On 25/07/2006, at 2:49 PM, Greg Twyford wrote: Following member queries in relation to faxed referrals or requests, the AMA has confirmed that at present the original signed document must subsequently be forwarded. Following AMA representations Medicare Australia is seeking advice as to whether a fax copy can be considered compliant with the legislation and thus potentially allow the elimination of one more bit of red tape. If we continue to allow these halfwits to tell us what we can and cant do we may as well give up and go back to paper records. Medicare Australia has created a precedent by allowing the P2P project participants in the NT to send electronic referrals without a follow up hard copy. I believe that this only came about when it was pointed out to them on a teleconference how ridiculous this regulation is when we are trying to achieve saving in time and benefit the environment by reducing our use of paper- oh yes and better outcomes for patients through more efficient communication. Some of us have been flouting their stupid regulations for years by sending electronic faxed referrals & no follow up and will continue to do so. These people must be treated with the contempt they deserve and their regulations must be publicly ridiculed until they slither off and change the regulations. Another article on the front page of the Australian may be appropriate to further the debate ( see 'Unencrypted medical records email is like using postcard,says doctor' The Australian, IT Today, Tuesday July 18 2006) AMA is also seeking clarification as to how long hard copy patient records must be retained after being scanned into a patient’s electronic record. Procedures for scanning and electronic storage of paper referrals or requests are also addressed in the Electronic Transactions Act 1999. For further details visit I was under the impression that an electronic copy of a document was a legal document under the Electronic Transmissions Act
Wal Tracey Norpalms 25 Barker Road Howard Springs Ph 08 89831416 Fx 08 89814752 email [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
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