A new study released by Norwalk-based Xerox has revealed that nearly half of all Americans are concerned that their personal health care information is at risk of being stolen.
According to the 2017 Xerox eHealth Survey of more than 3,000 adults, 44 percent worried that their health care data could fall into the wrong hands. However, despite the proliferation of data breaches ”“ at least one data breach is reported per day ”“ 76 percent of the respondents believed that health care providers could thwart this level of information theft through secure electronic methods rather than by faxing paper documents.
Furthermore, 87 percent of respondents felt that patient wait times on test results could be reduced if providers would securely share and access digital patient information from various providers, while 87 percent felt that the quality of health care service would benefit from secure digital information sharing among providers.
“It”™s clear patients are frustrated by the lack of care coordination and disjointed processes, so much so, that our Xerox survey shows 19 percent of Americans would rather wait in line at the DMV than coordinate between different doctors”™ offices to ensure they have all of their records and health information,” said Cees Van Doorn, senior vice president of health care industry at Xerox.
The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of Xerox from Jan. 26-30, among 3,172 adults ages 18 and older.
