Engaging Consumers: Research Findings
A Majority of Consumers Favor
Secure Electronic Health Information Exchange
Attitude and Opinion Research – Executive Summary
Supported by the eHealth Initiative Foundation
Released May 2, 2007
(Click Here to View a PDF Version of the Report)
BACKGROUND
Enabling secure electronic health information exchange should be a high priority for national, state and local leaders, according to attitude and opinion research conducted by Public Opinion Strategies LLC (POS) on behalf of the eHealth Initiative Foundation. Through a combination of focus groups and a phone survey of adults conducted in the five Gulf States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) in 2006, POS conducted research to gain an understanding of public perception and attitudes about secure electronic health information exchange and determine what language and messaging was most effective in gaining support for its implementation.
OVERVIEW OF KEY FINDINGS
A number of findings emerged from the research that will support national, state and local efforts in communicating the importance of electronic health information exchange to consumers.
1. Support is extremely strong among consumers for secure electronic health information exchange with 70 percent of respondents favoring and 21 percent opposing its development. Support across political parties is equally strong, with 73 percent, 70 percent, and 67 percent of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, respectively, strongly favoring the development of health information exchange. Click here for more detail.
2. The more consumers learn about the creation of secure electronic health information exchange, the greater their support. Initial response to the term "secure electronic health information exchange" without any further information provided is relatively neutral, however the overall impression becomes significantly more positive when presented with a brief definition of the term. Click here for more detail.
3. Respondents' questions and concerns after hearing a definition of secure health information exchange provided guidance on improving how to communicate about health information exchange. Based on the research, it's important when defining health information exchange to focus on: security, how it works, patient permission, who has access, and benefits of health information exchange to the patient and physician. Click here for more detail.
4. Overwhelmingly, the message that resonates the most for consumers is "having access to information in an emergency medical situation". Other messages that elicit positive response include those relating to "having access to your medical record when you are out of state", "having access to your medical record when you visit your doctor", and "having access during or after natural disasters." Click here for more detail.
5. Consumers overwhelmingly trust doctors the most to deliver them information about secure electronic health information exchange. Click here for more detail.
6. Misperceptions about the prevalence of health IT and electronic health information exchange are common. Almost half of consumers believe that their doctors already keep their medical records in electronic form, and a majority believe that it is likely that their doctors' medical records have a back-up copy off-site in electronic form. Click here for more detail.
SUPPORT FOR THIS WORK
The attitude and opinion research including in this report was supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 which provided funds to strengthen Gulf Coast healthcare services and regional electronic health information infrastructure following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
eHI IS USING THE RESEARCH TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATIONS TOOLS
The eHealth Initiative Foundation, with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services1 contracted Health2 Resources to develop a public education and communications kit to support communications outreach and engagement by state, regional and community leaders engaged in health information exchange efforts.
Entitled the InformationSTATTM, eHI's public education and communications toolkit includes include a wide range of helpful tools, including customizable public announcements for radio, "print-ready" artwork for advertisements and billboards, a variety of case examples for how health information exchange supports improvements in healthcare, and brochures and powerpoint presentations that can be used to conduct outreach to clinicians—a critical stakeholder in both the implementation of health information exchange efforts and outreach to consumers. The toolkit is available free-of-charge to subscribers of the eHI Connecting Communities Toolkit. Click here to access the InformationSTATTM toolkit. Sign-in is required.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Attitude and opinion research conducted by Public Opinion Strategies LLC (POS) was comprised of focus groups and a telephone survey. POS conducted six focus groups on behalf of the eHealth Initiative Foundation exploring attitudes and receptivity towards health information exchange in the Gulf Coast region. Two focus groups were conducted among each of the following target audiences: Consumers; primary care physicians; and employers. The focus groups were completed in Houston, TX, Mobile, Alabama, and Tampa, Florida during the period June 20 – June 22, 2007. POS also conducted a survey of 1,000 adults in five Gulf States (200 interviews were completed per state: AL; FL; LA; MS; TX). The sample size of 1,000 had a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.
ABOUT THE EHEALTH INITIATIVE AND ITS FOUNDATION
The eHealth Initiative and its Foundation are independent, non-profit affiliated organizations whose missions are the same: to drive improvements in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology.
eHI engages multiple stakeholders, including clinicians, consumer and patient groups, employers, health plans, healthcare IT suppliers, hospitals and other providers, laboratories, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, public health, and public sector agencies, as well as its growing coalition of more than 280 state, regional and community-based collaboratives focused on improving healthcare by mobilizing health information electronically, to develop and disseminate common principles, policies and best practices for improving the quality, safety and effectiveness of America's healthcare through information and information technology.
