eHealth


eHealth and Healthcare Identifiers


Overview

Accurate identification of individuals, and communication of their health information, is a vital part of effective healthcare. Mismatching of patients and their records and results is a documented problem for the health system. It is estimated that 10% of hospital admissions are due to adverse drug events and that up to 18% of medical errors are due to inadequate availability of patient information.

The Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service is a national system for uniquely identifying healthcare providers and individuals and will only be accessible to those with a 'Healthcare Provider Identifier - Individual' (HPI-I) or an authorised employee. Healthcare Identifiers will give both providers and individuals confidence that the right information is associated with the right individual at the point of care. The use of healthcare identifiers contributes to immediate improvements in existing methods of communication between healthcare providers and will help in future eHealth developments.

Healthcare Identifiers are an important building block to enable Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR), which is a key part of National Health Reform. The PCEHR will use healthcare identifiers to provide greater certainty that your information is being correctly attributed to your electronic record and the accurate communication of your health information. The information in the PCEHR system will be accessible only by the patient and their authorised healthcare providers. Security of PCEHR health information will be protected through a combination of governance arrangements, supported by information privacy and system security measures.

Brisbane South Division, along with the Ipswich and West Moreton Division of General Practice, are working with local healthcare providers to help achieve the following objectives:

Objectives

  • Ensure that practices are aware of and understand the HI Service, Healthcare Provider Directory (HPD) and the three health identifiers used: Healthcare Provider Identifier Organisation (HPI-O), Healthcare Provider Identifier Individual (HPI-I) and Individual Health Identifier (IHI)
  • Help practices obtain their HPI-O, identifying staff who qualify for a HPI-I and confirming they have received it
  • Help practices and GPs link to the HPD
  • Train practice staff in the effective use of the HI Service via Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates
  • Link patient IHIs to existing practice records
  • Register, create and use PCEHRs to ensure accurate communication of health information

These objectives will help deliver the following key benefits:

Benefits

There are four key areas where the use of IHIs to support safe and secure electronic exchange of information will delivery immediate benefits:

  • Discharge summaries
  • Pathology tests
  • Prescriptions
  • Referrals

All will benefit with the ability to more efficiently check that the correct information is linked to the correct patient - whether it be scripts, test results or referrals. Additionally, the use of the HPD will allow GPs to locate other providers and specialists in a timely manner and facilitate communication with others when referring patients or making decisions about patient care needs. The true benefit of these initiatives won’t be seen until a majority of practices and GPs become involved in the process.

Getting Involved

To find out more, please contact the Division's eHealth team on 3274 1886, to request for one of our qualified staff to visit your practice to explain the process and answer any questions you may have.

For additional information, please visit out eHealth resources page.