient visited their GP, the identifying number on their health record was different to the one at the pharmacy where their prescription was filled or the pathology laboratory where their blood was tested. Healthcare providers have similar problems.
"This fragmented approach to identification does not provide the accuracy or consistency needed to confidently share health information in an electronic environment," Ms Roxon said.
"Nor does it adequately support the safe delivery of healthcare, with providers regularly required to match patients and patient information to their records, increasing the risk of mismatching records and of tests needing to be re-ordered."
Ms Roxon said hospital studies indicate that between nine and 17 per cent of tests are unnecessary duplicates and up to 18 per cent of medical errors are caused by information about patients not being available.
The system was supported by the states and territories and had undergone three independent privacy impact statements, she said.
There were strict limits on how the identifiers could be used.
While everyone who received healthcare in Australia would be issued with an identifier, patients could still be treated anonymously if they wished.
Debate on the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 was adjourned.
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Quelle/Source: Australian, 10.02.2010
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