HI gains official approval
June 28, 2010
THE Federal Parliament has
approved the Healthcare Identifiers
Act, which will see patients issued
with their own personal 16 digit
healthcare identifier number.
Separate to an electronic health
record, the individual healthcare
identifier (IHI) will hold only
enough personal information to
identify someone, in order to help
provider organisations better
identify and manage patient
information.
The patient IHIs will also allow
individuals to view their medical
history online and are designed to
“boost safety and quality for
patients and cut waste and
duplication”.
Managed and allocated by
Medicare, the national Healthcare
Identifiers Service will not allocate
an IHI to a patient without his or
her personal consent and is part of
the government’s $466.7m
e-health push.
Patients who agree to an IHI will
not have to remember their
number, as healthcare
professionals can gain access to it
via either the patient’s Medicare
Card, DVA Treatment Card or a
demographic search.
The new legislation also provides
for two additional types of
healthcare identifiers: the
Healthcare Provider Identifier-
Individual, for healthcare
professionals and other personnel
involved in providing patient care
and the Healthcare Provider
Identifier-Organisation, for
organistions (including hospitals,
clinics. etc...) where healthcare
services are provided.
Moving forward, the Federal
Executive Council is now set to
consider regulations to support the
operation of the Healthcare
Identifiers Service.
For more information visit
www.ehealthinfo.gov.au.
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