Slide Presentation of the 2007 Annual Meeting of AHRQ

Barriers to Rapid Implementation

• Consumer/patient concerns about privacy and security
  • Many believe movement to electronic records will result in greater risk to patient privacy
  • Survey data shows that the public has significant privacy concerns
  • Promise of e-health won't be realized unless we ensure adequate privacy and security standards are built in from the start

Notes:

Surveys show that patients are concerned that movement to electronic records will result in greater risk to patient privacy.

"Year of the Stolen Laptop." The general public is aware of all of these—and many are very wary of a system that they think can instantly make their sensitive medical information more vulnerable than it is today in a paper-based system. (This may not in fact be true—paper is not necessarily more secure—but perception may be more important here.)

Promise of e-health won't be realized unless we put patients first and ensure adequate privacy and security standards are built in from the start.