The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has launched a CPD-accredited learning module for pharmacists to better understand their obligations when accessing My Health Record information and, specifically, the My Health Record Security and Access Policy.
The module consists of three topics relating to policies, practices and systems that pharmacies should have in place to ensure data security and patient privacy:
- Why a Security and Access Policy is required;
- The contents of the standard industry policy template, and the definitions and terminology used within the policy template, and
- The obligations to review, update and communicate changes to the policy.
The module also contains video examples demonstrating the practical use of the policy and a downloadable checklist to ensure the pharmacists' checklist complies with My Health Records Rule requirements, and the expectations of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
This year's Privacy Awareness Week 2020 brings a message encouraging businesses and individuals to 'reboot your privacy'. It is a prompt for pharmacies to ensure that in responding to the current situation, they should be guided by the key principles of good privacy practice and put the right controls in place. They should consider the privacy risks and collect only what is necessary, and delete or de-identify information if it's no longer required for a legal purpose.
Above all, be transparent in how personal information is handled and give people choice wherever possible. The latest update to the published My Health Record statistics reports there are over 1.7 billion documents in more than 13 million My Health Records.
The training resource, which is available at www.guilded.guild.org.au, will be open for use by all pharmacists and pharmacy assistants. The module has been accredited for one hour of Group 1 CPD (or 1 CPD credits) suitable for inclusion in an individual pharmacist's CPD plan, which can be converted to one hour of Group 2 CPD (or 2 CPD credits) upon successful completion of relevant assessment activities.
Over 22 million Australians have a My Health Record and 90 per cent of community pharmacies are now registered with the My Health Record system. Late last year, with the support of the Guild, the Australian Digital Health Agency launched the Pharmacist Shared Medicines List, a new clinical document type for the My Health Record system. From the end of May, electronic prescriptions are scheduled to be progressively rolled out across Australia. Also, during the recent bushfires, pharmacists were able to dispense life-saving medications to patients unable to access their paper prescriptions or see their GP.
With the ongoing roll-out of digital solutions for Australia's healthcare system, it is important that all healthcare providers understand their roles and obligations to protect the security, and privacy of patient information.
