My Health Record: after 12 years and more than $2bn, hardly anyone is using digital service

Twelve years after the introduction of My Health Record, Australians are struggling to access their medical information, while clinicians report frustrating difficulties uploading and finding vital health details such as pathology results and diagnostic tests.

The latest annual report from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows just 2.69 million of the 23 million people registered for a My Health Record accessed it in 2020-21. While this is an increase of 14% from the previous year, it was largely driven by people accessing Covid-19 vaccination records and Covid-19 test results.

The chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum (CHF), Leanne Wells, said while upgrades to My Health Record to include access to vaccination information and Advanced Care Plans were welcome, day-to-day health records from consultations, emergency department visits, hospital discharges, pathology, and diagnostic testing were still missing from many records. This is despite more than $2bn being spent on the system since it launched in 2012.

Wells said health providers were simply not uploading these documents. She said uploading records was not always straightforward and clinicians, especially GPs, had consistently raised issues about the system design.

Challenges to date have included many clinicians failing to see benefits of My Health Record use.

Mullins said some clinicians need further training on accessing the records, and that incomplete information in the patient record also meant the information was not always useful.

When outdated or irrelevant information is included in the record, this could also lead to trust issues, Mullins said. Some hospitals also have their own record systems which clinicians find easier to access, she said.

He has chronic health conditions for which he often needs blood tests and hospital visits.

He has worked over time to help make My Health Record more accessible for clinicians in a major public health service.