The president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has defended signing a 'compact' with the federal government that commits the college to encouraging the further uptake and usage of the My Health Record by doctors, despite many GPs still opposing the system.

The RACGP and the Australian Medical Association both put their names to compacts with federal Health Minister Greg Hunt last week, agreeing to encourage use of the MyHR and participation in the MBS review in return for the government lifting the freeze on indexation for GPs from next year, among other measures.