business
Health information exchanges subject of upcoming poll
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 12, 2010
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology plans to conduct a survey to gather public opinions on health information exchanges and their privacy and security.
In announcing the project, the ONC said that although the electronic exchange of information promises many benefits to patients and the U.S. health system, the environment also poses new challenges for protecting health information.
Little is known about individuals' attitudes toward health information exchanges and "the extent to which they are interested in determining by whom and how their health information is exchanged," the agency said. The survey is to help ONC officials better understand how individuals feel about the security and privacy aspects of health information exchanges.
The agency will screen more than 22,000 households via telephone interviews over eight weeks to gain a sample of about 2,500 eligible respondents.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/04/12/bibf0412.htm.
