Adopting and using My Health Record in residential aged care - guidelines released

A plain English guideline to the adoption and use of My Health Record in residential aged care facilities has been released, providing concise information and guidance for RACFs on the appropriate use of the system.

Developed by the Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC) in association with the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), the guidelines are aimed not just at those who are new to the system or need a refresher but to the wider use group, including clinicians and carers, technologists, senior management and owners, and admin staff.

The guidelines are partly a result of recommendation 68 of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which called for the universal adoption of digital technology and My Health Record.

ACIITC executive lead Anne Livingstone said My Health Record was a valuable tool to promote continuity of resident care and improve health outcomes for older Australians and their families.

“The newly developed My Health Record Guidelines for Residential Aged Care has been co-designed with the aged and community care sector to ensure the guidelines are appropriate for the current service environment,” Ms Livingstone said.

ACIITC chair George Margelis said the guidelines have been developed to provide concise information and guidance for residential aged care facilities on the appropriate use of the My Health Record.

“My Health Record does not replace existing health records, rather, it supplements these with a high-value, shared source of resident information that can improve care planning and decision making,” Dr Margelis said.

The guidelines include a sample security and access policy that sets out all of the policy and compliance requirements for residential aged care facilities using My Health Record.

It also provides information on resources that may assist in the safe and effective implementation and use of the My Health Record system, including participation obligations, national guidelines for on-screen display of medicines information and national guidelines for on-screen presentation of discharge summaries.

The technical requirements for linking to the system are explained, including what the healthcare identifiers are as well as the Provider Digital Access (PRODA) online authentication system, HPOS, and National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates and where to find them.

Download the Guidelines.