This section examines community views of health professionals discussing patient details without consent, as well as the concept and usage of a unique identifier within the health system, a national health database and the use of de-identified health information by organisations.
Since the 2001 study, respondents appear to have become slightly more comfortable with the idea of a doctor discussing their personal medical details with other health professionals, in a way which identified them, if the doctor thought it would lead to a better health outcome for the patient.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Your doctor should be able to discuss your personal medical details with other health professionals - in a way that identified you - WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT if they thought this would assist your treatment?
Base - 2001 All Respondents n=1,524, 2004 All Respondents n=1,507
Males were more likely to agree to this statement than females, older respondents were more likely to agree than younger respondents, and those with lower levels of education were more likely to agree than those with higher levels of education.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Your doctor should be able to discuss your personal medical details with other health professionals - in a way that identified you - WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT if they thought this would assist your treatment?
In a similar manner to the last section (Section 7), respondents' views about being allocated a number which they must use to access all health services were examined. In order to minimise any contextual bias, this section was asked in the survey prior to the section about an identifier to access all Australian Government departments.
In order to enable the government to better track the use of health care services, the majority of respondents (57%) agreed (including 28% who strongly agreed) that individuals should have a number allocated to them for use when accessing any type of health service. Thirty six percent disagreed with this concept and 4% were undecided. This is slightly higher than the proportion of respondents who agreed that all Australians should be given a unique number to use when accessing all Australian Government services (53%).
Males were more likely to agree to this statement than females, and respondents 18-24 years of age, or over 50 were more likely to agree than the rest of the sample.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? To enable the government to better track the use of HEALTH SERVICES, all individuals should be allocated a NUMBER and that number should be used when accessing ANY health service or facility.
One possible use for such an identifier would be to create a national health database. This database could be accessed by a treating doctor anywhere in Australia, increasing the health outcomes for each patient involved. Additionally, such a network could be used for the creation of national health statistics, allowing governing bodies the ability to better plan and use national health resources.
If such a database existed, 64% felt inclusion should be voluntary (cf. 66% in 2001), and 32% believed all medical records should be entered as a matter of course (cf. 28% in 2001).
Some differences amongst sub-groups were evident:
The results to this question were also validated in the CATIBUS. Results across both surveys were very similar, as is shown in Appendix Two.
De-identified health information can be very valuable to private companies, such as pharmaceutical companies, as well as to government bodies. Respondents were asked whether they felt that an individual's permission should be sought before such de-identified information derived from personal information about them is used for research purposes.
Almost two thirds of respondents (64%) felt permission should be sought, with one third reporting that permission was not necessary (33%).
Females were more likely to answer that permission should be sought (68%) than males (59%). 18-24 year old respondents were the most likely age group to believe permission should be sought (71%), and respondents with lower levels of education were more likely to respond that permission should be sought (73% passed year 10 cf. 56% who have a degree).
^top : Last Updated : 27 October 2004