BETWEEN bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), has reported an increase in health practitioners using the My Health Record (MHR).
The ADHA's annual report revealed 99% of pharmacies were registered to upload data to patients' MHRs at 30 Jun - up from 88% in 2019 - while dispense records were up from 27 million to 82 million in the same period.
ADHA Independent Clinical Advisor, Dr Steve Hambleton, said health workers were increasingly seeing the benefits of digital health.
"I want hospitals and specialists to have rapid access to relevant information about my patients when they are caring for them, and as a GP, when a patient comes back to see me having been discharged from hospital or with a report from a specialist, I value what those hospitals and specialists share and upload to MHR for the ongoing care I provide," he said.
The ADHA report found the number of documents uploaded by public hospitals and viewed by other healthcare providers had jumped by 300% in the year to Jun, a trend welcomed by the agency's CEO, Amanda Cattermole.
"Over the last 12 months it's been great to see the increases in clinically helpful data in the system and the sharing and viewing by health professionals," she said.
"MHR provides the repository for consumers' health data and is a great way for them to safely and securely engage with their healthcare providers.
"I encourage people to log into their MHR and ensure their information including allergies, medicines, immunisations, and any pathology reports has been uploaded.
"It can make a significant difference to health outcomes and assist medical staff in diagnosis and treatment."
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