Patients gaining confidence in EHR privacy, security

As the percent of physicians adopting and using EHRs goes up, patient concerns with EHR privacy have gone down, according to research published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Researchers conducted a national telephone survey from 2011 to 2013 to gauge patient perception of EHR privacy and security in the early years of meaningful use.

During those years, the percentage of respondents whose physicians used an EHR increased from 64 percent to 71 percent.

There was a slight drop in the perception that EHRs would improve healthcare quality, falling from 64 percent in 2011 to 62 percent in 2013. However, the proportion of respondents concerned about the effects EHRs have on privacy fell from 48 percent in 2011 to 41 percent in 2013.

Researchers found patients whose physicians used EHRs were more likely to believe EHRs would improve healthcare quality and were less concerned about privacy risks than patients whose physicians did not use EHRs. They suggest the trends may be linked to patients becoming more familiar with health IT.

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