Privacy concerns decline about digital health records

Patients whose doctors use electronic health record systems are increasingly confident that their health information will remain private and secure, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers found in a new longitudinal study, published Oct. 5 in the American Journal of Managed Care. While electronic health record systems have been around since the early 2000s, they became more prevalent when the federal government began offering providers incentives to adopt the technology in 2009. To measure consumers' perspectives on electronic health records, the researchers collected data through a random-digit-dial national telephone survey that polled about 1,000 people a year between 2011 and 2013. Forty-one percent of respondents were worried that electronic health records would lessen the privacy and security of personal health data in 2013, compared to 47.5 percent in 2011. "Electronic health records, which were adopted really quickly and are now used in more than 96 percent of doctor's offices, have made a huge difference in the way that medical care is delivered. This study shows us that patients have noticed this change and have become more comfortable with the technology," said lead investigator Jessica Ancker, associate professor of healthcare policy and research at Weill Cornell Medicine.