What is My Health Record?
What is My Health Record?
What's coming up?
In this activity, you'll learn what My Health Record is and how it works with your MyGov account. We'll also look at how your healthcare providers can help.
Start activitySo, what is My Health Record?
My Health Record is a secure digital service that you sign into to see important details about your health. Like many other online government services, you can link it to your myGov account.
Your My Health Record can store your health information such as recent medical appointments, keep a list of your current prescriptions, note your allergies and vaccinations and it can be seen by you, your healthcare providers and anyone else with whom you choose to share it.
Once linked, you can access your information in one safe and secure place via your myGov account.
Who can access My Health Record?
Your My Health Record can only be accessed by you, your healthcare providers, and anyone you have nominated as a representative.
Most of the time, that usually just means your GP, but could include pathology and diagnostic imaging providers, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and medical specialists. Hospital healthcare staff can also get temporary access, for example if you are involved in an emergency and are unable to communicate with them.
Can I control who sees My Health Record?
You have full control over who is allowed to see your medical history and other details.
You can control what information appears, and who can see it. For instance, you might decide it's important that your doctor sees your pathology results, but not other healthcare professionals, such as your chiropractor or pharmacist.
eSafety tip
One of My Health Record's main features is to give you full control over your privacy. For more on how to control your privacy, see the activity, Protecting Your privacy on My Health Record later on in this course.
Is My Health Record compulsory?
You don't have to keep your My Health Record up to date, and you can choose to opt out of various parts of the service.
You can also delete all the information in your My Health Record at any time, or cancel it altogether. If you do cancel your My Health Record, you can re-register for a new one later.
If medical records appear on your My Health Record that you don't want others to see, you can set rules or exclude those documents, so not even your doctor can see them.
Who else can see My Health Record?
You can invite people you trust to act as Nominated Representatives on your My Health Record. A Nominated Representative can access your My Health Record to view or upload your important health information if you are unable to do so for any reason. Depending on the access level you give them, they can also help to manage your record.
Often, a Nominated Representative is a close family member or friend, but they can be anyone you trust.
Where does the information in My Health Record come from?
My Health Record can use your existing Medicare record to get started, but you or your Nominated Representative can also add medical information.
We'll show you how to do this in a later activity, and it's useful to keep in mind that the more you add to your My Health Record, the more useful it can become.
Well done!
This is the end of the What is My Health Record? activity. You've learned what My Health Record is, what information it contains, and how you can access it.
Up next, you'll learn how to link My Health Record to your myGov account, in the Linking to My Health Record activity.
