BUSINESS

Paper perceived safer than e-records

Quick View. Sept. 8, 2008.

Consumers may actually resist electronic health records, fearing they're not quite safe.

Problem	Responded yes
Read or heard of medical records being stolen	69%
Of those who have heard of records being stolen, those who say they or someone they know have been victims	7%
Those who believe computerized records are likely to be lost or stolen	47%
Those who believe paper records are lost or stolen more often	16%
Those who believe both computerized and paper records can be lost or stolen	23%
Of those who have had records stolen, believe computerized records are lost more often	54%

While some studies suggest it will be consumer demand that drives the adoption of electronic health records, a recent Harris Interactive poll found a large percentage of consumers believe their records will not be secure in electronic form. Consumers were asked to respond yes or no to certain questions about electronic records crime.

Source: Harris Interactive poll of 2,454 adults conducted online between June 9 and June 16 (www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=930