May 16, 2018
A Federal Government plan to create and store health records for all Medicare and DVA card holders is giving Australians just three months to opt out of the system.
In its 2017 Budget, the government announced funding to create a My Health Record for every Australian by the end of 2018, unless they chose not to have one.
This week, the Australian Digital Health Agency – which was tasked with building the new system – announced there would be a three-month window between July 16 and October 15 when Australians can inform the government they wish to opt out of My Health Record.
If consumers they do nothing, they will automatically be enrolled and their last two years of health records will be acquired and entered into the My Health Record system.
The Australian Digital Health Agency said a My Health Record was an online summary of an individual’s key health information.
More than 20 per cent of Australians already have one, whether they’re aware of it or not.
Over time, the My Health Record will bring together health information such as medical conditions, medicines, allergies and test results in one place.
Individuals will have some measure of control over their records, and will be able to ask that specific data not be added to it.
They will also be able to delete certain data if they wish.
Individuals can register on the myhealthrecord.gov.au website to be told when the opt-out period starts.
The Australian Digital Health Agency has also developed a Frequently Asked Questions and Answers document about how My Health Record will work whic can be downloaded from its website
