An approach for enhancing adoption, use and utility of shared digital health records in rural Australian communities

Internationally, shared digital health records are considered an important addition to improving modern health care provision. Australia launched its version, My Health Record (MyHR), in 2012 but has experienced low adoption and challenges in practical implementation and evaluation. Individuals living with complex and chronic conditions in rural and remote communities often experience challenges in obtaining equitable access to health care provision. They are also supposed to face additional barriers to adopting and using eHealth services. This paper reports on research investigating adoption, use and utility of MyHR, in rural remote Australian community settings. Based on this research an approach for improving national roll out of MyHR is presented. The approach highlights a means to understand and engage communities with complex care needs, to support their adoption and use of digital tools. It also draws attention to holistic methods for evaluating and assessing impact at individual, community and health care provision levels.