The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT reports that an increasing number of patients are using online patient portals or apps to access their medical records, and they are doing so more frequently compared to previous years.
Between 2020 and 2022, the percentage of U.S. adults who mentioned they were given the opportunity to access their medical records by a healthcare provider or insurer rose by 24%, reaching approximately 3 out of 4 individuals, according to an Oct. report from the ONC.
The report also found that the proportion of individuals who were offered access to their medical records and subsequently used it surged by 50% over the same period, increasing from 38% to 57%.
Patients who were given the opportunity to access their online medical records also demonstrated increased usage, with 54% reporting that they accessed their records at least three times in 2022, marking an increase from 38% in 2020 and 26% in 2017.
The ONC attributed these increases, at least in part, to the Cures Act Final Rule of 2020, which introduced standardized application programming interface requirements, enabling the use of health apps on smartphones over the past few years.
The full report can be accessed here.