Ireland consults public on identifier

Ireland’s Health Service Executive has launched a public consultation on the privacy implications of creating a unique health identifier, similar to the NHS Number.

A privacy impact assessment has been issued that outlines the purpose of the Individual Health Identifier and discusses some of the potential privacy risks.

Members of the public are being asked for their views on whether the benefits and risks have been correctly identified, and whether proposed safeguards are adequate.

Richard Corbridge, the chief information officer at the HSE, said: “We are looking for feedback from the public, through this consultation process, as it will be [their] information that will be processed as part of the IHI.”

Ireland launched a ‘Knowledge and Information Strategy’ in June last year that focused on getting new IT infrastructure, interoperable systems, data use and patient services in place for its health services.

A top priority for the new organisation was the creation of the IHI. “The IHI is primarily built to protect patient safety and to allow privacy to be protected and understood,” Corbridge said.

“The reason it exists is to ensure once digital health records are being shared they are done so appropriately, safely and effectively.”

A Health Identifiers Act was passed in July 2014 that allowed for the creation and operation of a unique identifier.

However, Corbridge has also stressed the importance of being open and transparent about the introduction of digital technologies; a lesson he says he learned from working on England’s National Programme for IT.

The HSE ran a consultation on the concept of an electronic health record for Ireland that finished at the end of January, and is now running the more specific consultation on the IHI.

“We can simply complete the process and governance models for the delivery of an EHR for Ireland, but that will not build engagement,” Corbridge said.

“If we want to build on the promise of being a patient centred solution, then we need to find out what the public expect and what; as well as what they would not be willing to accept.”

Following the consultation, which runs until 11 March, the draft privacy impact assessment will be reviewed, published on the eHealth Ireland website, and used to inform the creation and operation of the new IHI service.

Digital Health News reported in December that Ireland was making rapid progress with its digital health plans.

It had already created a single, national function for delivering healthcare IT, and created a functioning IHI that GP system suppliers are committed to implementing this year.

The IHI will also be implemented as part of Ireland’s national patient administration contract with CSC next summer.

Ireland is in the final stages of rolling out the national PAS contract, which was signed in 2005. The country has seven trust-equivalents, known as ‘hospital groups’ and most have deployed the iPM PAS, with two due to move to the more modern Lorenzo by January 2017.

In the meantime, the Office of the CIO has announced that eReferral is now available in 32 hospitals and will be rolled out to all hospitals by March.

It is also focusing on three ‘lighthouse’ projects to introduce EHRs for epilepsy, haemophilia, and bipolar disorder services; all of which will have analytics and patient-facing aspects.

eHealth Ireland is due to publish a business case for procuring a full electronic health record for Ireland, with a target date of deployment in 2019. All of eHealth Ireland’s plans, business cases and consultations are published on its website.