The Government of Alberta plans to give you access to your medical records online by next year.
A group of researchers from the University of Calgary have launched a study to determine how Albertans’ feel about accessing their information online.
Dr. Doreen Rabi, lead investigator for the study and an endocrinologist at the Cumming School of Medicine, said there is a lot of digital health information that already exists, but is being used by care providers and the health care system.
“We want to gauge Albertans’ opinions, do they feel that this is a useful move, would that be information they access and how often might they access it and who might they want that information shared with,” said Rabi.
The tool would give patients access to their medication history, results of commonly ordered lab tests, immunization records, data from medical devices and other information.
“I think that good health information is at the foundation of the provision of good health care,” said Rabi. “We also have a lot of evidence that show when patients have a good understanding of what is going on they can be more active as participants in the delivery of their own care and can better advocate for themselves.”
Currently, patients have to visit their healthcare provider in person to obtain records and often there is a fee for having those records copied.
Once the survey is closed, the team of researchers will release the results.
Fill out the survey here.
