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Americans want secure digital health data: study

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 10:32 CDT

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.

Source: REUTERS

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