Health self-management made easy
The Hospital Authority is leveraging technology to set up the Electronic access of Staff Health Record (eSHR) system for staff to view their personal clinical records. The eSHR mobile version in its first phase also allows colleagues to have an easy access to information such as outpatient appointment. An updated HA Staff Clinic Telephone Appointment System (TAS) will be piloted soon.
Your health records at a glance
Launched in July this year, eSHR is a one-stop electronic platform that helps colleagues keep track of a wide range of personal health-related information, including appointment schedules, diagnoses, procedures, laboratory and radiology results, medication history, allergies and discharge summary, explains Dr Anna Tong, Senior Health Informatician (PH & IS). The system is synchronised with the HA Electronic Patient Record (ePR) system.
Data security is further enhanced by a double password verification system and each colleague’s records are only accessible by themselves.
Pilot programme proves popular
Pilot eSHR programmes have been running in New Territories East Cluster and Hong Kong West Cluster since April 2010 and March 2011 respectively. As at December 2014, the pilot programmes had more than 10,000 registered users. More than 70 per cent of users are satisfied with eSHR and nearly 80 per cent believe it is a useful tool for health management, according to an online survey conducted between April 2010 and May 2013.
Yet, as Dr Tong explains, the programme was not an overnight success: “Some colleagues had believed that health records should only be accessed by doctors and nursing staff, as they worried that confusion may arise if they couldn’t understand the health reports like laboratory and radiology results.”
To encourage more colleagues to embrace health self-management and take active steps to be an informed patient, staff forums were held in partnership with HA Human Resources Division to introduce and demonstrate the use and value of eSHR. Dr Tong says that this leads to many staff taking a more active role in managing their health using eSHR. However, she emphasises that colleagues should always consult their doctor if they have any uncertainty over terminology or their health records.
How to get started?
Go to http://eshr.home and click the eSHR logo
1. Enter your LAN user name and password, and click ‘Login’.
2. Input your HKID for eSHR registration, then click ‘Submit’.
3. Create a second password for security protection of your personal health records.
4. After successful setup of the second password, you can access your health records.
If your registration is unsuccessful, please email to IT Call Centre (hoitcallcentre@pyn.ha.org.hk) leaving your name and contact number.
More for the mobile generation
To benefit from on-the-move access to the mobile version of eSHR – Mobile access of Staff Health Record (mSHR) – colleagues with iOS 8 mobile device can download the app using QR code from HA Intranet http://eshr.home starting from July. After opt-in at eSHR with activation of mSHR, colleagues can then view their medical appointments and access detailed information about the eight HA Staff Clinics, as well as get a direct connection to any clinic’s TAS with just a couple of touchscreen gestures. An Android version of mSHR will also be released in October this year.
Dr Tong says that more information on the eSHR platform – such as medication history, laboratory and radiology results – may become available via mSHR if the response is satisfactory.
