Dive Brief:
- A new poll by Morning Consult has concluded that although most patients expect hospitals to use electronic medical records, only half believe those records are secure.
- The poll, which surveyed a national sample of 3,687 voters, concluded that 83% of respondents said they expect hospitals to use EMR systems.
- When asked about EMR safety, 53% said they trusted that their EMR were safe, but 39% said they were worried about the safety of their EMRs. 8% said they did
- The survey also found that 60% of respondents said they would use an application that would store their health records and medical history, compared with 16% who said they would not.
Dive Insight:
Where trust in EMRs varied, it was often linked to specific demographics. For example, more than 60% of respondents age 18 to 29 said they trusted the safety of their EHRs, while only 40% of those ages 45 to 64 expressed such trust. EMR trust also varied slightly with educational levels, with 50% individuals with less than a college education saying they trusted EMR safety, compared to 61% among those with a postgraduate education. It appears that providers will have to work at gaining the trust of older, less educated users.