Dr Chris Mitchell, Head of Adoption, Benefits and Change at the National E-Health Transition Authority, says it is "really important that we prioritise rural Australia" for the roll out of ehealth initiatives and infrastructure such as the National Broadband Network which drives it.
"I think rural Australia misses out in a whole lot of areas - in terms of a whole lot of infrastructure - and I think Australia should do more to be meeting that gap for our rural communities," Dr Mitchell explained.
"I think it is really important that we prioritise rural Australia for the roll out of these sorts of technologies if we are going to be taking advantage of them and meet the health needs of our rural communities.
"I think all of us want to work in a better connected health system," Dr Mitchell added.
The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has been the subject of rasping criticism, particularly from doctors.
Almost $500 million has already been spent on the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system but only six per cent of doctors surveyed have created a shared health summary.
The online poll conducted by influential industry portal australiandoctor.com.au surveyed more than 500 doctors, with almost two-thirds of GPs responding that they would not take part in the scheme.
But Dr Mitchell countered it was "still very early days" for the e-health record system and progress was positive when compared with similar overseas programs.
"This is a very new work process for many doctors and GPs and there is a learning curve as doctors and other health practitioners become more familiar with the system," Dr Mitchell said.
"There are almost 5000 GP practices that are now registered and over 550,000 Australians have registered for the record.
Privacy and security concerns
"If you look at international implementations of similar opt-in records; in fact we are doing better than most other countries in terms of this adoption rate," Dr Mitchell continued.
Critics point to privacy issues and security concerns as impediments to the acceptance of the PCEHR program.
"In relation to privacy, one of the major features of this electronic health records is the privacy is really governed by the individual, the consumer," Dr Mitchell commented.
"So, it's the consumer who decides who the information is shared with.
"We've got over 500,000 Australians registered and of those, less than one per cent are choosing to enact privacy processes that restrict access to other practitioners, so most consumers actually want a record to share with other health providers," Dr Mitchell added.
Security measures were built around models used in areas such as online banking according to Dr Mitchell.
"I think the system has tremendous value, but I think it will take time to reap the benefit of that value.
"If one looks at the implementation of, say, internet banking - this has been a major reform, but it doesn't happen over a year - it happened gradually over five years.
"I think you will see a similar implementation trajectory for this sort of technology as well."
According to Dr Mitchell, people are "hungry for this change".
"I'm a rural GP and when I'm working in my general practice my patients assume that the information that I'm entering in to my computer is available if they present to the local emergency department.
"The fact of the matter is that right now it is not, but we have created a system where, over time, it will be.
"When that happens, we will see the benefits and those benefits will take time to accrue.
"We're at the beginning of a journey ... you've got to start somewhere," Dr Mitchell opined. Telehealth needs regional focus
The implementation of other initiatives such as Telehealth, where patients have video consultations with a range of medical specialists, needs to be more focused toward rural and regional areas in Dr Mitchell's opinion.
"It's a really valuable service and I think it is one that probably highlights the way future health system developments need to occur to make sure that our rural patients have some more equity in our health system," Dr Mitchell said.
To register a personal electronic record of your medical history, visit the ehealth website.
More information regarding Telehealth is available from the Medicare Local website.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): John Casey
Quelle/Source: ABC Local, 26.07.2013
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