Electronic Health Records: What’s in it for me?

By John B. Jones, vice president, Healthcare Providers, Xerox

There’s no doubt about it, electronic health records (EHRs) are changing the business of healthcare, but how will the switch to digital affect patients? EHRs can help simplify what can be a confusing and at times, frustrating system. By gathering information from the paper and electronic documents that exist today, an EHR creates a lifetime clinical information record, helping doctors to truly understand what’s going on with a patient. With more complete information, we can influence post-care action and prevent re-admission. 

We conducted a survey to see just how much patients know about EHRs and it turns out, they are largely unsure about what to expect.

In fact, only 16 percent of U.S. adults who have a healthcare provider/institution have been approached by their provider/institution to discuss converting to digital records.

79 percent of adults who have concerns about digital medical records report stolen records to be their number one concern, followed closely by misuse of information (69 percent) and lost/damaged/corrupted records (68 percent).

A smooth transition to EHRs is not just about the right workflows and technology; it’s also about gaining patient buy-in and understanding. Patients are the most important stakeholder in healthcare and providers need to prepare them for this new way of healthcare management.

If we give a better experience, patients will buy into their care and will become more compliant. They will do what they need to do and return less for more care (meaning more reimbursements for providers).

For a complete view of the survey and video commentary on the topic visit: http://www.pitchengine.com/xeroxcorporation/xerox-survey-patients-know-little-about-impact-of-electronic-health-records/53311/