NZ 'lagging on health records'

New Zealand is falling far behind other countries in establishing shared electronic health record systems, says Ian Hight, client solutions director for private health IT provider HealthLink.

Such systems would allow health professionals to view and update complete patient records. Patients would also be able to view their records.

New Zealand has so far failed to adopt shared systems despite the fact that it has one of the highest rates of electronic medical record usage in the developed world - an important building block for shared record systems, Mr Hight says.

"We are moving incredibly slowly relative to other countries."

Regulation and policy are needed, he says, so stakeholders can calculate the risk and return of investment, and so public and private sector roles are defined. "Where do we engage with the public sector, are we complementing them or competing with them?"

He says it is hard to understand the lack of progress when research indicates electronic health records deliver a three-to-one return on investment.

Other questions that need to be addressed are whether the health professional who created a record or the patient would own it, who would be accountable if information was missing or incorrect, and who would pay for the service.

He says overseas experiences have shown local electronic health record projects have been more successful than national ones, and he doubts that having a single government-owned-and-run system would work in New Zealand.

Private organisations should be able to compete for a share of the electronic health record market.

People should be able to choose whether they store their health information online and where they store it.

"We have a choice of banks and banking systems, we have a choice of telcos and telco systems, why not a choice of shared electronic health record suppliers and systems?"

New Zealand has a National Health Index where hospitals and other health providers hold demographic details, and a Health Practitioners Index to identify professionals. Medical professionals use HealthLink's network and others to exchange information online.

- © Fairfax NZ News