Sharing medical information at no cost is important to U.S. adults
Approximately three-quarters of adults believe healthcare providers should share medical information, according to a new survey.
Further, 87 percent of respondents said they did not want patients or healthcare providers to pay for the transfer of health information. ORC International conducted the survey for the Society of Participatory Medicine, a non-profit organization.
The survey, which was conducted between March 5 and March 8, included 1,011 adults living in the U.S. There were 505 males and 506 females. Of the responses, 509 were from landline phones and 502 were from cellular phones.
In addition, nearly 20 percent of respondents said they or a family member had trouble receiving care because healthcare providers could not share records.
“What this survey points out is that when critical health information can't be shared across medical practices and hospitals, patients are put at risk,” Daniel Z. Sands, MD, MPH, co-founder and co-chair of the Society of Participatory Medicine, said in a news release. “We have the technology. What we need is for healthcare providers and systems developers to put patient interests ahead of business needs. None of them would exist were it not for the patients.”
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.