My Health Record: Examining Privacy, Reliability, and Consent Issues

This essay critically analyzes the My Health Record (MHR) system in Australia, examining its implications for data privacy, reliability, and informed consent. The author highlights three primary issues: the lack of trust in the e-record as a dependable source of medical information, the risks associated with storing and transmitting private data online, and the contradiction of the opt-out scheme with best practices for informed consent. The essay references several sources to support the arguments, including the opinions of doctors and the privacy policy of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). The author concludes by recommending that individuals should opt out of the scheme due to the limited advantages it offers. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges associated with the MHR system, making a strong case against its implementation.

Running head: MY HEALTH RECORD [MHR]
MY HEALTH RECORD [MHR]
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MY HEALTH RECORD
After so many years of ambiguity regarding the functioning of the eHealth system in the
nation, Australia is gearing up for the challenge by escalating the scheme of My Health Record
(MHR) to the whole population of the country, excepting those individuals who selected to stay
out of the scheme. According to Hemsley et. al. (2016), if an individual of the nation chose to
remain with the scheme of MHR system, then the government of the nation shall create a digital
record of the medical information of such individual, which shall be centrally stored and such
individual shall have access to the record. There are three primary issues with this scheme.
Firstly, one cannot rely on such e-record as a record of medical information. Many
Australians might believe that MHR is an e-record that can be trusted and can be depended on.
However, contrary to what these Australians think, the other individuals of the nation believe
that MHR is not a clinically dependable health record. According to the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner (OAIC), the system of MHR contains an internet based summary
relevant information about the health of a particular patient (Bennett, 2013). For instance, if a
child was being treated by a doctor in the emergency, that particular doctor would not be able to
trust the MHR to obtain information about the medicines of that child till date. In the case of an
emergency, any information or knowledge that is untrustworthy is not help but a diversion.
Certain doctors have raised objections regarding the incompleteness and lack of usefulness of the
system of MHR. Even after such opinions of the doctors of the nation, the government is
spearheading this dicey scheme.
Secondly, according to the MHR”s privacy policy itself, the Australian Digital Health
Agency (ADHA) mentioned that there are perils in relation to the storage and transmission of
private data being done online. If medical records are being stored digitally then the hacker,
snoopers and the criminals will have access to such information. The hackers can steal the

2MY HEALTH RECORD
personal identity from such health records, which is the basis for other valuable information. It is
not the case that only the doctor of an individual will be able to access such private health data.
The default situation is that any person shall be able to access such data about the doctors, nurses
and staffs of different institutions (Pearce & Bainbridge, 2014).
Thirdly, the scheme of opting out is contradictory to the best practice for informed
consent. A consent regarding the utilization of the private data must be expressed, completely
informed, east to understand and there should be need for a participation from the individual’s
side. MHR do not adhere to such policies. The MHR do not ask the permission for an express
consent. In lieu of this, if the mandatory phases are not availed before the specified date
regarding opting out, then the health data will be inevitably copied, stockpiled and shall be made
public. The individuals will have no knowledge about such a situation if opting out is not done
within the specified date (Lehnbom, Brien & McLachlan, 2014).
Therefore, to conclude, it might be said that the individuals should opt out of such
scheme as the advantages in relation to such a scheme is very limited.

3MY HEALTH RECORD
References
Bennett, C. C. (2013). Are we there yet? A journey of health reform in Australia. Medical
Journal of Australia, 199(4), 251-255.
Hemsley, B., Georgiou, A., Carter, R., Hill, S., Higgins, I., van Vliet, P., & Balandin, S. (2016).
Use of the My Health Record by people with communication disability in Australia: A
review to inform the design and direction of future research. Health Information
Management Journal, 45(3), 107-115.
Lehnbom, E. C., Brien, J. E., & McLachlan, A. J. (2014). Knowledge and attitudes regarding the
personally controlled electronic health record: an Australian national survey. Internal
medicine journal, 44(4), 406-409.
Pearce, C., & Bainbridge, M. (2014). A personally controlled electronic health record for
Australia. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(4), 707-713.