Concept of Operations: Relating to the introduction of a Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record System
3.2.1 Personal control
Central to the PCEHR System is the concept of personal control. Participating individuals can exercise control over their PCEHR in the following ways:- Decide whether or not to have an active PCEHR: The PCEHR System operates on an opt-in model, where individuals elect to register and create a PCEHR. Individuals may de-activate their PCEHR at any time and subsequently reactivate their PCEHR. Registration and deactivation is discussed further in Section 3.2.2.
- Access information in their PCEHR: Individuals will be able to view any health information contained in their PCEHR. The content of the PCEHR is discussed further in Section 4.
- Set controls around healthcare provider access: Individuals may determine and change settings around access to their PCEHR by participating healthcare organisations involved in their healthcare. Individuals may choose from a range of approaches to setting and managing these controls that will give general or limited access. Some access controls may be overridden in situations where the individual requires emergency care. Access control settings are discussed further in Section 5.5.
- Authorise others to access their PCEHR: Individuals may nominate other people (such as carers and family members) to access their PCEHR. Representatives are discussed further in Section 3.2.8.
- Choose which information is published to and accessible through their PCEHR: Individuals may request healthcare providers to withhold certain information from their PCEHR. Access controls are discussed further in Section 5.5.
- View an activity history for their PCEHR: The PCEHR System will provide an audit trail so that individuals can view a history of actions on their PCEHR. Audit is discussed further in Section 5.7.
- Make enquiries and complaints: Individuals may make enquiries and complaints in relation to the management of information in their PCEHR and the PCEHR System. Enquiries and complaints are discussed further in Section 3.2.12.
Appropriate information and support must be available to individuals to exercise proper decision-making and determine consent with regard to the controls described here. Establishment and maintenance of these controls will be available via a range of channels.
