Most of Indian aren’t accessing their Health Record on their smartphone app

New Delhi, Sep 18: Most of Indian aren’t accessing their Health Record on their smartphone app, The Health Record is an smartphone app of personal health information of the patients, who can can share with health providers.

More people need to know how to use it

Currently, the Health Record places high demands on reading and e-health literacy, making it difficult for many people to use. This could be a barrier for a large number of people.

People with low health literacy, people who lack engagement with digital health, people who lack access to a computer and the internet, and people with limited English literacy could struggle with these online records.

Information about the Health Record needs to be inclusive, easier to read, and translated into many languages – and use pictures and videos – to enable everyone to use the system.

The people who need it most need support to use it

As many as one in four Indians have a disability. Anyone with a condition that affects their ability to explain their health history to others might need help to use the Health Record. This includes people with dementia, stroke, traumatic brain injury, intellectual or developmental disability, autism spectrum disorder, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease, and people with a wide range of social, physical, cognitive, or sensory impairments affecting communication.

People with communication difficulties have three times the risk of preventable harmful adverse events in hospital, relating to their problems communicating their needs to health providers. The Health Record might be particularly helpful for this group, who are at risk of exclusion because of their communication impairments and low levels of digital inclusion.

While the Health Record is set up for use by all Indian, people with communication difficulties and their families may need additional information, funding, and other supports to enable their participation. They might also need help to identify who would be their Nominated or Authorised Representative in the system.

Future enhancements of the Health Record need to take into account the views and experiences of people with multiple health conditions who are engaging with the Health Record. Gathering their stories of experience could lead to a greater understanding of the types of support needed for more people to use and benefit from this important e-health initiative.

More health professionals need to add information for Health Record

Information about health-care recipients is also added to the Health Record from other sources – including  health-care providers and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, along with pharmacy medications information and hospital discharge summaries. Some health-care providers might be willing to share clinical documents, but hold concerns about privacy and may be unsure how sharing the information will improve patient care.

The shared health information in the Health Record could help many patients recall vital health information. It could be particularly useful for those who struggle with medication management, have multiple health conditions, enter hospital frequently, or have multiple health providers.

The main purpose of the Health Record is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care. Reducing medical errors related to the poor exchange of health information between patients and their health providers, or across multiple health providers, is a high priority.

We need more health information added into the system before it’s going to be useful for more people in supporting their health-care decisions.

Patients prompting their general practitioner or practice nurse to upload a Shared Health Summary at each visit could increase use of the system, which is designed to improve patient control over their health information.