General practitioner peak body says medicine changes to My Health Record will save lives

Australia’s peak body for general practitioners has applauded incoming reforms that will, for the first time, give patients, GPs and other prescribers a complete picture of a patient’s medicines history.

In the first stage of reforms, all medicines-related information from online prescribers would be made available to consumers and their healthcare providers through their My Health Record — an online summary of a patient’s key health information.

Reforms will also include the development of a National Medicines Record.

The Royal Australian College of GPs president Michael Wright said this would help avoid harm to patients due to medication errors, adverse reactions or inappropriate use.

“Online and on-demand telehealth providers who aren’t connected to your usual general practice cannot see your medical history and may not inform other health professionals of what care or prescriptions they provide by adding to your history or your My Health Record,” he said.

“Telehealth providers have too often not informed a patients’ usual GP, healthcare team, or other telehealth services of the care they have provided or updated a patient’s My Health Record.

“This has led to some very bad patient outcomes. Tragically, those have included deaths.”

The changes were initiated by the Federal Government after Alison Collins’ 24-year-old daughter Erin overdosed in 2025 after stockpiling medicine prescribed by multiple digital health platforms.

Her My Health Record contained warning messages from hospital staff, and her care team had arranged for her to pick up a controlled dose of her medication from the local pharmacy each day.

Dr Wright said communication between services is a cornerstone of patient safety.

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

“These changes also go beyond prescribing and will lead to records of dispensing. This means if I write a prescription for a patient, I know they are getting it filled, or if not, can work with them to understand why.

“If well-implemented, GPs and other members of a care team having a clear and up-to-date view of patients’ medicines information through a National Medicines Record will make patients safer, reduce hospitalisations, and improve care across the health system.”