Health ministers delay roll out of individual healthcare identifier

Posted March 10th 2009

by DPS

In a statement following the Health Ministers’ meeting on 5 March, the Health Ministers have said there will be continuing consultations on privacy protections that will be necessary to underpin the important health initiative that all Australian residents will be allocated an individual healthcare identifier (IHI).

The communiqué stated that the IHI will support better linkage of patient information and communication between healthcare providers involved in patient treatment, but will not need to be declared for an individual to receive healthcare. The IHI will not replace the Medicare number, which is used for claiming government healthcare benefits.

Implementation of the IHI will be supported by a strong and effective legislative framework that includes governance arrangements, permitted uses and privacy safeguards.

Strong privacy protection for patient health information is fundamental to delivering high quality individual and public health outcomes. Individuals rightly expect a high level of protection for their personal health information.

It is essential that privacy arrangements appropriately meet community expectations and balance the need to protect the privacy of personal information with the healthcare benefits that can be gained through better sharing of health information.

Government consultations are underway about the recommendations contained in the report by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) of its review of Australian privacy laws, including health privacy protections.

Further consultations are now planned to build on stakeholder feedback that has already been provided on the ALRC proposals and provide an opportunity to consider particular issues relating to privacy safeguards for national eHealth initiatives. A report on the outcomes will be provided to COAG (Council of Australian Governments) by mid-2009. Arrangements for consultation are being developed.

More work will have to be done on this before an IHI can be implemented.