From today all Australians have two months, until October 14th, to take action on whether they opt out of the national electronic health records system known as My Health Record.

The electronic health records system has been in existence for several years but previously required specific patient opt-in and agreement for their information to be shared across their doctors and health care providers.

That default is about to change, with Australian’s key health information from GP visits, prescriptions, test results and imaging data such as x-rays to be made available in one secure electronic record – when you most need it. That is the proposed benefit but there are real concerns about privacy for the LGTBI community and how the reformed system will work in practice.

Tonight, in this special edition of The Informer, we hear from community about what they see as the benefits and concerns and how this impacts all of us. Whilst My Health Record might improve our health services it also raises concerns about who knows what about our sensitive health information.

Ian Muchamore speaks with Kent Burgess, Head of Services at Thorne Harbour Health about what My Health Record means for the community. He then speaks with Joshua Badge, an Academic at Deakin University on specific community concerns, and finally he speaks with Meredith Makeham, the Chief Medical Advisor of the Australian Digital Health Agency, the agency responsible for the rollout.