Patients want new medical technologies

AORN Journal,  Dec, 2005  

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Although only a minority of US adults have experience with new medical technologies in their physician's office, the majority are in favor of having their physicians adopt new technologies in their practices, according to an Oct 14, 2005, news report from the Harris Interactive, Inc. A large number of survey respondents believe that new medical technologies in the physician's office will either reduce the costs of healthcare or will improve the quality of care.

Data from the poll was gathered between Sept 30 and Oct 4, 2005, via an online survey of 2,048 US adults. Of survey respondents.

* 16% said their physician has used an electronic medical record to capture their medical information;

* 14% reported that the physician has used a personal digital device or a hand-held computer to record their information;

* 8% said that their physician has used e-mail to communicate with them or their family members, and an equal percentage reported that their physician has used digital imagining equipment that allows the physician to send pictures of other images via e-mail; and

* 5% have experience with a home monitoring device that allowed them to send medical information (eg, blood pressure readings or blood tests) to their physician's office via telephone of e-mail.

At least 75% of adults strongly or somewhat favor having their physician use these types of new technologies when caring for them of their family members, despite having limited personal experience with these technologies. The technologies adults favor most strongly include the use of home monitoring devices (ie, 83% of respondents are strongly or somewhat in favor); e-mail for direct communication between physician and patient (ie, 81%); electronic medical records (ie, 78%); digital imaging equipment (ie, 78%); and personal digital devices to record information (ie, 75%). Approximately 71% of adults also would strongly or somewhat favor the development of new technology that uses internal imaging to capture characteristics of a person's internal anatomy (eg, veins in the palm of the hand) to confirm a patient's identity.

The majority of adults surveyed believe that these new medical technologies provide value. Nearly 31% believe electronic medical records and digital imaging devices will improve patient care, and 36% believe that these technologies will reduce the costs of medical care. Only 10% believe that the new technologies cost more than they are worth, and 23% are not sure.

New Poll Shows US Adults Strongly Favor and Value New medical Technologies in Their Doctor's Office (news release, Rochester, NY: Harris Interactive Inc, Oct 14, 2005) http://www.prnewswire.com (accessed 18 Oct 2005).

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