Access to an Electronic Health Record: A Polish National Survey

Abstract

In Poland, as in many countries around the world, e-health services are becoming more and more popular. Obligatory e-sick leave was implemented, followed by e-prescriptions and e-referrals. Therefore, it is worth considering the introduction of a complete electronic health record (EHR) that can be accessed by doctors and patients. The main aim of the study is to find out whether patients want to have access to their EHRs and if they would agree to pay for such a service. The research was based on three surveys conducted among 1000 Polish adults in 2007, 2012, and 2018. The sample collection was carried out by the national opinion poll agency, with the use of computer-assisted telephone interviews. Over 60% of respondents were interested in the possibility of accessing EHRs in general, and almost 50% of them were ready to pay for it. Nevertheless, when analyzing all the year-on-year trends, they were subject to a gradual decrease. The youngest age group was the one most interested in EHRs, while the group comprising respondents in middle age was the one mostwilling to pay for it. There is still great potential in implementing EHRs on a bigger scale.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about Electronic Personal Health Records: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Region of Northern Italy

“…A study conducted in Poland highlighted higher interest in accessing the EPHR among young Polish people, with a decreasing trend over the older age groups. [ 50 ]. Results from the UK reported that the middle age group was more confident and aware of EPHR access [ 37 ].…”

User Perception of New E-Health Challenges: Implications for the Care Process

“…In the present work, the attitude and predisposition towards the use of ICTs is considered, assessing whether patients will be willing to incorporate the change in their form of contact with the health specialist and whether they will have a proactive attitude [ 9 , 27 ]. Results presented by other authors who have conducted patient surveys show that more than 60% of the respondents were interested in the possibility of accessing their Electronic Health Records in general and even 50% of them were willing to pay for it [ 28 ].…”

Securing electronic health records against insider-threats: A supervised machine learning approach

“…The digital smart cities revolution has also penetrated the healthcare sector, where e-health services are becoming increasingly prevalent. Their crucial role has been particularly apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic (Bujnowska-Fedak & Wysoczański, 2020), by facilitating healthcare efficiency to provide timely access to comprehensive and organised patient information; thus, enabling the delivery of high-quality patient care (Jacquemard et al, 2020). EHR systems function by collating a patient's health data, digitising the information and then serving as the data source for healthcare providers and medical institutions (Shi et al, 2020).…”

“…The advantages of this approach are clear; providing efficiency, location independent access to information, enhanced communication, as well as general improved patient care and experience. Subsequently, Electronic Health Records (EHR) are widely recognised for improving the healthcare infrastructure (Bujnowska-Fedak & Wysoczański, 2020). Their core benefits, as presented in Fig.…”