TestSafe - Northern

TestSafe gives registered healthcare professionals access to:

• Test results and reports ordered by clinicians in hospital facilities.
• Community laboratory test results. Note, tests done privately, e.g. for insurance are not included in TestSafe.
• Records on prescribed medications dispensed by community pharmacies.
• Community Radiologists reports ‘copied to’ hospital clinicians or funded by Health New Zealand.
• Electronic Discharge Summaries written by clinician in hospital facilities.
• A range of clinical documents written by clinicians in the hospital facilities including clinic letters and community notes.
• Referrals letters sent by GP's to the hospital and the hospital clinical triage responses.
• A list of all of your hospital appointments.

TestSafe is a secure on-line database which is housed at Middlemore Hospital. It is operated by health alliance on behalf of Health New Zealand in the northern region (Auckland, Counties Manukau , Waitemata, Northland).

Day to day, TestSafe is run by health alliance on behalf of Health New Zealand in the northern region. To manage changes to TestSafe, including requests for information, a governance group, including senior clinicians and primary care representation is in place. The governance group ensures TestSafe is used for its intended purpose.

As it contains sensitive health data, TestSafe is subject to comprehensive privacy arrangements. Access is only possible via the high security ‘health network’ and not the internet.

Only Approved healthcare professionals are given access to the system. They are governed by their registration body, or employer (subject to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003) including a code of practice concerning patient privacy and confidentiality.

For General Practice and Pharmacy users, the system performs a check when a patient’s record is accessed to see if there is known relationship with user’s organisation, i.e., if the patient is registered to the practice or has dispensings from the pharmacy. If no relationship between the patient and the user’s organisation is found, an exception record is created. User’s must provide reasons for exceptions and TestSafe administrators perform other ‘audit’ checks on these. For example, each month some of the exceptions are selected and the patient concerned contacted so they can confirm the situation.

Hospital based staff are provided with access to TestSafe subject to strict controls in their employment contract, along with training in their obligations to patients. Staff are permitted to view a patient’s community based results only if they are currently under the care of the hospital. Access to results is audited by TestSafe and procedures are in place to identify any inappropriate activity. Any breaches of code of practice are treated seriously and may result in dismissal or a formal censure process by the relevant professional registration body.

If you have concerns over some (or all) of your information being available in TestSafe you can prevent it from being seen (see ‘How do I prevent information sharing’ below).

If you want a report on who has seen your TestSafe information, you can request this through the option ‘Who’s seen your info’ above, or by calling 0800 268 626 and requesting a report.

If you don’t wish other healthcare providers to see your information in TestSafe, you can stop the sharing of your information by:

• Phoning 0800 268 626.
• Telling your community healthcare provider when tests are ordered.
• Telling your community pharmacist when you get your prescription filled.

All access to view or report on the test result is removed from TestSafe.

For community laboratory tests, the test orderer receives all the results back as happens currently.

If you choose to prevent access to your information your treatment may be delayed, for example while tests are repeated or pharmacists confirm what medications you have been dispensed previously.