Most People Prefer Talking to Their Doctors over Online Review of Health Info
[Thursday, May 23, 2019]

A survey of individuals with online access to their medical records showed that 3 out of 4 preferred to talk to their physicians over self-review of such information indicating a significant barrier to the use of mobile healthcare applications and real world data from medical records. Healthcare apps rely on the premise that users will favor self-assessment over physical interactions with their doctors to manage common health-related issues. However, the trends observed in the survey indicate the opposite. Only about half of the individuals offered online access to their medical records, viewed those records, of which only about half viewed the said records more than once a year. People who visited their doctors at least once a year and those with chronic conditions were more likely to view their medical records at least once a year, probably around the time of their clinic visit with their physician. Individuals with higher income and higher education tend to use online info more frequently, while both males and females viewed records similarly. The trends are more concerning for developers of healthcare apps. More than 50% of the owners of smartphones and tablets do not have healthcare apps on their devices and more than 80% did not view their medical records on their devices. People with healthcare apps on their smartphones and tablets were more likely to use such apps however only apps that provide information additional to that found in medical records were used often. There are several limitations to this survey. It is based on data collected by the National Cancer Institute which may have higher participation from cancer patients and not the general population. Cancer patients generally interact at a higher frequency with their physicians compared to the general population probably indicative of the strong desire to talk to their doctors over self-review of medical records online. The survey had a low response rate; only 33% of individuals contacted filled the survey. The trends are only from the last two years and cannot be used to conclude that the usage trends have plateaued. However, the survey does give hints to what can be improved. More respondents to the survey indicated that online medical records mostly summarized the last clinic visit and that these records provided little new info. Most respondents said that they did not feel the need to use their online medical record probably because it was felt that the info was repetitious and had minimum additional utility. A repackaging of info from medical records to highlight key areas of interest, and additional analysis, possibly via AI algorithms could increase consumer usage of such information. Apps that simply catalog info from medical records will likely seem of little value. Apps targeted to specific diseases may have higher usage than those for the general population.