This year you’ll get a My Health Record unless you opt out of the new system by telling the government you don’t want one – before October 15 this year. My Health Record is an online summary of your key health information including medical reports and imaging and many health professionals believe it will positively expedite health care. When you have a My Health Record, your health information can be viewed online, from anywhere, at any time, by yourself  and by health professionals and others you nominate – even if you move or travel interstate.

You and those you nominate can access your health information from any computer or device that’s connected to the internet. Not all your health records have to be uploaded – you get to choose which information goes on your record. If  you need clinical images from a few different service providers you can give those health professionals your permission to upload the images onto My Health Record and then those images can be accessed by others – by professionals or family or guardians to whom you grant access. You can also choose to receive an alert when your information is accessed by a professional or anyone else.  It does mean you don’t have to cart around those unwieldy scans. Find out more at https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/

However, some people don’t want so much personal information stored in one place, in case security is breached.  If you don’t want a My Health Record, tell the government before mid-October – at how to opt out

If you’d like to consider more reasons for and against having a My Health Record, you might like to replay an ABC Radio National Program, Life Matters, which ran a segment on this (Thursday July 19) discussing the pros and cons and you can hear the program here