News Feature | November 25, 2014

HIT Gaining Acceptance With Both Providers And Patients

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

HTO_Mobile_Devices

Acceptance of health IT is up among providers and consumers alike, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Consumers and providers share the same attitude when it comes to health IT, according to a recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). “Digitally-enabled care is no longer nice-to-have, it’s fundamental for delivering high quality care,” said Daniel Garrett, Health Information Technology Practice Leader, PwC US in a press release. “Just as the banking and retail sectors today use data and technology to improve efficiency, raise quality, and expand services, healthcare must either do the same or lose patients to their competitors who do so.”

According to the responses of 400 primary care physicians, 400 nurses and physicians assistants, and 200 chronic care physicians, access and acceptance of HIT have increased while concerns about patients interest have decreased.

iHealth Beat reports that the survey found many physicians and patients to have similar expectations of HIT:

  • 50 percent of consumers would use a medical device attached to a mobile phone for health examinations, compared with 42 percent of providers who said they would rely on those results to prescribe medication
  • 47 percent of consumers said mobile devices could help clinicians effectively coordinate care, compared with 79 percent of clinician
  • 56 percent of consumers would be comfortable sharing their data with other health care organizations if it improved the care they received, while 30 percent of providers currently share data with physicians outside of their practice

“The adoption and integration of digital technology with existing healthcare processes has not yet fulfilled its potential to transform care and value for patients,” said Simon Samaha, MD, Principal, PwC. “The next five years will be critical, with leaders emerging from those who use digital technology to innovate and revamp the interactions between consumers, providers and payers.”

Telehealth is also expected to increase, based on responses from this survey. Half of respondents said that within the next five years, they expect 10 percent of their office visits will be replaced with virtual visits. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said virtual visits would replace about one-third of their office visits.