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Electronic Health Records

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2018

Thursday, 8 February 2018

Questions (235)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

235. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to an initiative in Sweden that would allow persons to access their health records electronically by 2020 (details supplied); and his plans to allow persons to access their records in a similar fashion here. [6632/18]

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Written answers

Regarding the specific situation that the Deputy has referred to in Sweden, representatives from my Department regularly attend eHealth meetings as part of the European eHealth Network with their European counterparts, which includes the Ministry of Health in Sweden. Attendance at these meetings ensures my Department is up-to-date with both progress and challenges encountered by other EU countries that are seeking to progress electronic health records and digital health initiatives.

We must be aware of the lessons learnt from other jurisdictions when developing our own solution for Ireland. Experience from other countries demonstrates that the vendor markets supplying many of these services needs to be carefully managed in terms of capacity and capability to deliver working tailored solutions in a satisfactory manner. My Department is currently evaluating how this might be progressed particularly in delivering an Electronic Health Record in the context of the work being planned for the New Children’s Hospital. The scale of the task in implementing a national electronic health record programme is very large and requires a complex procurement and approval process. It is a five to ten year programme of work depending on the scale of resources deployed.

The National eHealth Strategy along with the development of the Individual Health Identifier, through the Health Identifier Act 2014 are critical elements in ensuring that patients are empowered and can access their own data. The HSE are currently progressing with a health portal initiative which will provide patients access to their information and support patients by involving them in their own health care. The health portal will act as a digital gateway for patients to gain access to health information and to deliver targeted patient centric data to the general public. The initial focus of the health portal will be on maternity service users and will allow patients access to medical reports and upcoming appointments. The range of services available will expand as the Electronic Health Record Programme progresses.

Ensuring patient and professional access to the right information, at the right place, at the right time supports more effective decision-making on the part of clinicians and can also empower patients to be more informed and involved in their own care or treatment. However, there is a need to strike an appropriate balance between using and sharing personal health information appropriately while continuing to protect rights to privacy and confidentiality. Patients must be assured at all times that their personal health information is handled legally, securely, efficiently and effectively in order to deliver the best possible care.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into effect in all member states in May, involves a single set of data protection and privacy rules and establishes a legal basis for the processing of personal data based on clear and uniform principles. The GDPR will replace the current data protection rules on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data. The current focus of my Departments activity is to ensure that the legislative arrangements necessary to support the appropriate information environment exists when the new EU General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect this year.

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