Harris Poll Survey Finds Patients Want a Deeper Digital Connection with Their Doctors

More than Three in Five Consumers Would Choose Telehealth Visits if Offered; 61% of Doctors Would Recommend Telehealth Visits to Patients at Least Some of the Time

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eClinicalWorks®, a leader in ambulatory healthcare IT solutions, today released recent survey findings examining public attitudes towards advances in patient engagement tools. eClinicalWorks also conducted a separate study looking at physician opinions on this topic. Advancing patient engagement can improve patient health outcomes and lay a foundation for many care coordination efforts, including meaningful use, Patient-centered Medical Homes and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

According to the survey¹, commissioned by eClinicalWorks® and conducted online by Harris Poll among over 2,000 U.S. adults, in March 2015, 84% of people say their doctor's offices have a patient portal. Of those whose doctors do have a patient portal, adults age 55+ (61%) are more likely to access their health information via this tool than adults age 18-54 (45%). Additional findings from the survey include:

• More than one third (37%) of people who use a wearable device/fitness tracker wear it every day.
• 78% of those using wearable devices/fitness trackers more than once a month feel it useful for their doctors to have access to that information.
• More than 3 in 5 adults (64%) would at least sometimes choose telehealth visits to replace in-person visits for things such as follow-up visits for a previous concern, eye infections, skin checks, etc., if this option were offered by doctors.
  • More than a quarter (27%) say they would always/often choose this option.
  • Parents with children under age 18 in the household (76%) are much more likely to say they would at least sometimes choose telehealth visits than those without children under age 18 in the household (61%).
• 3 in 5 (60%) people are likely to schedule appointments with their doctors via a patient portal or other secure website, if it was available.

“In order to advance care, consumers need to be engaged with their own health and with their physicians,” said Girish Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks. “The survey results validate what we have strongly believed, that people are invested in and want to be engaged with their health and wellness as long as they trust the source of the information. We are confident the innovative technology delivered through healow will assist both consumers and the medical providers in bringing care to the next level.”

The eClinicalWorks’ survey² of healthcare providers from March 2015, examined advances in patient engagement tools from the perspective of healthcare organizations. Regarding sharing data with the electronic health record via patient engagement tools, physicians say:

• Three in four physicians (75%) said a top benefit was allowing patients to access their medical health record for their own review or to share with other doctors easily;
• Three in four physicians (75%) also cited providing patients with automatic alerts and reminders on appointments already scheduled as a top benefit; and
• More than half of physicians (56%) said making it easier for patients to schedule an appointment or change an appointment with your office is a top benefit.

Of physicians that actively use a patient portal to communicate with their patients:

• 67% have noticed a change in conversation with patients since portals, health apps and wearable devices have become available.
• 61% would recommend telehealth visits at least sometimes to patients.
• More than half of physicians would find having access to information from patients’ wearable devices or fitness trackers somewhat useful to help treat them.

To learn more about healow, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eClinicalWorks that is focused on patient engagement, please visit www.healow.com. Access the accompanying infographic here.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of eClinicalWorks from March 12-16, 2015 among 2,033 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact [e-mail].

About The Harris Poll

Over the last 5 decades, Harris Polls have become media staples. With comprehensive experience and precise technique in public opinion polling, along with a proven track record of uncovering consumers’ motivations and behaviors, The Harris Poll has gained strong brand recognition around the world. The Harris Poll offers a diverse portfolio of proprietary client solutions to transform relevant insights into actionable foresight for a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer packaged goods. Contact us for more information.

About eClinicalWorks

eClinicalWorks^® is a privately-held leader in ambulatory healthcare IT solutions. With physicians across all 50 states using its solutions, customers include ACOs, physician practices, out-patient departments of hospitals, community health centers, departments of health and convenient care clinics. Twelve eClinicalWorks customers have received the prestigious HIMSS Davies Awards during the past seven years, honoring excellence in electronic health record implementation. The company is second largest in the country for e-prescribing. Based in Westborough, Mass., eClinicalWorks has additional offices in New York City, Chicago, California and Georgia. For more information, please visit www.eclinicalworks.com, Facebook, Twitter or call 866-888-6929.

eClinicalWorks is a registered trademark of eClinicalWorks, LLC. All other trademarks or service marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

¹ This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of eClinicalWorks from March 12-16, 2015 among 2,033 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

² The physician figures are based on a survey conducted online within the United States by eClinicalWorks from March 11-18, 2015 among 2,922 healthcare professionals. The results included responses from 584 physicians.