My Health’s benefits ‘will win support’
CAIRNS pharmacist Richard Thomas believes people will come around to the Federal Government’s controversial online My Health Record.
The system went into a meltdown yesterday as Australians rushed to opt out of the system, which would grant doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals the ability to see everybody’s medical data in one place.
Mr Thomas, manager of Calanna Wholehealth Pharmacy on McLeod Street, said such a system would be useful for Cairns health practitioners due to the high rate of travel to and from the area.
“Because we’re a touristreliant destination, we come across a lot of people who may be travelling and come away without medications, and trying to be able to help them is difficult,” he said.
“You end up trying to chase up their doctor back home for information, so if they had a My Health Record, it would make it easier for us.”
“With this store we deal with a lot of aged-care homes so it’s vital we have the right information for when a patient gets sent home from the hospital in a timely manner.”
Mr Thomas said he understood the concerns of people wishing to opt out.
“There’s been questions over privacy and the process of being signed up to it automatically,” he said.
“From that point of view, the extension is giving more people the chance to understand what it is. As it rolls out I think more people will see the benefits for it.”
Mr Thomas said he believed the system was secure and would allow patients to determine what information would be shared. “There’s a lot of security systems in place to make sure it’s kept private,” he said.