Physicians' lack of EHR sharing sends most patients looking elsewhere for care, survey finds

Healthcare consumers across the U.S. are becoming increasingly disappointed in the lack of health data sharing between providers, with more than two-thirds considering switching physicians, according to an Aug. 3 Black Book Research report

For its report, Black Book surveyed 2,517 healthcare consumers in all 50 states in July about their providers' data-sharing abilities and their interoperability perceptions. 

Five survey insights: 

1. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they will consider changing their physician and hospital providers within the next year after learning their health records were not shareable, available or blocked in the last year. 

2. Twenty-two percent of consumers said they experienced difficulties or were unable to access their providers to obtain medical records electronically, via fax or in person in 2020.  

3. Of the individuals surveyed, 324 had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and reported being treated in new care environments this year. Of the 324 patients, not one said their full patient record was electronically available to their COVID-19 treatment provider. 

4. Ninety-three percent of respondents said they were disappointed by the lack of data sharing during the pandemic across separate EHR vendor systems; 55 percent blamed their healthcare provider, while 31 percent blamed the EHR provider. 

5. Eleven percent of consumers said closed clinics and practices during the pandemic affected their ability to fax or retrieve medical records. 

 

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