Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jul-Aug;21(4):707-13.
doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2013-002068. Epub 2014 Mar 20.

A personally controlled electronic health record for Australia

Christopher Pearce  1 , Michael Bainbridge  2
Affiliations

A personally controlled electronic health record for Australia

Christopher Pearce et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2014 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: On July 1, 2012 Australia launched a personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) designed around the needs of consumers. Using a distributed model and leveraging key component national eHealth infrastructure, the PCEHR is designed to enable sharing of any health information about a patient with them and any other health practitioner involved in their care to whom the patient allows access. This paper discusses the consumer-facing part of the program.

Method: Design of the system was through stakeholder consultation and the development of detailed requirements, followed by clinical design assurance.

Results: Patients are able to access any posted information through a web-accessible 'consumer portal.' Within the portal they are able to assert access controls on all or part of their record. The portal includes areas for consumers to record their own personal information.

Discussion: The PCEHR has the potential to transform the ability of patients to actively engage in their own healthcare, and to enable the emerging partnership model of health and healthcare in medicine. The ability to access health information traditionally kept within the closed walls of institutions also raises challenges for the profession, both in the language clinicians choose and the ethical issues raised by the changed roles and responsibilities.

Conclusions: The PCEHR is aimed at connecting all participants and their interventions, and is intended to become a system-wide activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
System architecture. PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits System; PCEHR, personally controlled electronic health record.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Consumer portal screen. The health overview is shown on the right and the index view on the left.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Access control summary. The end-user controls record access status and document status. LDAC, limited document access code; RAC, record access code.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jha AK, Doolan D, Grandt D, et al. The use of health information technology in seven nations. Int J Med Inform 2008;77:848–54 - PubMed
    1. Pearce CM, Haikerwal MC. E-health in Australia: time to plunge into the 21st century. Med J Aust 2010;193:397–8 - PubMed
    1. Halamka JD, Mandl KD, Tang PC. Early experiences with personal health records. J Am Med Inform Soc 2008;15:1–7 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ventres W, Kooienga S, Vuckovic N, et al. Physicians, patients, and the electronic health record: an ethnographic analysis. Ann Fam Med 2006;4:124–31 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pearce CM, Arnold MV, Phillips CB, et al. The patient and the computer in the primary care consultation. J Am Med Inform Soc 2011;18:138–42 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms