A recent Medical Economics article by Brandon Glenn examined a study regarding what physicians must do to engage patients in their EHRs and the key concerns patients have currently. As a boutique firm that specializes in healthcare marketing and PR, we wanted to share these three key factors with you since EHRs will be an integral part of our online and digital futures.

Although a large part of the nation-wide discussion over electronic health records (EHRs) has focused mostly on physicians, there will still be a need for significant buy-in by patients to achieve the potential of EHRs. Patient adoption of personal health records (PHRs) is a significant issue to physicians.

In order to get bonuses associated with stage 2 meaningful use, physicians have to both provide online access to PHRs and be able to exchange secure electronic messages with patients, as well as prove that 5% of patients actually use these functions.

As reported in Medical Economics on August 05, 2013, researchers associated with Virginia Commonwealth University conducted a recent study published in BMJ that conducted focus groups with 28 patients from eight family practices across Northern Virginia that offered PHRs. Half of participants used the technology, while half did not.

A key takeaway from the study was that patients are much more likely to engage in PHRs if their personal clinician endorses it. In all of the focus groups, three key themes were identified in how patients wanted to be engaged in their PHRs:

  1. Patients want novel and relevant content about their care. Some patients were prompted to register on their physician’s EHR system to make appointments with their clinicians. They were made less likely to register because the invitation came at times that weren’t connected to care needs. This implies that physicians should send invitations either just before or after a patient’s scheduled appointment.
  2. Records must be seen as trustworthy for accuracy, privacy, and security. A physician’s endorsement of an EHR system was seen as a signal of security for patients. This endorsement also made patients more likely to trust content accuracy as well as the accuracy of recommendations in their online records.
  3. A high level of functionality. Patients certainly want PHRs to contain their health information and provide communication with physicians, but some patients pointed to personalized advice and the ability to prioritize that advice as “very important” additional items to be provided.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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