Show me the technology! That is the conclusion of a study from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to be released in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) in June. The study reveals that consumers who are defined as “internet-savvy” are ready to take a chance on electronic health records (EHR) despite warnings of potential privacy risks.
The study, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), investigated whether or not patients were comfortable making the leap with their health care providers to the digital age through the adoption of EHRs. In the tech-savvy cities where they held focus groups, the answer was a resounding ‘yes.’ Not a terrible surprise given that they investigated consumers in Boston, Portland, Tampa and Denver—some of the more tech-educated spots in the country. However, investigators did attempt to include a diverse group of people, drawn from both urban and rural areas. Additionally, they included health professionals in their study to compare their perspectives about health technology relative to consumers.
The findings should not come as a major surprise since an estimated 60 percent of households across all states have a home internet connection. Citizens are increasingly interested in managing their lives via computer—EHRs seems a natural progression in this evolution.
Yet, the study findings echo a sense of surprise at the willingness of consumers to give up some of their privacy in order to obtain greater transparency with respect to their health information. In actuality, it may be more of a reflection of the distrust and frustration with the current patient-physician/health care provider relationship where one may deem transparency of much greater importance than whether or not someone uncovers that they have kidney stones…
