Patient Access To EHR's Does Not Mean More Work For Providers
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
According to a University of Colorado study, allowing patients access to their health information does not increase provider workloads.
During their hospital stays, more than 50 patients were provided tablets by a research team at the University of Colorado. With these, patients were able to view their health information through the EHR. The results, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, showed providers need not worry that patient access will create more work; in fact, the study showed it did not drastically increase the workloads of doctors or nurses.
“Giving outpatients direct access to their health information helps clinicians find errors and improves patient satisfaction,” explained researchers, “although the implications of this type of access have not been well studied in the inpatient setting.”
Of the 50 patients that used tablets for this study, all of them knew how to use the internet. Most of them had home computers and about half had laptops or smartphones. According to iHealth Beat, the average age of patients was 42 and the majority had incomes of less than $45,000.
Sixty-eight percent of doctors believed having patients access their EHRs while in the hospital would increase work, and all 14 of the nurses they asked believed so as well. While most of the staff expected increased workloads, only 36 percent of doctors and just half of the nurses reported more work.
“The hope is that increased transparency achieved by sharing electronic medical records with patients while they're in the hospital would make them more engaged in their care, more satisfied, and more likely to ask questions and catch errors,” said lead study author Dr. Jonathan Pell, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Denver, in an article for Reuters.
Before participating, 92 percent of patients said they thought access to the EHR would help them understand their medical conditions, while 80 percent said it would help them understand the doctor’s instructions. After seeing their health records, 82 percent said it helped them better understand their conditions and 60 percent said it helped them understand the doctor’s orders.
Interestingly, after the study the percentage of patients who felt worried fell from 42 percent to 18 percent and the number that felt confused went from 52 percent to 32 percent. This disproved patient thoughts that seeing their health records would cause them more worry and confusion.