"To date, all testing of the PCEHR system has been undertaken using test data, which comprises fictitious demographic and healthcare identifier details," an explanatory statement says.
"This proclamation enables real data testing of the system before it goes live on July 1."
Staff at Medicare offices and in call centres are ready to commence registration of any Australian wishing to sign-up for their own e-health record.
"People can register for a PCEHR by calling 1800 723 471 or by attending any service centre offering Medicare services," Human Services general manager Hank Jongen told The Australian.
"To register, appropriate evidence of identity will need to be provided."
Mr Jongen said people wanting to create a record for their children or other dependants will also need to provide evidence of their legal or parental role.
The PCEHR legislation received Royal Assent late on Tuesday, and the accompanying regulations were tabled late yesterday.
There are also amendments to the Healthcare Identifiers legislation to permit interactions between the PCEHR System Operator, Health department secretary Jane Halton, and Medicare as HI service provider.
However, the rules covering day-to-day operation of the system have not been released.
The legislation provides strong penalties for breaches of privacy, including jail terms and large fines, although these only apply to private-sector participants and not to employees of any federal or state government agency.
This week, the peak GP groups told the Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, that while they shared the vision for e-health, they "could not support the PCEHR implementation in its current form".
United General Practice Australia has called for a review of timelines for the PCEHR rollout, and a much higher level of support for adoption.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has assumed its role as independent privacy regulator for the e-health records system.
Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim says the new law includes "specific privacy obligations and it is very important for healthcare providers to understand those obligations" and the consequences of non-compliance".
"These obligations recognise the particularly sensitive nature of health information and the importance that the community puts on its protection," he told The Australian.
"I have been given a range of new enforcement powers to seek remedies where the privacy of an individual’s e-health record has not been protected.
"We will be issuing guidelines which will outline the approach I will be taking to enforcement issues, as well as publishing some general information on the handling of personal information within the context of the PCEHR launch."
The office was given $4.6 million over two years in the recent budget to maintain privacy safeguards.
Mr Pilgrim said it was expanding its compliance functions, including investigations of complaints about the mishandling of e-health records by healthcare providers and other system participants.
"People will be able to make a complaint to us if there has been an unauthorised collection, use or disclosure of health information in their e-health record, or if they are concerned about access or the accuracy of information contained in the record," he said.
"The expanded compliance functions also include a requirement for mandatory data breach notifications in certain circumstances.”
The new privacy obligations are in addition to those applying under the Privacy Act and various state and territory privacy or health information protection laws.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Karen Dearne
Quelle/Source: Australian IT, 29.06.2012
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