Digital Health Record

The Digital Health Record (DHR) stores your important health information securely in one place. Clinicians can quickly and easily access essential information about your health to give you the best care.

Information about every visit and treatment you receive at an ACT public health service, including Canberra's major public hospital, community health centres, and Walk-In Centres is stored in the DHR.

You won't have to repeat information about your medical history whenever you see a health professional.

The DHR stores information such as your:

contact details
medication history
allergies
observations
surgical procedures
disgnostic results
referrals.

How to access your record

Patients who receive healthcare in the ACT public health system can view and manage their health information through MyDHR.

MyDHR is the patient portal that is linked to the Digital Health Record (DHR). You can access MyDHR by downloading the mobile app or by going to the MyDHR website.

If your medical record is not available through MyDHR, you must contact Canberra Health Services.

MyDHR can only be accessed by patients and only stores information on care received within the ACT public health system.

You may also be able to talk to your care team through video or phone appointments if you can't attend in person.

MyDHR can only be accessed from within Australia. You cannot access your MyDHR account from overseas.

Who can see your records

Only you or a nominated proxy can access their MyDHR account. ACT Health clinicians see your information on the system but cannot directly access your account.

Proxy access is when a patient gives another person access to their MyDHR account. It allows parents, legal guardians and caregivers to assist with the healthcare needs of others.

You can request proxy access by logging into MyDHR and completing the electronic MyDHR Proxy Access form. Log into your MyDHR account, go to Sharing, then select MyDHR Proxy Access Form.

The form will be automatically sent to our health information management team for processing. This may take up to 7 days.

Or, you may choose to complete the PDF version of the proxy consent form and email this, together with a copy of photo ID, to CHS.HIS@act.gov.au.

If you are a proxy, you can log into your own MyDHR account and connect to the health information for the person you've been given proxy access for.

Where someone is unable to consent to proxy access, additional documentation will be required.

This form gives information about who can authorise proxy access in a range of circumstances.

Sharing health records with your GP

Some GPs in Canberra are participating in a trial project called DHR Link.

Your GP can access the medical information stored in your DHR in the DHR Link website if you or an authorised person has given consent. An authorised person includes a parent or guardian.

How to give consent to share your health records

You can give consent to share your health records to DHR Link.

If you have a MyDHR account, you can update your preferences in the mobile app or website about sharing information to DHR Link. If you do not have a MyDHR account, you can update your consent with staff any time you receive treatment at Canberra Health Services.

When you see your GP you can update your consent by completing the DHR Link consent form.

If you have given consent to share your DHR medical record to DHR Link, any GP practices you attend in future that use DHR Link will be able to access your DHR medical record.

If you provide consent any GP in the same practice that you visit can access your DHR medical record. Other staff working in that practice can also access your record. This includes nurses and allied health staff.

How to withdraw consent to share your health records

You can withdraw consent at any time through MyDHR or by calling North Canberra Hospital on 02 6201 6280 or Canberra Health Services on 02 5124 2124.

Access for minors

When a patient turns 14 years old, they can request access to their own MyDHR account. Prior to this, a parent will have full access to their child’s account.

A parent or legal guardian may still have limited access to this account until the child turns 15. From the age of 15, a patient can choose if they would like to share their MyDHR account through proxy access.

How the Digital Health Record is different to My Health Record

The My Health Record system is a national system that summarises the care you're getting across the country.

The Digital Health Record (DHR) stores details of any treatment you receive in the ACT public health system.

Summary information from the Digital Health Record will also update in the My Health Record. It will be available for people who need to see that information outside the ACT public system.

Find out more about My Health Record.

Opting out

Under the law, health services must collect and store medical information. Previously this information has been stored in a mix of paper records across different systems.

While you can't opt out of the Digital Health record, in some cases, you can choose who can see your information, such as your GP or private specialists.

Privacy and security

ACT Health is committed to protecting patient privacy and confidentiality. MyDHR is a secure system, which means patient information is safe and protected.

Access is permitted only to authorised users who have been verified through an activation process. We will never send patients emails asking for their password or login details.

The Digital Health Record follows strict federal and territory confidentiality laws and has many security measures in place to protect the privacy of patient information.

Access to MyDHR is controlled with a password the patient sets, and a second factor that only that patient has access to. Complex passwords are enforced to protect patient privacy, and two-factor authentication is enabled by default.

DHR Link website

The ACT Health Digital Health Record (DHR) is an initiative of the ACT Government which will record all interactions between a person and ACT public health services. DHR Link is a web portal that shares certain information from DHR with your treating team members who are external to ACT Health, Canberra Health Services and North Canberra Hospital. This may include treating team members such as your general practitioner.

Personal health information and personal information can be shared with your treating team in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997. The types of information that may be shared include:

results such as pathology or medical imaging results
discharge summaries
other information that forms a part of your medical record.

Personal information and personal health information will not be shared by members or organisations that are not part of your treating team, unless authorised by law.

MyDHR website

MyDHR is an online digital service (website and mobile application) run by ACT Health on behalf of the Australian Capital Territory for the ACT public health system.

Health information held on MyDHR may include information you consider personal. This may include but is not limited to information about sexually transmitted and other communicable diseases, drug and alcohol use, HIV/AIDS and mental health services. Personal health information and personal information stored on MyDHR is a record of your medical treatment and will be collected, stored, used and disclosed in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997. Information will be accessible to you and/or your nominated proxy via MyDHR.

The types of information that may be shared include:

after visit summaries
results such as pathology or medical imaging results
messages from your health care team
other sensitive information that forms a part of your medical record.

MyDHR mobile app

This Privacy Policy describes how the MyDHR mobile application for iOS and Android collects, uses, share and protects your information.

We may update this policy at any time, and future updates are effective as soon as they are published. Your use of MyDHR apps is also subject to the applicable End User Licence Agreement. If you use MyDHR you agree to the applicable End User License Agreement and consent to the use of your information as described in this policy.

How we protect your personal information

We use technical controls and safeguards to protect the privacy, security, integrity, and availability of your personal information.

We enable the use of multi-factor authentication for users of MyDHR by default. Multi-factor authentication is required when you use MyDHR.
We use https for secure communication between servers.
When we store data on MyDHR, we store it in app-private storage that cannot be accessed by other apps.
Before data is shared from MyDHR, we provide in-app notifications so you can choose if you want to share the data.
We disable screen-shot functionality by default for Android devices and allow Android users to choose if they want to enable the function. We cannot disable this functionality in iOS.
We maintain internal policies and processes that limit access to your information to our staff who need to know the information to perform their jobs.
We maintain internal data retention and deletion policies to help us ensure we only store information about your use of MyDHR as we describe in this policy.

Each healthcare organisation you connect with through MyDHR also uses safeguards to protect your information. Contact them if you have any questions about their safeguards. You can take other steps to protect your information:

do not share the username and password you use with MyDHR
change your password immediately if you believe any unauthorised access has occurred
use the security tools on devices you use with MyDHR
do not root or jailbreak devices you use with MyDHR. Doing so can create security risks by removing your devices’ built-in security measures and exposing sensitive information on your device.

How we manage your personal information

We will not sell or license your information. Listed below are the limited ways we interact with your information in connection with MyDHR.

When you choose to add a profile photo to MyDHR, you may select an existing photo on your device or take a new photo using the camera app on your device. If you select an existing photo on your device, we store a copy of your chosen photo in app-private storage on your device. If you use the camera app on your device to take a new photo, the photo you take is first saved to your camera app and then also saved to app-private storage on your device. If you remove the photo from your profile or delete MyDHR, the copy of the photo is deleted from the app-private storage, but the photo saved to your camera app remains available in your camera app until you choose to delete it. If you already have a photo stored in your profile through your healthcare organisation – we do not interact with that photo in any way.
When you choose to use Apple’s HealthKit or Google Fit, we create encrypted identifiers to identify recipients of your Apple’s HealthKit or Google Fit data and store them on your device in app-private storage. If you choose to stop using Apple HealthKit or Google Fit or delete MyDHR, the identifiers are deleted.
When you choose to view documents from your healthcare organisation (such as letters or images) using MyDHR, to make the files viewable for you we temporarily store copies on your device in app-private storage. The temporary copies are deleted when you close your session of MyDHR.
When you choose to include a photo or video in a message you send to your healthcare organisation using MyDHR, you may select an existing photo or video from your device or take a new photo or video using the camera app on your device. If you use the camera app on your device to take a new photo or video, it will be saved to your camera app. Any photo or video saved to your camera app remains available in your camera app until you choose to delete it.
ACT public health service offers telehealth visits using MyDHR, when you join a visit with your provider, we will ask for permission to access your device’s video and audio functionality to make the telehealth visit possible. We do not record or store video of audio data from these visits.
Some areas of ACT Health offer automatic appointment arrival and you choose to enable it, we temporarily store identifiers and times for your upcoming appointments in app-private storage to detect when you arrive for an upcoming appointment. If you choose to stop using MyDHR or you disable automatic appointment arrival, the identifiers are deleted.
Some areas of ACT Health offer location-based check in for in-person appointments, or allows you to find healthcare providers near you, you may choose to allow MyDHR to interact with your location data for those purposes. We do not store your location data.
Some areas of ACT Health allow you to notify front desk staff electronically when you arrive for an appointment, you may choose to allow MyDHR to interact with your Bluetooth data for this purpose. We do not store your Bluetooth data.
While you use MyDHR, we collect non-identifying information so we can ensure the ACT public health system understands how people use MyDHR so we can improve our products. This information includes the time you began using the app, the healthcare organisation you interacted with, any error messages or codes, the model of device used and its operating system, and the version of MyDHR used. If you use Android devices, we also collect your connection type (cellular or WiFi) during an error.
If you contact us, we may keep a record of the communication. You can decide how much information you want to share with us.

MyDHR connects to healthcare organisations using Epic records management software. Use of MyDHR is subject to ACT Health’s privacy policy.

Information provided to Google Play

Google has determined MyDHR apps are subject to their COVID-19 apps requirements. As a result, we are required to provide the following information so we can make MyDHR apps available to you in the Play Store.

MyDHR apps interact with your microphone only if you choose to use your microphone to navigate the MyDHR apps. MyDHR mobile apps interact with your camera roll only if you choose to add a profile image to a profile in MyDHR. This information is not used in connection with COVID-19.
MyDHR apps access, collect, use, and share your information (including video, audio, images, files) as stated above in the section titled, The Limited Ways We Use Your Information. We also prominently highlight these uses, describe the type of data being accessed, and obtain your consent for these purposes as you use MyDHR.
MyDHR apps were not created specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic. They existed before the COVID-19 pandemic to allow you to access your health information on file with your healthcare organisation. Your healthcare organisation may allow you to access COVID-19-related vaccination information, laboratory test results, and documents with illness-related information using MyDHR. You may choose if or how you want to access, display, or use the information – just like you can make those decisions about health information relating to other conditions, services, tests, or vaccinations.
Your healthcare organisation may allow you to use MyDHR to conduct telehealth appointments with your healthcare providers. MyDHR only provide the technical support for those appointments to happen. We do not interact with any health information you exchanged during any telehealth appointments.

Software system

ACT Health has engaged with Epic to implement Digital Health Record.

Epic is a world-leading US-based software company with four decades of experience in digitising medical records. Their software has been successfully implemented in thousands of hospitals worldwide.

In Australia, the Epic system has also been implemented at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Women's Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Contact us

Call our Digital Solutions Support team on 02 5124 5000 to request assistance or more information about the MyDHR service.