Is ‘Patient's Online Access to Health Records’ a Good Reform? – Opinions from Swedish Healthcare Professionals Differ

Abstract

Patients’ access to their own electronic health record is a controversial issue. Many care professionals are concerned about negative effects deriving from patients reading their record information without support from clinicians. Patients on the other hand often think their concerns are outweighed by the benefits. In Sweden a pilot county has provided the health record online to its 350 000 patients for 2.5 years. This study highlights one of the most important questions to handle before and during implementation of such public eHealth services; the opinions of the care professionals regarding online records as a good reform. Results from three questionnaires to various care professions show that opinions from healthcare professionals differ not only between the professions but more importantly also between those who have experience from their patients reading their health record online and those who to date have no real experience. The experienced staff was more positive. This study concludes that in order to provide for successful national implementation, it is important to quickly elicit and disseminate opinions of care professionals with real experience to their unexperienced peers. Healthcare professionals should also be more involved in the implementation of Public eHealth services that regard electronic health records and their work processes.

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