National Health Insurance and the Regulation of Electronic Health Records in South Africa: A Primer and Call for Clarification

Electronic health records (EHRs) are digital records containing health information spanning a patient’s lifetime. While the South African public health sector still largely uses hardcopy records, this is bound to change as the government plans to implement a new National Health Insurance (NHI) system. For this system to be efficient, patients must be registered and tracked and this may be achieved by the use of EHRs. While the use of EHRs is beneficial, it creates security and privacy risks to patient information – the most sensitive type of personal information. In order to protect this information as best possible, EHRs must be adapted to regulatory frameworks and healthcare practitioners must practice in accordance to relevant legislation and regulations. In South Africa, this includes the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa; National Health Act; Protection of Personal Information Act; Promotion of Access to Information Act; Electronic Communication Transaction Act and Health Professions Act, as well as policy documents and guidelines by relevant authorities. This article serves as a primer on these regulatory instruments aimed at healthcare practitioners in preparation for the implementation of NHI. It further identifies issues in need of clarification.