Medical Leaders Push for Seamless Health Data Exchange Between NSW and ACT
A prominent medical association is urging significant reforms to enable smoother sharing of patient health records across the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory border. This initiative aims to reduce clinical mistakes and accelerate treatment for individuals who frequently utilise healthcare services in both jurisdictions.
National Legislation Needed for Interoperable Systems
Associate Professor Julian Rait, Vice President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), has emphasised the critical need for federal legislation. Such laws would mandate states and territories to collaborate on patient data exchange. "It would be far easier if the systems, particularly between the ACT and NSW, were enabled to share records so that they could communicate with each other," Dr Rait stated.
The AMA released a detailed report this week advocating for the integration of state, territory, and commonwealth health record platforms. This call to action highlights ongoing fragmentation in Australia's digital health infrastructure.
NSW's Digital Patient Record and Cross-Border Compatibility Questions
The NSW Government is developing a Single Digital Patient Record, scheduled for completion in 2028. This system is intended to consolidate hundreds of disparate platforms currently used by public hospitals, community health centres, pathology laboratories, and collection centres.
Epic Systems, the technology provider selected for the NSW project, also supports the ACT Government's Digital Health Record and the federal My Health Record. Despite this common vendor, it remains uncertain whether the NSW system will facilitate direct data transfers with the ACT. NSW Health did not provide clarification on this interoperability issue prior to publication deadlines.
High Cross-Border Patient Flow Underpins Urgency
Approximately twenty-five percent of admissions to Canberra hospitals involve NSW residents. Southern NSW hospitals regularly transfer patients to ACT facilities for specialised care. Dr Rait warned that incompatible and isolated record systems delay patient care and heighten the risk of medical errors.
Effective record sharing would eliminate unnecessary duplication of scans and tests while improving communication between different healthcare providers. This efficiency is vital for timely and accurate treatment.
Challenges with the National My Health Record System
Despite operating for over ten years, the national My Health Record system suffers from low adoption rates. Only one in ten medical specialists actively use the platform, and merely twenty percent of diagnostic imaging reports are uploaded due to technical inefficiencies and compatibility problems.
"We've had the Australian Digital Health Agency in place for a decade now, and we haven't really progressed things," Dr Rait commented. He echoed criticisms describing My Health Record as "just like a box full of PDFs," noting it is "not really ideal for sharing detailed health information."
My Health Record, which transitioned to an opt-out system in mid-2025, contains data such as immunisation histories, discharge summaries, and prescription records. The ACT Government confirms that summary information from its Digital Health Record is shared with the national system.
ACT's Integrated System Contrasts with Other Jurisdictions
Dr Rait acknowledged the ACT as one of the few Australian regions employing an integrated digital health record system. "We have some people that are still using paper records in Victoria," he noted, providing an extreme example where emergency department clinical notes in some locations must be printed and physically carried to other departments, including intensive care units.
The ACT's Digital Health Record, launched in late 2022, consolidated forty separate paper and digital systems. ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith praised the software for transforming healthcare delivery in the territory.
Audits and Surveys Reveal Mixed Implementation Results
However, ACT Auditor-General Michael Harris described the system's rollout as potentially "the most significant failure of governance" he had witnessed. An AMA ACT survey indicated mostly positive reception among doctors, with sixty percent of eighty respondents reporting improved workflow post-implementation. Thirty percent experienced worse workflow, and half rated usability as excellent or adequate, while one-third found it poor or unusable.
Further audits on the Digital Health Record are anticipated, alongside an independent inquiry into the ACT's broader health system. These evaluations will likely influence future policy decisions on cross-border data sharing and digital health integration across Australia.
