Patients willing to forgo some health IT privacy for availability
A qualitative study conducted by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston revealed that patients want full access to all of their medical records; are willing to make some privacy concessions in the interest of making their medical records completely transparent; and expect that computers may one day substitute for face-to-face doctor visits.
"We set out to study patient attitudes toward electronic personal health records and other emerging and future electronic health information technologies," said the study's lead author Jan Walker, RN, instructor of medicine in the division of general medicine and primary care at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "And we learned that, for the most part, patients are very comfortable with the idea of computers playing a central role in their care."
According to the study, which appears in the June issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, patients said they not only want computers to bring them customized medical information, they fully expect that in the future they will be able to rely on electronic technology for many routine medical issues.
Focus groups were held in four cities: Boston; Portland, Maine; Tampa, Fla.; and Denver. The locations were selected to represent various geographic areas, to include both rural and urban populations and to incorporate ethnic and cultural diversity. Six of the eight groups (consisting of nine to 12 participants each) were made up of consumers. The last two groups were made up of healthcare professionals from Boston and Denver, assembled to provide their perspectives on the role of health IT and to compare their opinions with those of consumers.
In each case, participants were asked how they currently organize the information they need to manage their health and medical care, and explored how they would ideally like to manage and use this information, including how technologies could address any gaps.
"The discussions showed that, for the most part, consumers want computers to take into account their personal profiles in order to bring them customized information and advice," Walker explained. "They also expect that technologies will 'watch' over them, monitoring their health and giving them real-time feedback, including communicating with clinicians when needed. Participants also said they expect computers to act as 'personal coaches,' and to foster self care."
Additionally, health information privacy was of less importance to the groups than might be expected. "It seems that as the population ages and finds itself facing more illness and serious medical conditions, privacy of health information becomes much less important to patients than it is when they are healthy," she noted. "Patients are willing to trade some privacy in order to have records fully available in emergency settings and available to new caregivers as well as to multiple clinicians."
New health technologies offer patients online access to parts of EMRs, options for maintaining their personal histories, and support for day-to-day management of chronic illness, the authors noted. But when it comes to the future design and utility of these and other elements of care, teams of software engineers, graphic artists and clinicians rarely solicit patient perspectives.
"Year after year, people have seen information technology transform one industry after another and, more to the point, transform their everyday experiences. This is the age of the iPhone, Facebook and Google Maps, yet health care feels very much the same. This study suggests that people are ready for change - they want a modern healthcare experience," commented Stephen Downs, assistant vice president of the health group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which supported the research through a grant from its Pioneer Portfolio.
"We set out to study patient attitudes toward electronic personal health records and other emerging and future electronic health information technologies," said the study's lead author Jan Walker, RN, instructor of medicine in the division of general medicine and primary care at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "And we learned that, for the most part, patients are very comfortable with the idea of computers playing a central role in their care."
According to the study, which appears in the June issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, patients said they not only want computers to bring them customized medical information, they fully expect that in the future they will be able to rely on electronic technology for many routine medical issues.
Focus groups were held in four cities: Boston; Portland, Maine; Tampa, Fla.; and Denver. The locations were selected to represent various geographic areas, to include both rural and urban populations and to incorporate ethnic and cultural diversity. Six of the eight groups (consisting of nine to 12 participants each) were made up of consumers. The last two groups were made up of healthcare professionals from Boston and Denver, assembled to provide their perspectives on the role of health IT and to compare their opinions with those of consumers.
In each case, participants were asked how they currently organize the information they need to manage their health and medical care, and explored how they would ideally like to manage and use this information, including how technologies could address any gaps.
"The discussions showed that, for the most part, consumers want computers to take into account their personal profiles in order to bring them customized information and advice," Walker explained. "They also expect that technologies will 'watch' over them, monitoring their health and giving them real-time feedback, including communicating with clinicians when needed. Participants also said they expect computers to act as 'personal coaches,' and to foster self care."
Additionally, health information privacy was of less importance to the groups than might be expected. "It seems that as the population ages and finds itself facing more illness and serious medical conditions, privacy of health information becomes much less important to patients than it is when they are healthy," she noted. "Patients are willing to trade some privacy in order to have records fully available in emergency settings and available to new caregivers as well as to multiple clinicians."
New health technologies offer patients online access to parts of EMRs, options for maintaining their personal histories, and support for day-to-day management of chronic illness, the authors noted. But when it comes to the future design and utility of these and other elements of care, teams of software engineers, graphic artists and clinicians rarely solicit patient perspectives.
"Year after year, people have seen information technology transform one industry after another and, more to the point, transform their everyday experiences. This is the age of the iPhone, Facebook and Google Maps, yet health care feels very much the same. This study suggests that people are ready for change - they want a modern healthcare experience," commented Stephen Downs, assistant vice president of the health group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which supported the research through a grant from its Pioneer Portfolio.