MAJORITY BELIEVE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS COULD ASSIST IN IMPROVING PATIENT CARE

MAJORITY BELIEVE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS COULD ASSIST IN IMPROVING PATIENT CARE 
 
A new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Healthcare Poll finds that onlyone-third (33%) of U.S. adults are very confident in their physicians and other healthcareproviders having a complete and accurate picture of their medical history. However, thisconfidence increases to half (50%) for those who have an electronic medical record.About one-fourth (26%) of adults say they use some form of electronic medical record,mainly one kept by their physician.  Katherine Binns, Division President for Healthcare Research at Harris Interactive,comments, “There has been more and more talk lately about electronic medical records -from inclusion in Presidential frontrunners’ healthcare reform plans to Microsoftannouncing a consumer website to store and share health information. Insurancecompanies and employers are also jumping on this bandwagon. It is estimated that eachyear billions of dollars are spent on redundant tests, and that many otherwise avoidableinjuries are caused by medical reporting errors. And it is assumed that much of this couldbe eliminated with online health systems that communicate with each other.” One key concept is that patients would have control over an Internet-based medicalrecord and they would decide with whom and when to share that information. But, aswhen banking or shopping first went online, there have been issues of privacy concernsregarding healthcare data as well. As things become more common though, theseconcerns tend to wane, evidenced by a 10-point drop this year (from 61% in 2006 to51%) in those who say electronic records make it difficult to ensure privacy. When itcomes to other online medical services, three-fourths of adults feel that patients shouldbe able to schedule an appointment with their physician via email or the Internet (77%)and communicate with their physician via email (75%). These online applications are bigfirst steps in overcoming privacy concerns. More adults (60%) feel that the benefits outweigh the privacy risks than those who do not(40%). Majorities agree that electronic medical records could reduce healthcare costs(55%), decrease medical errors (63%), and reduce redundant tests (67%) – similar to2006 results. Even more (74%) believe that patients could receive better care if doctorsand researchers were able to share information more easily. However, about one-quarterof adults are just not sure that electronic medical records could provide any of thesebenefits, indicating a need for continued talk about this matter. Source: Survey conducted by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal Online’sHealth Industry Edition, December 5, 2007. Website: www.harrisinteractive.com.28

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