Physicians, Not Patients, Concerned About Shared Access to Medical Records

Physicians had more concerns than patients about sharing access to medical records, according to two studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and reported in Cardiology Today.

Jan Walker, RN, MBA, of the Beth Israel Deacon Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues surveyed patients and physicians from three primary care practices in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington about a program that provides electronic access to physician's notes. According to study results, 69-81 percent of physicians and 92-97 percent of patients expressed positive opinions about the program.

More than half of participating physicians and the majority of non-participating physicians thought that access to their notes would increase patients' worry about their health. Interestingly, few patients shared the same concern.

In a second survey, researchers polled 18,741 patients who used a web-based personal health record system. The researchers found that 79 percent of patients would share personal health records with someone outside the health system, and patients had high levels of interest in allowing unrelated caregivers to conduct activities in their personal health record.

Related Articles on Physicians:
Gastroenterologist on the Move: Dr. Q. Cindy Gao Joins Southcoast Physician Services
How Hospital Employment Will Affect ASC Physicians in 2012: Thoughts From Smithfield Surgical Partners' Dr. Greg Horner
ASC Specialty to Watch: Pain Management in 2012

© Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2012. Interested in LINKING to or REPRINTING this content? View our policies by clicking here.