Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Virtual Health
    • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
May 05, 2014 01:00 AM

Patients want more access to their health data, survey finds

Joseph Conn
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Safavi

    For all the talk about patient-centeredness in healthcare, there's a dissonance between patients' desires to access and control their healthcare information and the lack of connectivity and control that today's healthcare system is affording them, according to data from a recent survey of U.S. adults by the healthcare arm of the consulting firm Accenture.

    Better than two thirds (69%) of survey participants indicate they believe they have a right to access all of their healthcare data.

    The survey measured attitudes of the well (918 respondents) and the chronically ill (1,093). Significant majorities of both groups—86% of well individuals and 87% of those with chronic conditions—indicated it was either “important” or “very important” that they have control over their healthcare information.

    Accenture defined control as meaning that patients “have access to medical records and could use these records to make decisions about your personal care if you wanted to.”

    Right now, though, those surveyed don't feel all that empowered. Just 16% of healthy respondents and 17% of those who are chronically ill indicated that they have complete control over their healthcare information. Another 38% and 39%, respectively, felt they had some control.

    Asked how concerned they were about their personal privacy, the chronically ill respondents were slightly more worried than the healthy, with 65% of the chronically ill patients indicating elevated levels of concern (“very” or “somewhat” concerned) compared with 61% for healthy respondents. Even higher levels of concern were expressed by patients with certain chronic illnesses, ranging from 68% to 72% for patients with heart disease, COPD, obesity, arthritis, asthma and osteoporosis.

    Both groups of patients said they have relatively low levels of access to their patient information even if their healthcare providers have electronic health-record systems, with 70% of the chronically ill and 76% of healthy patients indicating they have never accessed their electronic records from their caregivers with EHRs.

    The primary reason they gave for not tapping their own records was not knowing how to do it.

    There is a lot of consternation these days by providers over the increased requirements for meaningful use in Stage 2 of the federal EHR incentive payment program, particularly those dealing with physician-patient messaging and record access. One of the new rules requires meaningful users to enable patients to view, download and transmit their health information within four business days.

    Market forces driven by consumer demand will also force provider-patient interoperability, according to Dr. Kaveh Safavi, the head of Accenture's global health business.

    “There is a big divide between a patient's perception of what their right ought to be and what's available,” Safavi said. But patient demand is “an unstoppable force,” he said, especially as patients are increasingly at financial risk through shifting co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket limits.

    “You'll start to see market forces create pull on the front end and the government pushing on the back end,” Safavi said. “There are already practices that are trying to differentiate themselves by making all of these things available.”

    Follow Joseph Conn on Twitter: @MHJConn

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    colorful-people_i_i.png
    The Joint Commission to add health equity standards to accreditations
    For top healthcare execs, leadership shapes legacy
    For top healthcare execs, leadership shapes legacy
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Virtual Health
        • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing