Sharing Your Medical Records

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Sharing Your Medical Records

85 Percent of Adults Expect Healthcare Providers to Share Records, Siena Poll Shows:  Survey of 1,000 regional consumers shows demand for real-time use of all health records

A public opinion poll conducted recently by the Siena College Research Institute showed that nearly 85 percent of adults in eastern New York expect their healthcare providers to share patient records. Nearly the same number of adults in the 1,000-resident sample expect their providers to use an electronic health information exchange (HIE), if one is available.

The poll, sponsored by Hixny (www.hixny.org), which is one of the leading state-qualified HIEs in New York state, also showed that 75 percent of adults consult their providers for information about both their specific health conditions and about any developments that affect their healthcare. That equals the combined number who consult friends and relatives, magazines and social media for general healthcare information.

Hixny funded the study after conducting a literature review of information gathered by HIEs around the country and finding that few, if any, had reported statistically significant results. Most polls and surveys had also been conducted before the sponsoring HIEs were fully operational.

“We wanted to understand where the people we serve stand on issues related to electronic health information exchange right now,” said Hixny CEO Mark McKinney. “The results of the Siena poll are striking. The acceptance of electronic data sharing among the general population is very clear. The healthcare community needs to take action to satisfy those consumer expectations that a patient’s data is available immediately at every point of care.”

Hixny is the nonprofit electronic health information exchange (HIE) serving residents and the healthcare community in New York’s 28 eastern counties north of New York City. Its secure technology allows people to contribute and use health records and the data they contain in real time, which improves consumers’ knowledge of their own records; ensures that providers have the details they need to provide high-quality care, and forms the foundation of effective population- and community-level health initiatives. Hixny is a nationally recognized leader in HIE technology innovation.

Sharing Your Medical Records 

Sharing Your Medical Records Part 2