Here, SDHB chief medical officer DR NIGEL MILLAR explains aspects of the new system and reporter ELSPETH MCLEAN checks out her own record.
Only the "most reliable'' parts of patients' health records are being shared through the HealthOne system, Southern District Health Boards chief medical officer Dr Nigel Millar says.
General practitioners' notes of patient consultations would not be in the electronic system although a list of recent appointments could be, without the content of the consultation being spelled out.
Such things as a patient's conditions, test results, prescribed and dispensed medications and any allergies and warnings would usually be on HealthOne.
In the situation where allergy information from a GP's record and information included on the national Medical Warnings System (an alert system linked to patients' national health index numbers) might differ and the patient in hospital was not able to answer questions, clinical judgement would be required, Dr Millar said.
He agreed information recorded on allergies was not always consistent and work was being done to improve this.
GPs or patients could decide not to share any diagnosis or other information, including medicine details, because they considered it confidential, Dr Millar said. Patients could also opt out of the system altogether (see the information in the fact boxes).
Patients with any concerns could discuss them with their family doctor and also check shared information was accurate.
It was hoped the system, which was developed after the Canterbury earthquakes, would mean less stress for patients as there would be less need for them to repeat themselves or remember all the details of prescribed medications, Dr Millar said.
The information from HealthOne is not yet available to all Otago and Southland health professionals.
Dentists and private hospital clinicians, for instance, are not among those who can access the information.
A system where ambulance staff could seek background information about a patient from a special emergency desk is under consideration but not yet in place.
So far only limited information will show up in shared records about visits to those rural hospitals in the Southern DHB which are run by trusts, although this is expected to change in the future.
HealthOne
In the Southern District Health Board area:
• Shares some health information between GPs, pharmacists and South Island DHB hospitals ( except Nelson and Blenheim, which will join early next year)
• Includes laboratory test results, X-ray/scan results, allergies and alerts, medicines prescribed and dispensed, recent GP appointment dates.
• Allows patients to opt out or decide not to share some information.
• Authorises health professionals to see only relevant information about the patient being treated.
• Is audited monthly to ensure viewing of records is appropriate and justified.
Who to call
More information about HealthOne, including how to opt out or limit shared information, is available from your family doctor, pharmacist, www.HealthOne.org.nz or by telephoning 0508 837-872.
HAPPY WITH LEVEL OF DETAIL
After viewing my information on HealthOne, I feel comfortable about the level of detail provided by my family doctor.
I am the first of my GP's patients to ask him anything about HealthOne, but whether that is because people do not care, assume this information is already being shared, or are unaware of the system, is hard to tell.
He says he has chosen to list only "significant things'' because if every diagnosis was included, the record for some patients could be so long it would become meaningless. In that situation, it would be hard for, say, a hospital clinician, to pick up what was important "among the trivia''.
I was pleased to see my tongue-swelling reaction to Augmentin (a penicillin antibiotic) included. Although this occurred as a result of a hospital prescription, I was not confident it was recorded properly on the somewhat unreliable national Medical Warnings System. I found it reassuring this information would soon be available to any district health board hospital in the South Island.
My GP is a bit ambivalent about the usefulness of the system to him. Having access to information about whether a patient has actually picked up prescribed medication might be helpful in some circumstances, but would not answer the question about whether the patient was actually taking the medicine correctly, or at all.
One of the issues he has is how much notice hospital clinicians may take of information lodged by GPs. He cited the case of a patient with whom he had tried a variety of medications for an ongoing condition to find one which suited. This was duly documented in HealthOne but when the patient went to hospital, this was ignored and one of the ruled-out medications dispensed.
Asked about hospital clinicians ignoring GPs' information, in a written response Southern District Health Board chief medical officer Dr Nigel Millar said "GP information is now more easily and readily available to the hospital specialists, which will make it easier for them to integrate it into the care of patients''.
