Measuring Consumer and Professional HIT adoption and perceptions

Health information technology is certainly critical towards simplifying health care. So any one with a passion for this topic is well served to monitor research on consumer and health care professional's adoption and perceptions regarding technology. iHealthBeat, an online service of the California Health Care Foundation for reporting health care technology's impact on health care, includes a section called Data Points which provides summary information from recent studies on consumer and professional use of health information technology.

Here's some recent summaries of note from Data Points, and it might be worth your while to stay tuned to their web site, and subscribe to their free e-newsletters:

• Only a quarter of insured consumers are currently using online health resources: Which Online Health Resources Have Insured Consumers Used in the Past Year?  A recent Forrester Research survey of insured online consumers indicated that during the past year: 54% have used a Health Wiki; 33% visited a web health forum; 20% read a health topic blog; 16% visited a health network site; 10% participated in an online health topic chat; and 3% listened to an online health topic podcast. Overall, the survey found that 24% of insured consumers use online health resources.
• A quarter of consumers hold back from online health plan activities due to privacy concerns:  Do You Believe Your Health Plan Fully Protects the Privacy of Your Personal Data?  A recent Forrester Research survey found that 64% of consumer felt their health plan adequately protected the privacy of their personal information, while 10% felt the plan did not. 28% said privacy concerns affected their willingness to create on profile on the plan web site, and 27% said such concerns prevented them from participating in a health community in their plan's web site.
• However, three fourths of consumers would like online medical records:  Are Consumers Interested in Having Online Access to Their Medical Records and Test Results?  A recent Deloitte survey found that 78% of consumers were interested in having online access to their medical records. 26% said they'd be willing to pay for such a service. The survey also found that 76% would like to communicate with their physicians via e-mail, and 72% would like to schedule appointments online.
• Physicians continue to use the web and e-mail  more: How Do Physicians Use the Internet for Work-Related Activities? A recent Jupiter Research study of physician use of the Internet for professional activities, with comparisons to their 2005 findings, include: 89% research clinical information (75% 2005); 82% research prescription drugs (64% 2005); 81% read journals (64% 2005); 78% e-mail colleagues (54% 2005); 69% find patient education materials (64% 2005); and 39% e-mail patients (20% 2005.)
• Health IT Professionals feel quality of care, much more than efficiency is the biggest benefit of health IT: What Would Be the Biggest Benefit of Clinicians Using IT? Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in a recent survey of health IT professionals, asking to name the single biggest benefit of clinicians using IT, reported that 76% stated it would improve the quality of health care, 16% felt it would improve staff efficiency, and 4% said it would increase their organization's revenue. When asked about barriers, 40% said the biggest barrier to getting nurses to use health IT is the technology does not fit into their workflow, while 35% answered it was the nurses' unfamiliarity with the technology.