Computerized Data Causes Some Patients To Lie To Protect Security, Study Finds
Electronic health records might save time and paper, but some patients say they find themselves not being truthful when they see their physicians using them.
According to a new study appearing in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), 13 percent of patients report withholding personal data from physicians using electronic health records (EHRs) due to concerns about privacy and security.
“Findings suggest that patients may non-disclose to providers to protect against the perceived EHR privacy and security risks. Despite evidence that EHRs inhibit patient disclosure, their advantages for promoting quality of care may outweigh the drawbacks,” wrote a team of researchers from the departments of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Institute for Security, Technology and Society at Dartmouth College.
Researchers suggest that health care providers should discuss patient privacy as part of the appointment while seeking ways to address both real and perceived risks to privacy and security brought by EHRs.
Still, that may not be reassuring enough for patients.
The AMIA study; (based on 2012 Health Information National Trends Survey). Echoes results of a survey by the digital media company Morning Consult. Which in a survey of 3,687 voters from March 21-23 and May 2-4 found that although 83 percent of those responding expect EHRs to be used in hospitals, only 53 percent said they trusted the technology.
