It all started when I moved house. For much longer than I expected, I lived occasionally in my old house as well as in the new one. When I needed the doctor, I found one near my work or near the new address. Sometimes I travelled back to the old suburb just to follow up with a doctor I knew.
A couple more medical problems came up and suddenly I found I had medical records scattered across a dozen doctors and specialists. When I filled in a form that asked for my family doctor, I didn’t know which one to put in.
My Health Record is perfect for people like me. My Health Record is the national digital health record platform for Australia and is managed by the Australian Digital Health Agency. It is an online summary of your key health information. You can give all your specialists access to your important health information like which medicines you have used and allergies you may have.
You start by logging into your MyGov record and adding your My Health Record from there. Your health documents are secure and private. No-one can read them until you choose which medical professionals can access them. You can also choose for each medical record – you don’t have to give permission for one doctor to read everything.
You can join a class to learn how to create your own My Health Record and store your medical documents on it. Classes will be open at Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub in August, September and October. There will be an online evening class each month, if you would like to learn on your computer from the comfort of home.
Many people are concerned about the privacy and security of their medical records. If this sounds like you, then you might like to look at these items from your library:
Cybersecurity for Dummies by Joseph Steinberg
This book outlines some easy steps to make it much harder for outsiders to find your private information on the internet. You don’t need to be a computer geek to take care of your passwords and avoid scams.
Privacy for the Cyber Age (streaming video from Kanopy)
Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care by April Falcon Doss
You might think that it doesn’t matter if someone knows which medicines you take, but it can be very useful to find out why it is important to take some care.