A digital health record for the ACT

Overview

Currently, the ACT Health Information and Communication Technology environment is complex with different systems used in the delivery and management of healthcare services. Work has commenced to implement a Digital Health Record that will be a single point of reference for a patient’s clinical record and replaces disparate electronic and paper-based systems.

The Digital Health Record will enable real-time capture of information and access to historical information. Data analytics will also assist future planning of public health services.

More information is available on Health website.

Benefits

The Digital Health Record gives members of healthcare treating teams ready access to the information they need about the person in their care. It will integrate health information from across the ACT public health system so healthcare professionals can access richer information about the patient and improve patient care. It will assist high-quality clinical decisions and motivate patients to participate in their healthcare.

In the shorter-term, the Digital Health Strategy outlines priority areas for investment. The Pathology Laboratory Information System will be replaced to provide reliable and accurate provision of pathology results with reduced turnaround times. In Canberra Health Services pagers have been replaced with clinical-grade smartphones and switchboards have been upgraded so that communications systems are reliable and easy. This reduces training times and makes faster and successful connections.

What we plan to do

This is an eight-year initiative funded from the 2019–20 Budget. The work has commenced and the first phase of the system is expected to be operational in 2022–23. Following the initial implementation phase, the program will continue for a further four years, to achieve the vision outlined in the ACT Digital Health Strategy 2019–29. This may involve consumer and provider portals to improve access to the information held in the Digital Health Record.

What is the difference between the Digital Health Record and the Commonwealth’s My Health Record?

The Digital Health Record has a different scope and purpose to the Australian Government My Health Record, but the two systems are complementary.

The Digital Health Record is a record of all interactions between a person and the public health system in the ACT. As such, it is much more detailed. It will contain records of observations, medications, data fed from devices such as infusion pumps and patient monitors, information on who is in which care facility bed, or which operating theatre and much more. It is a complete view of health care activities in the ACT public health system.

The Australian Government My Health Record is a summary of information about a person’s health. This can be used by people and members of their healthcare team across public and private health systems and across all of Australia in a privacy centred way. It contains information such as medications, diagnoses, discharge summaries, diagnostic imaging and pathology results. This subset of data is essential for accurate and appropriate healthcare across the sector but is not sufficiently detailed to provide care to individuals on a day-to-day basis in a hospital or community health setting.

The law requires that health services providers collect and store information about patient treatments and conditions. This information is already collected via paper-based and other systems. The same information may be collected by other members of healthcare teams such as general practitioners. The Digital Health Record consolidates that data in one place so that it is easily accessible by healthcare teams when they need it to provide patient care.

Status update