My Health Record is becoming core infrastructure. Are healthcare businesses ready?

From compliance task to clinical tool

My Health Record has long been treated as a compliance obligation.

For many healthcare providers, it has been something to maintain rather than something to use. A system that sits in the background, updated when required but rarely central to day-to-day decision making.

That framing is now outdated.

This is not just a system update. It reflects a broader shift in how information is used, shared and relied upon across the healthcare system.

What’s actually changing

The Federal Government has proposed the introduction of a National Medicines Record, designed to capture a more complete picture of what patients are prescribed and what they actually receive.

Alongside this, new requirements will ensure that medicines prescribed through telehealth platforms are consistently recorded and visible to other healthcare providers through My Health Record.

Dr Michael Wright, President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, says this growing visibility is already changing how clinicians access information.

“With the growing sharing of pathology results, which is due to become compulsory later this year, there is an increasing amount of data for GPs and patients appearing in their My Health Record.”

He says the next phase of reforms, particularly around medications, is a step forward.

“The next changes look to be around recording of medications, and in particularly ensuring that telehealth providers are held to the same standards as our patient’s usual specialist GP. That is a step in the right direction.”

Closing the information gap

Historically, fragmented information has been one of the biggest risks in healthcare delivery.

Patients move between providers. Prescriptions are issued across different platforms. Information is not always shared in real time.

Dr Wright says this lack of visibility has real consequences.

“Currently, telehealth providers too often don’t inform a patients’ usual GP, healthcare team, or other telehealth services what care they’ve provided.”

For patients with complex conditions, this creates risk.

“If a telehealth service provides a prescription and there’s a risk due to a patient’s medical history, their GP knowing about it can save a life.”

Ensuring that prescribing is visible across care teams begins to close that gap.

From data to decision-making

This is where the shift becomes meaningful.

My Health Record is moving from a passive repository of information to an active part of clinical decision-making.

Upcoming reforms, particularly the development of a National Medicines Record, are designed to provide a clearer and more complete view of what patients are prescribed and what they actually receive. This creates greater visibility across care teams and allows clinicians to better understand patient behaviour, including whether prescriptions are being filled and followed.

If implemented effectively, this level of visibility changes how care is delivered.

It enables more informed decisions, earlier intervention, and a more coordinated approach to managing complex or chronic conditions. It also reduces reliance on fragmented information, which has historically been a key source of risk across the healthcare system.

This is not just a clinical improvement. It is an operational and strategic one.

What this means for healthcare businesses

For healthcare leaders, the implications extend well beyond system updates.

• Practice efficiency: Shared, real-time data reduces time spent chasing information, verifying prescriptions and reconciling records. 
• Workforce productivity: Clearer patient information supports faster, more consistent decision-making and reduces administrative burden. 
• Risk management: Greater visibility of prescribing and dispensing helps reduce medication errors, duplication and inappropriate use. 
• Patient experience: Better data sharing leads to more coordinated care, fewer repeated conversations and improved understanding of treatment.  
• The leadership gap: Not all organisations are adapting at the same pace, with some still treating My Health Record as a compliance task rather than embedding it into everyday workflows. Others are beginning to embed it into clinical and operational processes.

Dr Wright says the focus now needs to be on usability and integration.

“We need to make sure that the information increasingly going into My Health Record is able to be used easily and appropriately by the people providing patient care.”

He emphasises the importance of systems that support real-world use.

“That means good integration between My Health Record and practice software to ensure this additional information improves patient care rather than distracting us from it.”

At a leadership level, this creates a clear divide between organisations that are adapting to a more connected system, and those that are not.

A piece of infrastructure, not just a system

The evolution of My Health Record reflects a broader shift in how healthcare is delivered.

Digital systems are no longer separate from care. They are part of it, with national digital health initiatives increasingly focused on improving connectivity, information sharing and system-wide integration.

My Health Record is no longer a regulatory requirement. It is becoming part of the infrastructure that determines how efficiently, safely and effectively healthcare is delivered.

For healthcare organisations, the question is no longer whether the system has improved.

It is whether they are keeping up.