Australians attempting to opt out of the government's new centralised health records system online have been met with an unreliable website. Those phoning in have faced horrendous wait times, sometimes more than two hours[1], often to find that call centre systems were down as well, and staff unable to help.
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which runs the My Health Record system, is reportedly telling callers that they weren't expecting the volume[2] of opt-outs.
"On hold with @MyHealthRec for over 1.5 HOURS to opt out without providing my drivers license/passport number. Turns out their entire backed system has crashed and they are telling support staff to just punch peoples details into the website. Confidence inspiring!" tweeted[3] one caller.
"The person i'm speaking to is stressed as f***. Its their first day. I feel bad for her but she also has no idea what's going on and puts me on hold every time I ask something that's not on the script."
The problems started early on Monday, the first day of the three-month opt-out period before digital health records are created automatically.
"Call operator Laura answers. Pleasantly & politely tells me she can help. Uses my Medicare number to locate my record. But can't change alter my record as system down. She apologizes, guesses this is why I'm having trouble online and suggests I try again later," tweeted Dr Leslie Cannold[4] at 7.29am.
Cannold, a research ethicist and health regulator, said she'd like to see government prove the value[5] of My Health Record, as well as their capacity to keep it secure, before she opts in to have one. The system should also be