Dive Brief:
- A new patient survey commissioned by Surescripts found 55% of patients reported their medical history is missing or incomplete when they visit their physician.
- Conducted by Kelton Global, the survey received more than 1,000 responses nationwide and found 49% of respondents stated their physician was not aware of the prescriptions they were taking.
- According to a prepared statement from Surescripts, “Americans reported that they feel doctors using computers or tablets over paper during a visit are organized (70%), efficient (70%), innovative (40%) and competent (33%).”
Dive Insight:
It’s always good to look at the design and response rate when looking over survey data. That said, the aforementioned 55% of patients reporting their medical history being incomplete or missing during a doctor visit roughly accounts for 550 individuals out of around 1,000 survey respondents. While relatively low in the grand scheme of things considering 2014 statistics state 318.9 million people live in the U.S., it might be helpful to know how Americans prone to filling out surveys might perceive such encounters.
In addition, according to the survey results, four in ten respondents stated during most visits to the doctor, the office does not have their personal (40%) or insurance (38%) information on file.