Increased Use of Health IT Equates to Less Face-Time with Patients, Says Report

Ayla Ellison -

A new trend report has confirmed increased use of health IT by healthcare providers results in a decrease in face-to-face interactions with patients.

The newly released report is part of an ongoing series that analyzes the results of the third bi-annual Health IT Survey. The survey was conducted in 2008, 2010 and 2012 to identify primary trends in health IT systems as well as current and emerging software applications.

The report identified an increase in healthcare provider use of newer patient communication methods from 2010 to 2012. Providers' use of text messaging, social network sites, member/patient portals, wireless monitoring solutions, email and smartphone applications to communicate with patients has increased, according to the report. 

However, the report highlighted a five percent increase from 2010 to 2012 in the number of healthcare providers who spent no time with patients face-to-face.

The report findings indicate the use of health IT is increasing, while provider and patient face-to-face communication is decreasing.

The Health IT Survey was based on the responses of 670 respondents in 2010 and 642 respondents in 2012. The majority of respondents were case managers and registered nurses.

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