Americans care about healthcare IT, Kaiser survey shows.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Jun 13, 2008

From ihealthbeat 6/13/08:

Americans Want Next President To Prioritize Health IT Efforts

More than half of U.S. residents think the next president should make health IT a top priority, according to a new survey sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Healthcare IT News reports (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 6/13).

The survey, conducted in May by consulting firm StrategyOne, found that 73% of respondents said the value of EHRs outweighs the associated risks, up from 61% in 2007

In addition, the percentage of U.S. residents who have "seen, read or heard about" EHRs has increased from 43% in 2007 to 57% in 2008.

The survey also found that:

65% of respondents said they have gone online to learn about a medical condition (Pulley, Government Health IT, 6/13);

61% of respondents said they prefer insurance companies that use EHRs;

47% said they prefer physicians who use EHRs; and

38% said they have used their insurers' online tools (Healthcare IT News, 6/13).

Kaiser, which recently partnered with Microsoft on its personal health record platform, is calling on the health care industry to better educate consumers about the benefits of EHRs.

George Halvorson, chair and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, said that "if we do not empower both patients and doctors to use these tools, then their great benefits may not be fully realized" (Government Health IT, 6/13).

Full Story at: Healthcare IT News

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9416