Demographic characteristics of Australian health consumers who were early registrants for opt-in personally controlled electronic health records

摘要

ududDifferential uptake of, or access to, personal electronic health records () has the potential to impact on health disparities among certain social groups. In 2012, the Australian Government introduced the personally controlled electronic health record (), an opt-in system operated by the then National E-Health Transition Authority (). In July 2016 the My Health Record (), an opt-out model, operated by the Australian Digital Health Agency replaced the , providing additional support for consumers. ududududThis research was carried out between 2012 and 2015, covering the opt-in phase. The aim of the study was to explore demographic characteristics of Australian health consumers who were first to register for a , and to identify the age and gender populations less likely to register for a in the opt-in format. The study aimed to provide early data on registrants and potential methods to encourage individuals to register for a . ududududA cross-sectional study investigated differences in registrations for from 2012 to 2015 by age and sex. ududududResults revealed that males were less likely to register than females, and adolescents of both sexes were the least likely to register when compared with any other age group. Similarly, middle-aged males had among the lowest reported registrations, as did older females. ududududWhile e-health has the potential to improve health outcomes and s the potential to empower consumers to better manage their health and improve their access health services, evidence from this study suggested that some population groups that experience health inequalities (e.g. older people) were underrepresented among registrants for s. As income, ethnicity and education are major drivers for health disparities in Australia, future research should focus on uptake and use of s (now the ) from the perspective of these variables.