Survey: Patients worried about security of health info in EHRs
Patients want more assurance that their personal medical information will be safe and secure as healthcare organizations migrate to EHRs, according to an online survey of 2,720 U.S. adults, administrated through Xerox by Harris Interactive.
Nearly 80 percent of respondents who have concerns about digital medical records indicated stolen personal information by a computer hacker to be their number one worry, the survey found. The threat of lost, damaged or corrupted records was named by 64 percent and the misuse of information, by 62 percent.
The survey also indicated that respondents are still unclear on how EHRs will affect them. Only 18 percent of U.S. adults who have a healthcare provider said they have been approached by their provider to discuss EHRs. This is up just 2 percent from Xerox’s 2010 survey, according to the Rochester, N.Y.-based company.
Yet, this year’s survey also found that more than half of U.S. adults familiar with the conversion of paper records to digital records (51 percent) believe that EHRs will result in better, more efficient care, up 2 percent from last year’s survey.
The survey of 2,720 adults age 18 and older was conducted online May 5-9 within the U.S. by Harris Interactive. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and, therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
Nearly 80 percent of respondents who have concerns about digital medical records indicated stolen personal information by a computer hacker to be their number one worry, the survey found. The threat of lost, damaged or corrupted records was named by 64 percent and the misuse of information, by 62 percent.
The survey also indicated that respondents are still unclear on how EHRs will affect them. Only 18 percent of U.S. adults who have a healthcare provider said they have been approached by their provider to discuss EHRs. This is up just 2 percent from Xerox’s 2010 survey, according to the Rochester, N.Y.-based company.
Yet, this year’s survey also found that more than half of U.S. adults familiar with the conversion of paper records to digital records (51 percent) believe that EHRs will result in better, more efficient care, up 2 percent from last year’s survey.
The survey of 2,720 adults age 18 and older was conducted online May 5-9 within the U.S. by Harris Interactive. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and, therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.