An increasing number of doctors using electronic health records or EHRs have assured consumers that the value and synchronization of care can be enhanced with new health information technology also known as health IT. While most consumers are happy with these new advancements, there are still a number of reservations regarding data violations.
A detailed survey, initiated by the National Partnership for Women & Families under the guidance of Alan Westin, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Columbia University, was conducted to analyze consumer views on health IT.
In a release, Christine Bechtel, VP at the National Partnership said, “We fielded this survey now, in the early stages of the transformation to EHRs, to assess consumer views and to measure whether the ways doctors and hospitals are using them is what patients want and need. For health IT to deliver on its promise, consumers must support it. If they don't, we will see political pressure for repeal and the promise will be squandered. What we found is encouraging, but there are still potential landmines ahead.”
The survey titled, ‘How Consumers Value and Trust Health IT’ offers a detailed view of consumer’s belief in health IT. The value in EHRs has been appreciated by patients irrespective of the type of records used by their physicians.
The survey revealed that the majority of respondents were convinced that the use of EHRs would be beneficial to doctors and patients as well. Nearly 59 percent of respondents whose doctors used EHRs and 66 percent of respondents whose doctors did not use EHRs however felt that data violations like personal information being lost or stolen will occur with the increase in the usage of EHRs.
Dr. Farzad Mostashari, national coordinator of Health IT at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, “This survey draws attention to a critical, but sometimes overlooked, facet of health information technology - patients and their families need to be at the center of efforts to modernize healthcare's information infrastructure “
The survey, which included 1,961 adults, was carried out from August 3 to August 22, 2011, and financed by the Commonwealth Fund, Merck & Co., Inc., WellPoint, Inc. and the California HealthCare Foundation.
Edited by
Jennifer Russell
