A big talking point in recent months has been the Federal Government’s plan to scrap the seven-day delay for patients wanting to access pathology and diagnostic imaging results on My Health Record.
Several medical groups representing GPs and pathologists have raised concerns that patients could be unnecessarily alarmed if they don’t have a health professional on hand to explain or interpret the results.
Their argument is that no one should be a medical gatekeeper or deny patients access to their results. But if that’s the case, then that is a solid argument for removing the seven-day hiatus.
We live in a world with real-time access to all matters of health information, including Dr Google where I suspect there is a significantly higher risk of misinterpretation than any results
on MHR.
I speak from recent experience, as someone who had multiple blood tests and imaging over several months. It was frustrating to see the results pop up on MHR – sometimes within a few hours of the test – but padlocked from my access for seven days for no particular reason.
We live in a world with real-time access to all matters of health information, including Dr Google where I suspect there is a significantly higher risk of misinterpretation than any results on MHR.
As each cache of results became available – some positive, some not – I felt more informed. Some were later discussed with doctors.
There have been calls for exceptions to the axing of the seven-day delay, such as genetic test results, and the Government has already paved the way for this discussion, which might have merit.
But denying most patients timely access to their own results seems a lost opportunity, especially when we have real-time digital technology and people are being urged to take a more pro-active role in their health. We have to remember the ‘My’ in My Health Record!