The primary care health records of close to half a million patients across Auckland have been uploaded to a new secure database solution designed to ensure better continuity of care and safety for patients.

Your Health Summary (YHS) — a system supported by the Northern Region Health Co-ordination Centre (NRHCC) and Metro Auckland PHOs — ensures a person’s important health information is accessible by authorised healthcare providers that deliver care for that person in a range of care settings.

YHS clinical director Daniel Calder says the new system is performing incredibly well and makes it safer for people that require healthcare, particularly in an emergency. Your Health Summary includes information about medication allergies and long-term health conditions. This can help healthcare professionals provide the best possible care for their patients.

“To date, we’ve had 147 practices sign up, with 450,000 patient records from across Auckland uploaded to Your Health Summary, and 315 clinicians submitting signed access applications. We encourage more clinics to sign up and take part in the regional patient safety initiative.

“For Your Health Summary to be effective, it is important that we achieve a good level of coverage within the region,” says Dr Calder.

“There are still a number of clinics that are yet to join, and we’re encouraging those to please urgently consider prioritising the implementation of Your Health Summary.”

Sharing health information through YHS means the safety of patients enrolled with a practice will be enhanced as, regardless of the care setting, there will be immediate access to important information to assist with clinical decision making.

“It is a critical part of supporting patient and whānau care during the current Covid pandemic, when patients who are confirmed or suspected to have Covid-19 may require urgent healthcare services outside of their regular practice,” says Dr Calder.

“YHS is also of significant benefit to the most vulnerable in our population who do not always receive care for health conditions from the same provider.”

The COVID-19 pandemic provided a window of opportunity for Your Health Summary to be established, at a time when it is needed most.

“The role of primary care has been key in the fight to eliminate COVID-19 among New Zealand communities, and together, we’ve helped protect the broader healthcare system,” says Dr Calder.

“However, now more than ever, it’s important we continue to work together to support primary care’s ongoing management of COVID-19 — and taking part in YHS is a key part of that.”

“It will also enable a more effective response should we experience a second wave of COVID-19 cases as we move into more relaxed national alert levels,” says Dr Calder.

Clinics who choose to be a part of YHS, need to sign agreements, which ensure access to data while protecting patient data.

“The data sharing process through YHS includes specific consideration of Māori data governance principles, and we want to make clear that the data this system holds is not available for use in population health monitoring or assessment of clinical performance – it is purely to ensure patients receive the very best in primary care, wherever they go,” explains Dr Calder.

“Participating practices will be supported through the on-boarding process by their PHO,” says Dr Calder.

“It is an easy process to sign up to Your Health Summary, and we’re looking forward to having more clinics join this important patient safety initiative.”

For more information, visit www.yourhealthsummary.org.nz.

ENDS

For more information:
Angela Bevan
External Communications Advisor
Angela.bevan@procare.co.nz
021 933 914