Only 20 percent of Sufferers Use EHR Access to Make Medical Decisions

Although approximately 60% of patients have EHR access, very few of them really get the full value of the technology.

While 60% of patients have EHR access through the patient portal, very few actually utilize it to make medical decisions, states a new survey from HealthMine.

The poll of 500 patients disclosed that 55% only use their EHR access to stay informed of their clinical data, rather than completely engage in patient provider conversations, and only 22% of consumers use EHR data to make medical decisions.

Less than 1% use it for other purposes. 40% of patients do not have EHR access.

Of the consumers who did report having EHR access, a substantial amount of them are not gleaning much value from it.

While 71% of patients are capable to easily access and make sense of their health data, 15% have more difficulty understanding the information. 10% of respondents said they are capable to access their EHR data but do not actually do so, and 4% said they cannot access their EHR data or do not know how to.