My Health Record will have a lower participation rate than government officials expected

The My Health Record will have a lower participation rate than government officials expected with the formal opt-out period ending today.

Minister for Health Greg Hunt.

The My Health Record will have a lower participation rate than government officials expected when they quietly calculated its economic benefit at $15 billion over 10 years.

As the formal opt-out period ends today, internal government documents show the Department of Health put “the expected opt-out rate” at 2 per cent after the My Health Record stopped being a voluntary scheme.

However, lingering privacy and security concerns, and questions over the marketing and communications campaign, led more than 1.1 million Australians to opt out before the end of October.

The Australian Digital Health Agency has not released updated figures but previously estimated the opt-out rate to be running at under 5 per cent, while Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday said a 10 per cent opt-out rate would still be “extraordinary”.

“There’s never been a target, but we set guidance that we ­expected that about 90 per cent of Australians would be partici­pating, which we’re still on track for,” Mr Hunt said.

The documents show the government set a minimum participation rate of more than 50 per cent, that being “the level of use that delivers the significant benefits that can be realised through the improved availability of health information to healthcare providers and the health system”.

ADHA chief executive Tim Kelsey has previously referred to that figure and said there was no target for the opt-out rate.

With some health practitioners refusing to be involved, and legacy software and practices yet to be upgraded, it remains to be seen whether the system will justify its price tag of about $2bn.

The documents show the government calculated the potential economic benefit of “increasing the uptake and meaningful use of the My Health Record system” at $14.59bn over 10 years through improved health outcomes, a more efficient health system, less duplication of tests and scans, and patients having more control.

The biggest benefit, $6.19bn, was expected to come from ­“enabling innovation and dev­elopments in healthcare through secondary uses of health ­information, enabling unprecedented levels of insight into population health outcomes, which better ­inform policy decisions, make ­resourcing more sustainable, and inspire new clinical developments”.

In response to public concerns, Mr Hunt authorised some changes to the system design, and expanded a planned review. However, with uncertainty over the secondary use of supposedly de-identified information, a data governance board will not be established until mid-2020.

Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King wanted the opt-out period extended but Mr Hunt argued that the changes allowed people to opt out at any time and have their record perman­ently deleted.

Ms King has promised a separate Privacy Commissioner review if Labor wins the next election.