Patients will soon be able to have pathology and diagnostic imaging results added to their health records that are available over the internet.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says the federal government will spend $8 million to provide for the upgrading of medical software used by doctors to put records online.
She said it was a major step in the evolution of the government's national eHealth records system.
"We expect both doctors and patients will find the new functionality useful, as it will reduce the need for them to chase down results or duplicate tests," the minister said.
"In an emergency, having this kind of information on a patient's eHealth record could save lives."
The eHealth system has been up and running for about a year and so far about 520,000 people have had their records uploaded.
The expansion to include pathology and imaging results will roll out in the first half of 2014.
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