Do patients want access to their health records?

Link: How patients use access to their full health records; a qualitative study.

This study, administered in the UK, suggests that patients indeed want access to their health records. The study reported that it had a positive effect and improved trust between patient-provider communications, as well as an increased confidence in self care and compliance for chronic disease.

Although access to personal health information was welcomed by patients, providers expressed concern about records and their "widespread" accessibility.

And if you're interested in learning about how patients use their electronic health records, read about it here.

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Comments

[Deborah Leyva]

Thanks for your comment. Patients do indeed have the right to access their health information. If what you say is true, then those hospital and/or healthcare providers are in violation of laws governing "access to protected health information" as described in the HIPAA Survival Guide at http://hipaasurvivalguide.com/hipaa-information.html.

Take a look. Hope it helps.

[soma guy]

Of course, but most of the time hospital and healthcare providers are not allowing those patients to see their medical records.