US consumers approve of electronic medical records

A majority of US consumers believe electronic medical records can provide valuable benefits, especially during medical emergencies, and can improve overall medical care, according to an Accenture survey.

The survey, which queried more than 500 US healthcare consumers, found that the overwhelming majority of respondents believe electronic medical records can:

improve the quality of care (93% of respondents),
reduce the number of treatment errors in hospitals (92%),
lower health care costs overall (75%), and
reduce the amount of time patients spend waiting in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms (78%).

Three-quarters (75%) of respondents said they have visited an emergency room and/or required medical attention while away from home, and about two-thirds (65%) said they are concerned that they might be rendered unconscious in an accident and unable to report vital information to emergency personnel. In addition, 93% said they would support emergency room doctors having access to their electronic medical records if it could reduce the number of treatment errors in hospitals.

“Our research indicates that consumers have become aware of the potential benefits of electronic medical records, and we believe this shift creates opportunities for health providers and health plans to take steps toward implementing electronic medical record systems,” said Lewis Redd, a partner in Accenture’s Health & Life Sciences practice. “This awareness is relatively new, and we see the potential for an environment where consumers will begin to exert more influence over the speed at which these systems are adopted across the healthcare arena.”

The survey also found that privacy and cost issues related to electronic medical records are not as great of a concern to consumers as others might believe. For instance, while more than half of respondents said they are concerned about the privacy and security of their paper records, about the same number said they believe electronic records are more secure than paper.