US GPs sceptical about patient access to records

A survey of attitudes towards patient-accessible electronic patient records in primary care in the US has revealed that GPs, rather than patients, tend to be more doubtful as to their benefits.

The survey, which was undertaken by researchers at the University of Colorado, aimed to ascertain whether attitudes towards computer-based records that could be accessed by patients varied according to age, gender and income level among patients and whether physicians in primary care believed they were of use.

The researchers found that around 40% of GPs believed that patient access to medical records would improve understanding of medical conditions, compared to 90% of patients. 84% of patients said that they could identify errors, while only 32% of GPs agreed, and while 90% of patients thought having access to their own records would help them follow medical instructions, only 47% of GPs believed this too.

Among patients, age, gender, race, education and income level had no effect on perception of the benefits of seeing one’s own records; 95% of those surveyed agreed with the statement: "Overall, I think it is a good idea for patients to be able to routinely review their outpatient medical records."

56% of all patients agreed that it would be a good idea for them to see their records over the internet; broadly in line with other studies published on the subject. There was no difference between patients of different income levels, ages, gender or race; however, the more experience a patient had with the internet, the more likely they were to support online patient records.

"While most patients endorse Internet-accessible records, a substantial minority does not endorse this practice, and many have very strong feelings about it," say the researchers. "Presumably, those patients with strong negative feelings are motivated by security and privacy concerns, particularly those without previous experience using the Internet.

"For Internet-accessible medical records to be more widely adopted, those concerns will need to be thoroughly addressed."

The full text of the study is available at the Journal of Medical Internet Research here.