Australia's Personally Controlled E-Health Record system starts

I have been interested in following the development of this.  It is a national architecture for an electronically personally controlled health record system.  The recent demise of the UK system suggests that large national architectures don't always do well.  To my knowledge Canada does not have nor is planning such an architecture.  Alberta has the backbone infrastructure to use one, through their Myhealth system. I am not at all sure about eHealth Ontario.

Australia’s controversial Personally Controlled E-Health Record (PCEHR) system is to become available from today onwards.

The PCEHR, accessed by the patient and his or her authorised healthcare providers, is a electronic record of patient’s medical history, stored and shared in a network of connected systems.

Managed by the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing, the PCEHR reform agenda will save the Australian government and related agencies US$11.5 billion over 15 years.

These saving stem from expanded use of health information management systems, on-line registration capabilies, improved information-sharing between healthcare providers, and consolidated patient record-keeping programmes.

Initially, consumers can register for the e-Health system using a dedicated 1800 number.

An on-line registration website is being finalised by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, enabling citizens to register on-line through a dedicated portal.

The PCEHR offers an opt-in system, however it is still unclear how this opt-in system will work.

The PCEHR legislation clarifies guidelines about who can enter health information and who can read or change this information. Among these guidelines, patients can access their own e-Health record. They can also track who else has accessed their record.

Patients can upgrade their privacy settings to suit personal needs. But only doctors, or other health professionals, will be alllowed to create medical notes on a patient’s file.

Users who sign up for an eHealth record will no longer have to repeat their medical history each time they see a different GP or other healthcare professional.

ePosters at eHealth 2012 Vancouver

I was just looking through some of the ePosters from the eHealth 2012 conference in Vancouver.  I am glad I didn't go because I was accepted for an ePoster and I don't think mine (on Personal Health Records) would look as good as some of these.

Global eHealth & Environmental eHealth

I have read some of the work of Dr. Richard Scott from the University of Calgary on Information Communication Technology and Global Health.  I have in my calendar to listen to a webinar that he will give today through COACH.  I didn't know he was leading a program on Environmental eHealth - which is thinking outside the box literally. Had a look through the WHO Global eHealth Bulletin the other day.

Autism, Calories, & Marathons

Instead of scouring the world's headlines for ehealth stories for this blog, I have been silently reading 3 books.

1. It is funny how we hear about books. The first I heard about on an interview with James Fitzgerald on CBC radio.  I thought it tragic that both his father and paternal grandfather, who were in the medical profession, had committed suicide.  Then there was the intriguing story about how his grandfather's life was kept secret in a kind of family shame.  It turns out the grandfather, Gerry Fitzgerald, was the founder of Connaught Labs at the University of Toronto, which developed the insulin of Banting and Best, (and a lot of other vaccines for mass public immunization) and was one of the visionary founders and promoters of Public Health in Canada.
What Disturbs our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past", by James Fitzgerald.
2. Different ... Not Less: Inspiring Stories of Achievement and Successful Employment from Adults with Autism, Asperger's, and ADHD, edited by Temple Grandin, PhD. I saw the TV special about her and her special gifts working as a designer in the cattle industry.  In my job in research ethics I have seen a lot of research on autism spectrum. The stories of the lives of persons living with the spectrum, or are "Aspies" makes me think how many people I might know or have known who have this condition but have learned how to adapt among all us "neurotypicals".   Someone told me a lot of people leading developments in Silicon Valley are like this.  One of the life stories speculates that even Steven Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Computer, might have had Asperger's syndrome.

3. The book about diet is probably the only one that I won't finish reading, as it is kind of dense, but it also one of the most interesting.  Well written books that question the "conventional wisdom" and science itself are always welcome.  I heard about this book in a conversation with a Psychology professor who had previously told me about another great book that questioned the conventional wisdom, and which I also read, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall . 

Medical Clown School - No, Really!

Healthcare Informatics top 100 rankings

No idea there was such a thing -  but here are the top 100 Healthcare Informatics rankings:
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/hci100/2012-healthcare-informatics-100-ranking

iPatients and Diagnosis

Are physicians losing the art and science of the physical exam because of technology?  Dr. Abraham Verghese in this TED talk refers to the "ipatient" - when the the electronic record is viewed as being of more importance than observation of the actual patient.  The topic of the disappearing art of the physical exam also appears in an excellent book, "Every Patient Tells a Story" by Dr. Lisa Sanders.  Dr. Sanders apparently used to consult on the TV program House, as well as writing a column on "Diagnosis" for the New York Times.  There is a lesson here for health informatics.  I used to think the "virtual patient" would be quite useful to run diagnostic simulations, self-tracking, etc., but this is different.