Prof Kerryn Phelps was talking about this on Radio National this morning and has had a bit to say about the legislation on Twitter.
Prof Kerryn Phelps AM @drkerrynphelps 11m11 minutes ago
Prof Kerryn Phelps AM Retweeted Louise Smith
The opt-out period is the next three months. You can wait to see what the Minister @GregHuntMP decides next week. If you are not happy with the privacy settings on this legislation, you can opt out, knowing you can opt in at any time in the future.
As a previous president of the AMA, and a fairly sensible woman, I think she has a fair idea what she is talking about. Her concerns were mainly the amount of agencies who could request personal and currently private information, such as GP notes, without a warrant or court order by contacting the regulator, currently the Australian Digital Health Agency, and putting forward a 'reasonable' argument. The decision to release the information would then be made, without the patients consent, by a public servant.
That's uncomfortable enough, but if the Agency was ever privatised (never say never about that) it's possible those decisions would be made by a corporate entity. That's really uncomfortable. The model has changed considerably since the idea was conceived in 2012--back then it was to be controlled by the patient. It seems we cant be trusted with that. Ironic, no?
Her feeling is that GPs may stage a revolt and refuse to upload information that they consider sensitive unless the privacy concerns are addressed which could put them at risk of professional sanctions.
She's also worried about the push by the health insurance companies to have access. That huge amount of data, the health records of potentially 25 million people, is a very valuable piece of kit. Money being the root of all evil (or route if you feel like being literal) nothing should be taken for granted. I think the legislation would have to be tightened considerably for me to be comfortable with it. The cynic in me is also concerned about changes in legislation as time passes which may not be in the individuals best interests.
This story will go on for a while, but the more I'm hearing, the less I like it. There is still more than enough time to make a decision and, as Prof Phelps points out, you can always opt in later.
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