Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 14 OCTOBER 2008

Electronic Health Information Systems

There is a growing trend towards the use of electronic records and databases for the collection, storage and transfer of health information, and the integration of health information systems to create shared electronic health records.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Christina Crotty
Christina Crotty

There is a growing trend towards the use of electronic records and databases for the collection, storage and transfer of health information, and the integration of health information systems to create shared electronic health records. While this allows health service providers to better access health information, it also has important implications for privacy.

The ALRC's Final Report considered this trend and the Australian Government's proposal to establish national shared electronic health records (SEHR) based on a unique healthcare identifiers system (UHI). The ALRC found that in general, collecting health information into electronic health information systems did not require specific legislative control, provided the Privacy Act was updated to deal with new technologies. However, the ALRC recommended that any SEHR or UHI scheme should be established under specific enabling legislation to address privacy risks, including:

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from