Once you have accessed your My Health Record online, it’s time to start setting your preferences.
What to expect
When you log in to your new My Health Record for the first time, there may be little or no information in it.
Your previous medical history such as older test results and medical reports will not be in your new record.
There may be around two years’ worth of Medicare/PBS claims history from your doctor’s visits and medicines a pharmacist has dispensed for you.
If you want details of your medical history to be added to your My Health Record, ask your GP to add a summary next time you see them.
Start setting your My Health Record preferences
Set up your record and start managing your health information by:
- choosing which Medicare information gets added to your record
- adding personal information and details about your health such as medicines and allergies
- controlling who can view and access your record.
Medicare information
You can choose what Medicare information is added to your My Health Record so that it’s available for your healthcare providers to see.
This information can include:
- visits to your doctor that were claimed under the Medicare Benefit Scheme
- medications you have received under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
- your organ donor decisions, if they are recorded in the Australian Organ Donor Register
- information about immunisations you have received under the Australian Immunisation Register.
Add important personal information
If you choose to, you can add personal information to your My Health Record. This can include details like your current medications and allergies that you want to share with your healthcare providers.
You can also add your emergency contacts, and details about your wishes for future healthcare treatment (advanced care plan).
Control access
You can control who can or can’t access your information in your My Health Record.
Some of the options to control access include:
- inviting people (e.g. family members) to access your record
- choosing which healthcare organisations can view or update your record (except in the case of a medical emergency)
- setting an access code on your record or to specific documents in it
- selecting to be notified when a healthcare provider accesses your record.
