Editor’s Note:  For additional discussion of health data security issues, including the role of NGOs in supporting privacy, please see FISMA Focus here. For information about GAO’s discussion on updating the Privacy Act, please see FISMA Focus here.

From: Healthcare IT News

Bernie Monegain, Editor

ROCHESTER, NY – More needs to be done to assure patients that their personal medical information will be safe and secure as the nation switches to electronic health records, according to a new survey.

The online poll of 2,720 U.S. adults was conducted for the Xerox Corporation by Harris Interactive. Nearly 80 percent of respondents who have concerns about digital medical records indicated stolen personal information by a computer hacker to be their number one worry, followed by the threat of lost, damaged or corrupted records at 64 percent and the misuse of information at 62 percent.

“The survey results indicate an urgent need for better patient-provider communication,” said Paul Solverson, partner, strategic advisory services of ACS, a Xerox company. “Providers need to start conveying the benefits of electronic records, particularly the security advantages over today’s paper-based system.” Despite healthcare reform dominating the news for the past year, the survey shows that respondents are still unclear on how EHRs impact them. Eighteen percent of U.S. adults who have a healthcare provider have been approached by their provider to discuss EHRs, up just 2 percent from Xerox’s 2010 survey.

Despite the uneasiness about health data security, the survey found that more than half of U.S. adults familiar with the conversion of paper records to digital records (51 percent) believe that EHRs will result in better, more efficient care – up from the previous survey, when only 49 percent agreed. Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills, Mich., is launching its EHR system at the end of this year. The system say hospital executives, will allow EHRs to “follow” a patient as he or she moves through different departments of the hospital, enhancing the quality of care. “When a patient moves from the emergency center to radiology or critical care, for example, their EHRs will be immediately available to the various caregivers, greatly increasing patient safety and quality of care,” said Paul E. LaCasse, DO, president and CEO, Botsford Hospital.

The benefits of Botsford’s EMR system, which is being implemented by Xerox, are already being communicated to staff. The hospital has a detailed communication plan in place for patients.

“We consider communication and training an important part of implementation,” said LaCasse. “It’s essential to allay concerns and demonstrate what a powerful tool EHRs can be in providing quality healthcare.”