Healthcare Technology Featured Article

September 16, 2013

Patients Favor Doctors Who Offer Electronic Medical Records


Global management consulting agency Accenture found through a recent survey that as many as 41 percent of Americans are willing to ditch their doctors in favor of ones who offer access to electronic medical records (EMR).

The firm also found that, compared to other countries, only 36 percent of U.S. consumers have access to said records.

More than half, however, have taken their health matters more seriously by taking them into their own hands. Fifty-seven percent have gained possession of their records to track personal health, including their health history (37 percent), physical activity (34 percent) and other health indicators (33 percent).

“The rise of Meaningful Use mandates and a growing trend of self-care among consumers is shifting the role of an EMR from a mere clinical repository to a platform for shared decision-making among consumers and doctors,” said Kaveh Safavi M.D., J.D., managing director of Accenture’s North America health business in a statement. “Just as consumers can self-manage most other aspects of their lives, they expect to take greater ownership of their medical care, and they are willing to switch to doctors who share their values and are willing to provide access to consumer records.”

Physicians don’t necessarily agree with the belief that patients should have full access to all medical records. Sixty-five percent, according to the survey, say patients should have limited access.

As we become more technologically savvy as a society, it should come as no surprise, then, that people are looking to be more involved with their health history and how they can make positive changes by working with their doctors.

According to Pew Research Center’s Tracking for Health study, measuring health data using the Internet “has been shown in clinical studies to be a tool for improving outcomes, particularly among people trying to lose weight or manage a chronic condition.”

In another study, the Center found that 81 percent of U.S. adults use the Internet and 59 percent say they have looked online for health information in the past year. Thirty-five percent of U.S. adults say they have gone online specifically to try to figure out what medical condition they or someone else might have.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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