SDHR will enhance and increase access to existing shared record systems

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

The go-live of the Shared Digital Health Record (SDHR) in June will enhance and increase coverage of existing regional shared electronic health records (SEHRs) and will not include implementation for general practice.

The SDHR is a data service designed to securely share patient data across the healthcare system, eventually enabling healthcare providers nationwide to access and update core health information including allergies, adverse reactions, conditions, encounters, and observations.

The project has a budget of $4 million through to the go-live of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) at the end of June 2025.

There are several existing SEHRs, including HealthOne in the South Island, and TestSafe, Your Health Summary and the SEHR in the North Island.

An update from Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora says the SHDR will initially increase both the coverage and breadth of information available through these systems, with a focus on building on what is already working well in different regions.

It has also confirmed there will be no go-live for general practices when the MVP goes live in June, acknowledging that practices need "a reasonable lead-in time" to prepare for implementation.

"We understand that general practices have a number of questions about the SDHR data service, including timeframes, general practice requirements, privacy and consent considerations, how it will work with existing SEHRs, what data will be shared and who will view it," the update says.

“Health NZ is working with stakeholders to answer these questions and confirm timeframes as soon as possible.”

In the first phase, Health NZ is collaborating with primary care providers who opt in to collect and share read-only versions of data held in their practice management systems (PMSs).

“Our intention is that Health NZ will manage the relationship with PMS vendors and make data available to SEHR services,” the update says.

Health NZ says patient privacy and data security remain central to the SDHR and it will provide a simple opt-out process consumers who prefer not to share their information.

"Any current privacy/confidentiality notifications about patient data in primary care systems will be observed,” it says. 

Access to patient information will be monitored and audited, and people will be able to request details of who is accessing their records

The SDHR will be a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources FHIR - based data service and application programming interfaces (APIs) will be made available on the Digital Services Hub later this year. 

Middleware NZ has been awarded the contract to provide FHIR expertise, architecture, development, testing and project management capability.

The SDHR data service will also include data from national collections such as immunisations and the National Health Index.

Future development is subject to funding and will expand access to other parts of the health system, including first responders, hospitals, and specialist services.

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