There is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal Health Blog. The article is based on a study from the California HealthCare Foundation. In the study it showed that patients were concerned about privacy of their medical records:
Privacy concerns still hover around EMRs, with 68% of survey respondents reporting some degree of worry about what happens to their personal information once it’s stored in a doctor’s computer.
Note: 35% responded that they were very concerned and 33% responded that they were somewhat concerned.
15% of the 1,849 adults surveyed said they’d conceal information from a physician if “the doctor had an electronic medical record system” that could share that info with other groups. Another 33% would “consider hiding information.”
Note: The question made it clear that personal information including name, address, and other personal information would NOT be shared.
It is clear from the survey that there is still a long way to go before patients are comfortable with electronic records.
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