Americans want secure digital health data: study

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of U.S. consumers
surveyed support Internet-based health records if they can be
secured to protect patient privacy, according to a study
released on Tuesday.

In a nationwide poll of 800 Americans, 72 percent said they
favored electronic health records. The support was consistent
among all ages, income levels, education and political
affiliations, the Markle Foundation said.

Most patients said such systems must prevent unauthorized
access and allow individuals to decide who can view their
information as well as when it can be shared.

About 70 percent also said employers should not have access
according to the study conducted by Virginia-based Public
Opinion Strategies for the technology advocacy group.

President George W. Bush has called for all Americans to
have paperless health records by 2014, establishing a health
technology office to oversee that goal.

Barriers include the cost, training requirements and
competing standards that make it difficult for doctors in one
office to view records from another.

Most patients surveyed said electronic data could help
doctors find information more quickly and make better
decisions. That would lead to faster and more efficient care,
especially in emergencies, they told researchers.

A second survey of 800 registered voters found nearly 70
percent of those consumers would use digital records to check
for mistakes and verify prescriptions. About 60 percent would
use them to get test results as well as e-mail their doctors,
according to the survey.

Markle Foundation President Zoe Baird said Americans
already use the Internet for banking and buying groceries.
Tuesday’s poll shows they are just as receptive to using it for
health care, but so far most cannot, she said.

“We have everything else on the Internet except our health
information … Most patients don’t know what is in their
records, and they don’t have the ability to make their records
available to other providers,” said Baird, whose group aims to
speed technology use among health care and national security
industries.

Last week Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt
proposed easing rules that govern what free goods doctors can
accept in an attempt encourage software and computer donations
to physicians, especially those with small practices.

Makers of electronic health record systems are also eyeing
federal health agencies to see what standards they adopt. On
Friday, Leavitt convened the first of several meetings over two
years to establish such criteria.

Companies pursuing health information technology include
Cerner Corp., Eclipsys Corp., General Electric Co.’s GE
Healthcare Information Technologies, International Business
Machines Corp., IDX Systems Corp., Siemens, Hewlett-Packard Co
and Xerox Corp.