The HCCA wants the consumer benefits of both the ACT’s Digital Health Record and walk-in centres to be reviewed. Photo: Region.
Walk-in Centres and the Digital Health Record are both services valued by the Health Care Consumers’ Association, but its head thinks its time for a comprehensive examination of the benefit they’re actually providing.
HCCA executive director Darlene Cox hoped the nine-month examination of Canberra’s public health system’s functionality would provide the answers they’re after.
Ms Cox said there had been plenty of scrutiny of the administration, financial management and procurement of the ACT’s Digital Health Record (DHR), but the association wanted to know if it had actually delivered on its promises for Canberrans.
“It was sold to us in terms of improving the quality and safety of care,” she said.
“That was music to our ears … but we’re hearing different stories about it, so maybe it’s not meeting all of its goals.
“The ACT has a history of issues around data … [but the time is now] to recognise the questions consumers have about what quality [DHR is delivering] for us.”
Ms Cox said consumers especially appreciated having access to pathology results through myDHR, but there were other functionality issues around booking appointments, communication, and access to records.
She described the current DHR Link pilot as a “vital link” between general practice and the public health system, but its full benefits weren’t being realised.
“We want more visibility around the quality and safety impacts [of DHR],” Ms Cox said.
The same goes for Canberra’s nurse-led Walk-in Centres.
Ms Cox said the HCCA had received plenty of positive feedback about the centre’s affordability and accessibility, but she felt there hadn’t been a holistic evaluation of the service in the decade that it’s been in operation to identify gaps, such as how it was contributing to the treatment of preventative health issues.
“We think the ACT Government made a significant investment, and [the centres] are an important part of the landscape, but it’s time to look at how to make them even better,” she said.
The HCCA will push the independent inquiry – labelled the Walsh Review as it’s being headed up by former drug and alcohol psychologist Michael Walsh – to examine all the questions it has about the DHR and walk-in centres.
Ms Cox said the HCCA would also raised the “beyond reasonable” outpatient wait times in public health, and how to provide more transparency to consumers about the performance of care.
“This is a great opportunity for Mr Walsh to add issues of importance for consumers,” she said.
The advice and recommendations from the Walsh Review are expected to focus on improving the availability of health data, implementing Digital Health Record and planned care reforms, identifying the drivers of health system demand, and factors affecting the recruitment, retention, and morale of healthcare workers.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith recently provided an update on improvements to the DHR, including the DHR Link pilot trial.
DHR Link gives GPs direct access to their patients’ full public health medical record, including hospital records, specialist notes, medications and investigations.
Ms Stephen-Smith said eight GP practices had DHR Link access and several “lessons learned” had already arisen from the pilot.
These included potential legislative reform, as patient information in the DHR can only be shared with GPs if there is written consent. She said this had “presented a practical barrier to uptake”.
Scoping work has since begun on potential changes to the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 to potentially address other issues encountered with DHR’s implementation, such as difficulties in cross-border information, lack of clarity around definitions of “personal health information” and “health records, and requirements around signed written consent to share medical records outside of the strictly confined treating team”.
Integration of DHR Link with the software being used by various GPs was another issue.
“Direct integration in the GP Practice software would improve efficiency, reduce dual documentation and all bi-directional system updates,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“While this is presenting a challenge, the government is committed to working with stakeholders to investigate technical options.
“While the pilot has demonstrated strong potential, expanding access to more general practices will need to be carefully staged with the aim of improving the consent process and increasing the number of consumers giving consent.”
