In 2013, about three in 10 patients were offered online access to their medical record. About half of those patients offered access logged on at least once, according to a news brief from the ONC.
The ONC surveyed 661 patients with online EMR access. Of those patients, 21 percent viewed their record once or twice, 15 percent viewed it three to five times and 10 percent viewed it more than six times. Fifty-four percent did not access their record at all.
Of those who accessed their medical record online, 60 percent said it was "very useful."
The brief comes at a time when hospitals and health systems are struggling to meet the view/download/transmit requirement of meaningful use stage 2, many worrying about low participation among their patient populations. This brief indicates patients may be more receptive to accessing their records online than providers think, according to an ONC blog post.
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