Challenges and Benefits of My Health Record

The assignment discusses the potential problems and capabilities of the 'My Health Record' program, which involves electronic storage of patient information. It also highlights the benefits of the system, including improved efficiency in healthcare provision, reduced costs, and enhanced security of patient data. The document concludes that while there are challenges to implementing electronic health records, such as cybersecurity risks and potential privacy infringement, the benefits of the system make it a valuable tool for improving healthcare services in Australia.

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Introduction
Administrative record keeping is the process of maintaining medical records for patients with the
objective o0f providing future references which could help in improving healthcare provision.
Therefore proper record keeping in the healthcare sector contributes to efficiency in healthcare
provision. The “My Health Record” program involves electronic storage of patient information
and hence making it effective since there is no paperwork involved (Sullivan & Wyatt, 2006). A
large amount of data can be stored in the database while occupying minimal space. The program
will help all health care providers to comply with the law governing the keeping of
administrative records.The paper discusses the challenges and the problems that may arise as a
result of using “My health Record” as a method of summarizing a patient`s health information.
The report also discusses the capabilities and the potential benefits of the program. The report
ends with a conclusion that advises on whether the government of Australia should go ahead
with the program or not.
Potential problems
“My Health Record” may bring about a variety of challenges to health care service provision.
One of the major issues that may affect electronic health keeping through “My Health Record”
program is the safety of patient information. We are in an era where cybercrime is on the rise.It,
therefore, means storing patient data on electronic systems may expose it to theft through
hacking and this may infringe on the patient rights (Gupta, 2008). If the information reaches a
third party who is not authorized to access the information, it may result in stiff penalties for the
health care provider or even jail sentence.

Another challenge that could be faced when the electronic record keeping system gets introduced
in the healthcare sector is that the data may get permanently lost as a result of the breakdown of
the systems (Iacovino, 2006). Recovering this data can either be difficult or entirely impossible.
Another potential challenge of electronic health records is that they do not follow the normal
workflow of a physicist. It may interfere with the productivity of clinicians and other healthcare
professionals and hence affecting health care services.
There is also the problem of medical identity theft.Electronic healthcare record keeping has
opened a gap that could be exploited to commit identity theft. Medical identity theft is the illegal
use of personal information of a patient to obtain medical services. The data can also be sold to
criminals globally.
Capabilities
The “My Health Record’ program has many capabilities that make it suitable for record keeping
of medical records. “My Health Record” can improve the efficiency in service provision in the
healthcare sector in Australia. It means that patients' data will be easily available and accessible
to medical officers. Medical officers will, therefore, be able to make a diagnosis to the patient
informed by the historical record of the patient as well as tests conducted on the patient
(Kostkova, Szomszor& Fowler, 2012).
The system also has the capability of reducing the cost of record keeping by more than 30%.
Electronic record keeping is cheaper than keeping physical records and hence it has the capacity
of reducing costs for healthcare providers.

The system also has the capability of reducing the cases of privacy infringement when it comes
to healthcare information ( Pagano, M. P., & Pagano, 2011). Data stored electronically may be
safer compared to data stored in other forms.The data is more secure because few people can
access data that is stored electronically compared to records stored physically.
Benefits
One of the benefits of the “My Health Record” is that it will help all health care providers to
comply with Government legislation governing patient information record keeping(Azim,
Tunon&Baqui, 2013).Therefore, the government can be able to plan and improve standards of
health care for its citizens when it has reliable and up to date medical records of all patients.
Another benefit is that medical officers can be able to use the medical records to treat a patient
without seeking too much medical history from the patient, some of which is difficult to recall.It
will make the work of medical physicians easy since the data is reliable and accurate (Goldstein,
2007).
Patient health information stored electronically will be more secure if appropriate security
measures are taken to protect the data. It will ensure adherence to privacy and confidentiality
laws if appropriate security measures are put in place
Another benefit of electronic health records is that people who find themselves in casualty
situation such as an accident or natural disaster can benefit from the records. Even when the
patient is unresponsive, the doctor can access the information and use the historical data of the
patient to help save the life of the patient.

Since in most instances, the patient is under the care of different doctors, the medical staff can be
able to exchange important information about the patient in an easy manner. Medical
practitioners can also easily transfer data on the patient to other departments without making
errors which can be made if other methods are used (Williams &amarth, 2011).
The quality of healthcare in Australia will improve as a result of the adoption of “My Health
Record.”Quality will improve because the timely and accurate data generated from the system
will lead to a better diagnosis.
Conclusion
From the study carried out,“MyHealth Record” has various benefits and challenges. The
electronic health record system is cheap and affordable to the players in the healthcare sector in
Australia. The cost of installing and maintaining the record keeping systems is low and hence
making it`s a good choice. The system will also improve efficiency in health care provision
since information is easily assessable and reliable. “My Health Record” can be insecure because
its more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals and hence may lead to theft or loss of patient
health records. The information in the electronic storage system can get assessed by unauthorized
persons and hence lead to infringement of privacy rights of patients. The other problem that may
be brought about by “My Health Record.”

References
Azim, S., Tunon, C., &Baqui, A. (2013). Record Keeping Systems for Quality Improvement in
Urban Primary Health Care Clinics. World Health & Population, 2(2).
http://dx.doi.org/10.12927/whp..17508
Goldstein, D. E. (2007). Medical informatics 20/20: Quality and electronic health records
through collaboration, open solutions, and innovation. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett
Publishers.
Gupta, M. (2008). Archives and records management. New Delhi: Global India Publications.
Iacovino, L. (2006). Recordkeeping, ethics, and law: Regulatory models, participant
relationships, and responsibilities in the online world. Dordrecht: Springer.
In El, M. C. (2014). Research perspectives on the role of informatics in health policy
management. Hershey, PA: Medical Information Science Reference.
Kostkova, P., Szomszor, M., & Fowler, D. (2012). Electronic Healthcare: 4th International
Conference, eHealth 2011, Mâalaga, Spain, November 21-23, 2011, Revised Selected Papers.
Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Pagano, M. P., & Pagano, C. L. (2011). Authoring patient records: An interactive guide.
Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Sullivan, F., & Wyatt, J. C. (2006). ABC of health informatics. Malden, Mass: Blackwell
Publishing.

Williams, T., & Samarth, A. (2011). Electronic health records for dummies. Hoboken, N.J:
Wiley Pub.