Patients and physicians perceive digital technology and its effectiveness differently, a recent Medscape survey found.
Medscape polled 1,423 health professionals (including 847 physicians) and 1,103 patients.
Here are seven key notes:
1. Eighty percent of patients said electronic health records make practices more efficient, significantly more than 54 percent of physicians.
2. While 90 percent of physician respondents reported using EHRs, half of physicians said EHRs reduced their efficiency.
3. Forty-nine percent of physicians said web portals enhanced relations with patients.
4. More than 50 percent of patients said they had an available portal to communicate with their physicians, with nearly 20 percent of patients reporting they always or almost always use web portals to access their physicians.
5. Nearly 18 percent of physicians said patients should be able to use technology to self-diagnose, compared to 31 percent of physicians who felt uneasy about patients using technology to self-diagnose.
6. While 60 percent of patients said they own their medical records, only 38 percent of physicians said patients own their medical records. Thirty-seven percent of physicians reported ownership of patients' medical records.
7. Twenty-five percent of physicians and 19 percent of patients reported not knowing who held ownership of medical records.
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