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My Health Record

Follow this procedure when a client enters care and you are required to access their My Health Record.
Document ID number 1127, version 3, 17 February 2021.
Introduction

My Health Record is an online summary of an individual’s key health information. Records can be viewed securely online at any time and is personally controlled. This means passwords and notifications can be used by an individual on their record to control who has access to their record. Further information on the system, including access and privacy, can be found on the My Health Record website.

The role of child protection varies and is dependent on the Children’s Court order the child is subject to. For further information on the child protection interface with the system and authority see advice My Health Record and child protection and How Child Protection interacts with My Health Record.

Child Protection will normally access a child’s My Health Record via the Children in Care portal (the portal). The portal is owned by the Commonwealth Government. Further information on the portal can be found in the My Health Record and children in out-of-home care policy. The portal can be accessed via CRIS.

Procedure

Case practitioner tasks

When using the Children in Care portal

  • Clarify your legal authority to access the portal and what actions, if any, you can take when you access the child’s My Health Record. See How Child Protection interacts with My Health Record.
  • Access the portal by selecting the My Health Record link on CRIS, available in the health tab within the case practice component.

Once this link is selected, in the background, an authentication occurs to ensure the worker has the authority to access the portal. Practitioners will only be able to access this when working on the department's server via an ultrabook or computer, and the link will only be accessible if a practitioner has the appropriate delegation (CPP3-6).

You will be required to provide this passphrase periodically on the portal and when you call the helpline. This passphrase is for your access to the portal and is not related to individual clients. Keep note of your passphrase in a safe place.

  • Input your client’s last name, gender, date of birth, Medicare number and individual reference number (IRN) to access their My Health Record on the portal’s landing page.

Child protection practitioners must have this information to use the portal and take any action on the child’s My Health Record by the My Health Record helpline.

  • Link yourself as an authorised representative when authorised to do so.

If a new child protection practitioner becomes the allocated worker, or a team manager for cases awaiting allocation, follow the same steps to access the record and link as an authorised representative. This will automatically remove any other child protection practitioner who is recorded as an authorised representative on the My Health Record.

A parent should only be removed from a child’s My Health Record if there is a safety risk. Parents have a right to access a child's record and to know the whereabouts of their child.

  • Record all action taken via the portal on the My Health Record in CRIS in notes and documents.
  • Record in the health tab of CRIS all health information obtained from the My Health Record about the child. This can be cut and paste across depending on the document.
  • Provide relevant health information from My Health Record to a child’s carer to assist their ability to care appropriately for a child in their care.
  • Use the portal to provide a link, which is sent via email from the portal to a carer, when authorising a carer to become a nominated representative  with general access on the child’s My Health Record. This is only for children subject to care by Secretary or long-term care orders and assessed as appropriate by the case planner.
  • Provide information regarding the child’s health, obtained from the My Health Record, to the care team for the child as required.
  • If you identify any errors in the child’s My Health Record, such as a document with another individual’s name, contact the My Health Record helpline, available 24/7, on 1800 723 471.
  • Do not edit, delete or amend any information contained in the child’s My Health Record.

Child protection practitioners have the capacity to edit, delete and amend information contained in a child’s My Health Record. However, the department does not want practitioners making any changes to a child’s My Health Record. If any errors are identified, practitioners are required to call the My Health Record helpline and request they make the necessary changes.

  • When closing a case, access the My Health Record and:
    • remove yourself as an authorised representative
    • remove any nominated representatives you allowed on the record (if applicable)
    • remove the restriction from the record (if applicable)
    • record this action on CRIS
  • Consult the training materials for support. Your supervisor, team manager and the My Health Record website can also provide assistance.

When using the helpline

For interim accommodation orders to suitable person

Child protection practitioners will use the My Health Record helpline when a child is subject to an IAO to suitable person, the placement is undisclosed and the child’s My Health Record needs to be restricted. As child protection do not have the legal authority to apply to restrict the record via the portal, this must be completed via the My Health Record helpline. In these circumstances child protection practitioners are treated as a community member and the record is suspended for 30 days while ADHA investigates.

  • Call the My Health Record helpline on 1800 723 471 and provide your name, confirm you work for child protection in Victoria and that you are unable to access the portal as you do not have authority but a safety risk exists, and action needs to be taken on the record. You will be asked to provide your passphrase. See My Health Record policy.
  • Provide your client’s name, gender, date of birth, Medicare number and individual reference number (IRN) and request the My Health Record operator restricts the record immediately due to safety concerns. See Medicare procedure for further information.

Child protection practitioners must have this information for any action to be taken on the child’s My Health Record by the My Health Record helpline.

  • Provide a copy of the Children’s Court order (page one only) via email, if requested, to evidence your authority. The My Health Record operator will provide you the correct email address and case reference number.
  • Record this action on CRIS.
  • Provide the My Health Record and children in care information sheet to the child’s parent(s) and record this on CRIS.

For other circumstances

Child protection practitioners will also use the helpline if the portal is not working, when the worker cannot access the portal and immediate action is required to protect a child and their record and when there are errors on the record.

  • Clarify your legal authority to call the helpline. See How Child Protection interacts with My Health Record for further information.
  • Call the My Health Record helpline on 1800 723 471 and provide your name, confirm you work for child protection in Victoria and provide your passphrase when requested by the operator.

This passphrase is the same you created when accessing the portal for the first time.

  • Provide your client’s name, gender, date of birth, Medicare number and individual reference number (IRN) and request the My Health Record operator restricts the record immediately due to safety concerns, or amend the record due to an error. See Medicare procedure for further information.

Child protection practitioners must have this information for any action to be taken on the child’s My Health Record by the My Health Record helpline.

Supervisor tasks

Team manager / practice leader tasks

  • Endorse and record decision and rationale to restrict a child’s My Health Record when a placement is undisclosed.
  • Endorse and record decision and rationale to remove a parent from a My Health Record due to a safety risk when the placement is undisclosed.
Related procedures
Additional information