Individuals wanting to withhold medical information from providers could be a sign of patient privacy concerns with online tools.
With numerous healthcare data breaches occurring in the last year alone, it should come as no surprise that patients may be concerned over EHR security, and just who has access to their protected health information (PHI). But could those patient privacy concerns cause individuals to hold back when they communicate with their personal care provider (PCP)? Or, is a lack of information preventing patients from feeling comfortable with online tools, such as patient portals?
According to recent research, patient privacy concerns might be mitigated simply from better communication between individuals and their PCP.
Healthcare security remains a top concern among patients, according to Xerox’s annual survey on the use of EHRs. However, the results also showed that many individuals are unaware of patient portals. For example, out of respondents who did not use a portal, 35 percent did not know a portal was available and 31 percent said their physician had never spoken to them about portals.
“With providers facing regulatory changes, mounting costs, and patients who increasingly seek access to more information, our survey points to an opportunity to address issues by simply opening dialogue with patients about patient portals,” Tamara St. Claire, chief innovation officer, Commercial Healthcare for Xerox, said in a statement. “Educating patients will empower them to participate more fully in their own care while helping providers demonstrate that electronic health records are being used in a meaningful way.”
In terms of accessing medical records, 57 percent of surveyed Millennials said they would access their information through online patient portals. Moreover, 43 percent said they would access patient portals through a smart phone.
Baby Boomers were also interested in using patient portals. Of those who did not currently use patient portals, 56 percent of those aged 55 to 64 said they would be much more engaged in their care if they received access to medical information online.
In another study on access to patient’s medical information, 49 percent of surveyed individuals withheld clinically sensitive information in their medical records from some or all of their health care providers. The study was published in the Journal of General Medicine and conducted in Central Indiana.
Patients desired strong control over access to their medical records, and providers were split on whether that was a good or bad thing. More than half of providers stated it was fine for information to be withheld, while approximately one-quarter of providers were uncomfortable with the fact. According to the latter group, a lack of information could potentially jeopardize care.
“It is important for patients to have confidence in how clinicians and others use their sensitive health information,” Lucia Savage, chief privacy officer of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, told Clemson University, which helped conduct the study. “Patient-centered decision making in electronic health information exchange can inspire trust in health IT and the papers in the journal, along with this study, give us new insights on these issues.”
Perhaps with strong two-way communication, and a thorough explanation of the benefits – as well as privacy and security measures – of using a patient portal, individuals will be more at ease with such online tools.
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