A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Xerox Corp. shed light on consumers' perceptions about EHRs. While nearly half of the 2,180 people polled said EHRs would make healthcare delivery more efficient, they didn't know how it would impact them as patients.
Houston, we have a problem. Everyone would agree that consumer or patient buy-in is critical for EHR adoption. You can't have patient buy-in if they don't know understand the benefits derived from EHRs.
Even more disturbing is that survey respondents say patients are the last in the healthcare ecosystem to benefit from EHRs.
What are the survey results telling us? In this case, it is telling us that we need to conduct patient outreach in our communities and regions. Education needs to happen once that contact is made.
Another thing that must be done is physicians must leverage their relationships of trust by articulating the benefits to their patients. By spending a few minutes explaining the transformation of health IT, physicians are available to answer any concerns about privacy and security of EHRs at the point of discussion.
Many RECs are conducting or have conducted extensive patient outreach programs and summits. They understand that if patients aren't at the table, dinner won’t be served.
If your hospital or healthcare system has reached out to patients to highlight the benefits of EHRs, let us know. It would be helpful for providers in the beginning stages of EHR or EMR planning to get some valuable best practices from successful consumer awareness campaigns.
Photo by Ivan Walsh obtained via Creative Commons license.
