Health in a Networked Life

Markle identified some interesting social and cultural findings in their survey Health in a Networked Life.  They include:

• Many doctors and patients surveyed believe key information is lost in their health care conversations.
• A majority of the doctors surveyed indicate a preference for modern communications tools. Three in four doctors say they want to be able to share patient information with other professionals electronically. Roughly half prefer computer-based means to share information with their patients.
• A clear majority of the public and doctors agree that patients ought to be able to download their personal health information online and share information electronically with doctors.
• Roughly 80 percent majorities of both the public and doctors agree it is important to require participating hospitals and doctors to share information to better coordinate care, cut unnecessary costs, and reduce medical errors.
• Majorities of both groups also agree on the importance of measuring progress and setting goals for improving the nation’s health in chronic problems such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and obesity.
• Roughly 4 in 5 of both groups express the importance of privacy protections as a requirement to ensure that public investment in health IT will be well spent.
• The public and doctors overwhelmingly support privacy-protective practices, such as letting people see who has accessed their records, notifying people affected by information breaches, and giving people mechanisms to exercise choice and request corrections.
• The public and doctors are largely unfamiliar with the details of the new health IT incentives, suggesting that education and outreach will be vital to the success of the program.

 
Study overview      Survey findings

Comments

[Pallet racking inspection Toronto]

Health in a Networked Life is an exploration of the social and cultural changes attributed to an increasingly interconnected and electronically tracked society. The Markle Survey of Health in a Networked Life directly examines physician and consumer expectations at the outset of federal health IT stimulus and health care reform. Nearly all doctors surveyed say their patients sometimes or most times forget potentially important things they are told, according to the Markle survey. Roughly 1 in 3 of the doctors admitted to sometimes forgetting or losing track of important things that their patients tell them. About 1 in 4 patients perceived this to be so about their doctors. Nice information.