[Previous entry: "Another eHealth vignette"]
On July 1st, 2012, the Australian government will launch the Personally-Controlled Electronic Health Record, which will be an online summary of your health and medical problems. Against the wishes of of consumer reference groups, doctors, and most of the designers of the system, it will be opt in; if you want one you'll have to ask for it.
In order to educate people about its existence and benefits, a number of scenarios have been devised to illustrate how it will work. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced they are particularly compelling. They include people going on holiday (domestically) and needing their gall bladder out, the sort of thing that is currently handled with irritation but without real difficulty, and which people won't see the benefits until after the fact.
Here's how I think it should be done: sign up for a PCEHR and avoid an unnecessary colonoscopy.
Now, nobody wants a colonoscopy, but they really don't want one they don't have to have. Yet up and down the country, when people move GPs or go to hospital or experience what they think is an unrelated problem, they have a conversation that goes "colonoscopy? Ooh. Three years ago. Or was it four? Did they find anything? Gosh, it all seems so long ago. I don't remember, but I don't think so..." and so their poor doctor sends them off for another scope.
Imagine if, instead, we could easily find out the last was two years ago, that the symptoms were caused by benign conditions, and that a repeat was recommend for five years time?
One in threeish Australians will need a colonoscopy at some point. Don't have more than you need. Get a PCEHR.
2 comments
Grahame :: Wednesday, February 8th
I reckon it's doomed because they'll make it impossible to figure out how to log in / sign up / access it. I signed up for the Medicare Online thing, they -posted- me my credentials (twice, with two different passwords); then once I'd set it up they suggested using an australia.gov.au account. Suckered, I did that - and it generated me a random username I have now forgotten. Doomed!
If those geniuses get near this it'll die.
David Adam :: Wednesday, February 8th
Not to worry, Grahame. You'll simply log in with your IHI obtained from your MSO, and possibly using a NASH-supplied credential. Straightforward!
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