The Dept. of Health and Human Services is going to be conducting two surveys on patient perceptions of EHRs. Getting patient buy-in is just as critical as having physicians adopt health IT. It's one thing to get physicians to use the system. It's another thing if patients don't want their physicians to have electronic records on them.
Also, the meaningful use criteria include consumer engagement. So you'd better have patient buy-in. Maybe patients who feel unsafe with their medical records being digitized will go to another doctor. Perhaps that scenario is the extreme. Or some patients will opt out. If a physician doesn't have digitized patient data on most if not all of his or her patients; how will he or she be able to derive meaningful use of the EHRs or document improved quality of care?
I'd be curious as to how HHS will conduct its survey of 860 patients. As for the other survey, I think it's a smart approach to find out what 500 of its Medicare beneficiaries feel about EHRs, given that CMS gave Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries a free Web-based PHR tool in Arizona and Utah last year.
While HHS is conducting its survey, I think i'’s extremely helpful if physician groups and EHR vendors educate patients on the value of EHRs and how to be an active participant in the digitization of their medical information. Reaching out will help establish a trusted relationship. The sooner this is done, the easier it will be when the implementation begins.
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