An Electronic Health Record Platform (eHR) is being launched today, aiming to share medical information among the city’s public and private healthcare providers.
According to the Health Bureau (SSM), healthcare providers will be able to share residents’ electronic health information – such as clinical files, medical consultation records, prescriptions and medical examination reports – via the new platform to improve the quality and efficiency of medical services, enhance the safety and consistency of medical care, optimise the use of medical resources and reduce the duplication of examinations and laboratory tests for residents.
The city’s hospitals, public health centres and Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) Workers’ Medical Clinics have joined the platform. It will also be open to other private healthcare providers, providing Western medicine services upon request.
Instead of registering for the eHR, residents can directly allow doctors to access their health information on the platform using their ID card or Macao One Account, although doctors must obtain the parent’s or legal guardian’s consent if their patients are under the age of 18.
If residents are at a hospital’s accident and emergency department, and are unable to provide access for doctors to check their health information via the platform, such as when the patient is in a coma, access can be made with the presence and consent of another doctor as a witness when the lack of information may delay medical treatment in an urgent case or cause serious physical harm to the patient. All operational procedures will be recorded on the platform for verification purposes, when necessary.
In order to better protect residents’ privacy, a test message notification service will be provided by the platform so that once a local mobile phone number is successfully registered on the platform, the system will send a text message whenever someone accesses their health information through the platform.
A dedicated label will be provided by the bureau to the participating health care providers so that residents can easily identify whether a doctor is enrolled on the platform at the time of their visit, The Macau Post Daily reported.
