450,000 patient records uploaded to Your Health Summary

eHealthNews.nz: Interoperability

450,000 patient records uploaded to Your Health Summary

Sunday, 27 June 2021

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NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The primary care health records of close to half a million patients across Auckland have been uploaded to the shared care record system, Your Health Summary (YHS).

The solution is designed to ensure better continuity of care and safety for patients by ensuring their important health information is accessible by authorised healthcare providers that deliver care in a range of care settings, says YHS clinical director Daniel Calder.

The summary includes information about medications, allergies, results and long-term health conditions and is supported by the Northern Region Health Co-ordination Centre and Metro Auckland PHOs.

Nearly 150 practices have signed up since it went live in April 2020, with 450,000 patient records from across Auckland uploaded to Your Health Summary, and 315 clinicians have submitted signed access applications.

Currently, authorised healthcare providers in participating GP clinics, urgent care clinics and Covid-19 vaccination centres can apply for access, so existing users are GPs and nurses working in these settings.

“The next step is to enable access to hospital colleagues and a particular priority would be Emergency Departments as this is another setting where many patients require urgent medical attention and clearly could benefit from access to this system,” Calder explains.

For the shared record system to be effective, it needs a good level of coverage within the region and he encouraged those clinics that have not joined, to urgently prioritise it.

“It is a critical part of supporting patient and whānau care during the current Covid pandemic, when patients who are confirmed or suspected to have Covid-19 may require urgent healthcare services outside of their regular practice,” he says.

“YHS is also of significant benefit to the most vulnerable in our population who do not always receive care for health conditions from the same provider.”

Calder says the pandemic provided a window of opportunity for YHS to be established, at a time when it is needed most.

“Now more than ever, it’s important we continue to work together to support primary care’s ongoing management of Covid-19 — and taking part in YHS is a key part of that,” he says.

Clinics who choose to be a part of YHS need to sign agreements, which ensure access to data while protecting patient data.

“The data sharing process through YHS includes specific consideration of Māori data governance principles, and we want to make clear that the data this system holds is not available for use in population health monitoring or assessment of clinical performance – it is purely to ensure patients receive the very best in primary care, wherever they go,” explains Calder.

Participating practices will be supported through the on-boarding process by their PHO.