Raewyne Watson, 64, recently addressed the Hastings Macleay Community Reference Group on the topic.

Raewyne retired to Port Macquarie three years ago but registered for a My Health Record - it was originally called ehealth - in 2012.

She says keeping track of her medical history is important to her.

“I travel overseas quite a bit, so I always take print outs of my health records in case something happens while I am travelling," she said.

"As well, it is impossible to remember all your ailments or operations, when you had your last tetanus shots, or a doctors' visit - particularly specialists - and then the medications you have been prescribed.

"However my doctor can look in My Health Record - and I get a notification to say which doctor is looking at those records - to obtain the information on my medical history. And from the one place.

"They can also advise me if and when I need to get the booster vaccinations.”

She says one of the biggest benefits of having a My Health Record is the peace of mind.

“When I travel to Sydney, if I have an accident the first responders will be able to access my up-to-date health information," she said.

"I am a diabetic and it is great that my medicine history is in there. 

"If they have to give me medication, I know they will know what is safe to give me that will not react to what I’m already taking.”

Raewyne also spoke about how she has added in her own personal health notes to her My Health Record and regularly has her doctor update her shared health summary.

When you first access your My Health Record, you will not see much information in there. This is because your previous medical history, such as older tests and scan reports, will not be automatically uploaded to your My Health Record. 

Two years’ worth of MBS and PBS data will be added to your record automatically, but you can choose to remove this data if you wish to. 

With over 5.9 million Australians already using the online summary of health information over the last six years, there are already a lot of people discovering the benefits of having a My Health Record.

My Health Record is a safe and secure system which has strong protections, including, Strong encryptions, Firewalls, Secure authentication logins, and, Audit logs to protect your health information

It is the policy of the Australian Digital Health Agency, the system operator, to not provide access to your My Health Record to the police without a court order. This will soon be included in the My Health Record legislation. 

There are severe penalties in place should there be any unauthorised access of a My Health Record – this includes steep fines for the individual and organisation, and up to two years imprisonment.

You can ask your doctor to add a shared health summary to summarise your medical history, or add your own personal health summary.

The North Coast Primary Health Network will host an information session on My Health Record at the Port Macquarie Library on Saturday October 13, 9am until noon.