eHealthNT

eHealthNT implementation is a joint initiative of the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing and the Northern Territory Government's Department of Health and Community Services

Register for the eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record Service

Join the growing number of Territory families registered with the eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record now to benefit your health care.

Registration

Registering with the Shared Electronic Health Record is voluntary and free. You are able to withdraw at any time by contacting a participating health care provider or the eHealthNT office. Parents or legal guardians can register children in their care.

Registration forms are available from:

• a Shared Electronic Health Record Project Officer
• the eHealthNT office or
• a participating health care provider.

For further information, please read the following list of Frequently Asked Questions or contact the Consumer Services Manager on (08) 89 738 643.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Shared Electronic Health Record Service?

The Shared Electronic Health Record is a way of securely storing and sharing important information about your health that is collected when you visit participating health care providers such as NT public hospitals, health centres or GPs.

Your Shared Electronic Health Record does not replace the medical record that is held by your health care provider. It is a summary of your medical record that is accessable by authorised health professionals for the purpose of providing your health care.

How will a Shared Electronic Health Record help me?

If you need to visit different health care providers from time to time, the authorised health professional who is treating you can easily and securely check the summary of your health information in your Shared Electronic Health Record rather than you having to rely solely on your memory.

How do I register with the Shared Electronic Health Record?

Registering with the Shared Electronic Health Record is voluntary and free. You are able to withdraw at any time by contacting a participating health care provider or the eHealthNT office. Parents or legal guardians can register children in their care.

Registration forms are available from a Shared Electronic Health Record Project Officer, the eHealthNT office or a participating health care provider.

What happens after you complete a registration form?

eHealthNT staff will confirm your personal details with your nominated health care provider (that is, your usual health centre or GP) and NT public hospitals, and put these details into your Shared Electronic Health Record. You will be given an identification number so that information can be sent to, and viewed in your record. This number will also be entered into your nominated health care provider's computer system and released to other participating health care providers when you authorise them to access your health information.

If you have not used a service provided by the Department of Health and Community Services you will also be given an identification number used for clients of the Department's services across the NT, commonly called the 'HRN'. This will enable information to be viewed or sent by NT public hospitals.

Should you elect to, at the time of registration, you can also enrol or update your Medicare details, which will be forwarded to Medicare Australia.

Which health care providers are involved?

Health care providers can participate by registering with the Shared Electronic Health Record. Participating health care providers include public hospitals in the Northern Territory, Aboriginal Medical Services, remote health centres and GPs. Authorised health professionals at each facility include doctors, nurses, Aboriginal health workers and allied health professionals.

What information will be in my Shared Electronic Health Record?

When you consent to participate in the Shared Electronic Health Record your name, date of birth and address will be entered into the Shared Electronic Health Record system and an individual registration number is automatically generated. The eHealthNT office will then advise your nominated health care provider, who is participating with the service, of your name and number to make sure that your medical record held there is linked with your Shared Electronic Health Record.

Each time you make a visit to a participating health care provider, a summary of the information collected about your treatment and care is added to your Shared Electronic Health Record. The kind of information includes:

• A profile about your health provided by your nominated health care provider, which may be updated from time to time;
• A summary collected from each visit to a participating health centre, GP or NT public hospital;
• A NT public hospital discharge summary from an admission to a ward or the Emergency Department;
• Pathology test results.

How do you control access to your health information?

You can say "no" at any time. If there is certain information that you do not want viewed or sent to your Shared Electronic Health Record, all you have to do is tell your participating health care provider this and the information will not be viewed or sent. You can also ask later to stop a summary being viewed. Your participating health care provider or the eHealthNT office can assist to arrange this.

You can also check to see who has viewed or sent information to your record. This information is tracked automatically and kept in an 'audit' log. You can ask staff at the eHealthNT office to print this out for you at any time. You can also ask to see the information held in your Shared Electronic Health Record by asking a participating health care provider or the eHealthNT office and you can ask to correct any information.

How will my private information be managed?

eHealthNT complies with the highest national standards for privacy and security, including those set by the National e-Health Transition Authority, and relevant privacy legislation.

The only people who have access to your health information are authorised health care professionals. They are only authorised to access summaries of your health information for the purpose of providing your health care and to check the information is correct.

Your name and address, date of birth, next of kin, and contact details are included in your Shared Electronic Health Record and may be viewed by staff in the eHealthNT office or those staff employed by the participating health care provider for administrative purposes such as updating your contact details.

Shared Electronic Health Record data may be used for evaluation purposes and may be published. The data will not include any health information and you will not be able to be personally identified in any way. Your health information will not be used for other purposes such as research.

The protection of your privacy is extremely important to eHealthNT. If you have any concerns, please talk to your participating health care provider or the eHealthNT office regarding this.

How can I register to participate in the Shared Electronic Health Record?

See eHealthNT representatives when they visit your Local Health Centre or in your Community

The eHealthNT Consumer Registration Team will be visiting your Council and Community to hold meetings and inform the community about the eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record and provide advise on how community members can register to participate. The eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record employs Local Project Officers from communities to work with Consumer Registration Project Officers and assist in communication, identification and consumer registration.

If you would like to be appointed as a Local Project Officer to work with the eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record registration team, or want to find out more about how to register to participate in the eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record please contact:

Consumer Services Manager
eHealthNT Shared Electronic Health Record
Phone: (08) 89 738 643
Fax: (08) 89 717 401