Digital health resources have been developed and curated to assist Fellows and trainees to better understand digital health initiatives, including My Health Record, and provide opportunities for further learning and professional development.

Development of these resources has been in collaboration with the Australian Digital Health Agency, who are responsible for the delivery of Australia's National Digital Health Strategy. The Strategy's key pillars include driving innovation, education and workforce development, enhanced models of care, interoperability and data quality, medicines safety, My Health Record and secure messaging. 

Resources on this page:

Secure messaging | Telehealth | My Health Record | Policy and advocacy | Australian Digital Health funded projects | Other resources

Secure messaging

The need for healthcare providers to connect to each other safely and securely is greater than ever. Secure messaging is an efficient and timely method for sending and receiving clinical information, which minimises the burden of paper and manual processes. An increased uptake of secure messaging improves continuity of care for patients, saves time and can help protect vital health information.

For more information, visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website

Electronic Prescribing 

Electronic prescribing provides a secure, fast, and efficient supply of medicines to Australians – in person via their doctor or telehealth consultation – sent directly to the patient’s mobile phone or email.

Electronic prescriptions are not mandatory and patients will have a choice to receive either an electronic or a paper prescription (but not both).

Visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website for more information on electronic prescriptions.

My Health Record

Best practice guide

The RACP My Health Record: Best Practice Guide (PDF) helps physicians in private practice and rural and remote settings implement and use the My Health Record system. The guide outlines:

• registration and connection guidance
• policy and procedures, including current regulatory obligations and requirements
• systems security and access requirements, including a password policy
• staff training guidelines, including staff agreement procedures and access templates

Visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website for more information on My Health Record.

Resources

System Security and Access Policy Template (DOC)
Managing User Accounts Policy and Register (DOC)
Data Breach Incident Register and Log Template (DOC)
Data Breach Notification Form Template (DOC)
Staff Training Register (DOC)

Part one | The prerequisites for registration

Part two | Registering and connecting

Training and Education

• Complete a free My Health Record eLearning course
• Register for an upcoming Agency webinar or practical demonstration at digitalhealth.gov.au
• Access software summary sheets and resources relevant to your clinical area at digitalhealth.gov.au

If your healthcare provider team or practice would like to request a tailored education or training session, contact education@digitalhealth.gov.au

Policy and advocacy

RACP 2020-21 Pre-budget Submission (PDF) | December 2019

Complex care, consultant physicians and better patient outcomes: Streamlined complex care in the community (PDF) | October 2019

Integrated Care: Physicians supporting better patient outcomes discussion paper (PDF) | March 2018

Australian Digital Health Agency funded projects

The RACP is involved in two Australian Digital Health Agency funded projects.

Project 1

In conjunction with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the RACP will deliver a member-targeted campaign on the increased adoption and utilisation of My Health Record (MyHR) in day-to-day clinical practice in rural, remote and regional (RRR) settings.

We plan to produce RRR physician tailored MyHR training resources, facilitate 3 workshops and to engage two RACP trainees to undertake qualitative analysis on specialist MyHR utilisation pre and post training. 

Project 2

In preparation for the upcoming requirement for public and private pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to share their reports to My Health Record by default, the RACP is conducting a landscape analysis to identify professional divisions (specialties) conducting MBS Category 5 - Diagnostic Imaging services that are likely to be impacted by the requirement. Information regarding the practice information systems in use and the current methods for distribution of reports to requesting clinicians and patients will also be collected.

In addition, we will also be delivering three webinars on MyHR more generally. The outcomes of these projects will be used to inform approaches to improving the utility of MyHR for our members. 

For more information, please contact RACPWorkforce@racp.edu.au