44 percent of U.S. adults are worried about having their personal health care information stolen
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Forty-four percent of U.S. adults are worried about having their personal health care information stolen, according to findings from the Xerox eHealth Survey published Feb. 9 in HIT Consultant.
Noting that in 2016, more than one data breach was reported each day, the Xerox survey polled more than 3,000 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older about their perceptions in relation to health care information security.
According to the survey, nearly half of Americans (44 percent) are worried about having their personal health care information stolen. In addition, 76 percent of adults believe it would be safer to share health care information through a secure electronic method, instead of faxing papers. Patients also believe that sharing information between providers can improve care coordination and reduce wait times for tests and diagnoses, with 87 percent believing that the quality of service of health care providers would improve with better information sharing and coordination, and 87 percent believing that wait times would decrease. Furthermore, 19 percent of Americans would rather wait in line at the DMV than coordinate between different doctors’ offices to ensure they have all of their records and health information.
“It’s clear patients are frustrated by the lack of care coordination and disjointed processes,” Cees Van Doorn, a senior vice president at Xerox, said in the article.
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