A new mobile App is now available to help parents keep their children’s important health, growth and development information at their fingertips.
Known as My Child's eHealth Record, the App allows parents to add and monitor information like immunisations, height, weight, and development milestones. It has been developed as part of the ongoing rollout of the Federal Government's national eHealth system.
“This App will mean that parents can have vital information about their children’s health, like their immunisation status, at their fingertips all of the time,” said Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek.
“It doesn’t replace the Blue Book or its equivalents, but if a parent is asked by a childcare centre about their child’s immunisation status, they are very likely to have their mobile with them even if they are not carrying the blue book.
“There’s a lot of health information that parents need to keep track of in the early years of their child’s growth, including immunisations, their growth rates and their development milestones.
“The My Child’s eHealth Record App is yet another way for parents to keep track of their family’s key health information, and adds to the clinical and personal information the eHealth record system can already hold for an individual,” the Minister said.
It is the first smartphone App developed for the eHealth record system.
However, before downloading and using the App, parents must have registered their child or children for a personally controlled eHealth record. The App then allows parents to view and add information to the Child Development part of their child’s eHealth record.
This includes personal measurements for a baby or young child’s head circumference, height and weight, information and reminders about immunisations and child health checks, and observations by parents about their children’s personal growth and achievements.
The rollout of the national eHealth system has a long way to go with the communitiy, with less than 220,000 registered for an eHealth record so far. More than 15.25 million documents have been uploaded to the system including clinical summaries, patient notes, advanced care directives, prescriptions and child eHealth records.
Further information about the App and the National eHealth System can be found here, including a link to download the new App.