E-health in patients’ opinions

Abstract

Objectives Acceptance by patients of new solutions and functionality in e-health exerts an effect on the effectiveness of their implementation. The main aim of the study was the recognition of the opinions of patients concerning the selected issues pertaining to e-health. Material and methods From the questionnaire developed by the ‘We Patients’ foundation, items were selected pertaining to use of e-health instruments and functional needs of the system of drug information system, access to medical records, and engagement of professionals in the sphere of access to drug information. A non-random group of adult males and females was examined selected from among the population of patients from two centres, an urban centre – Centre of Family Medicine GUMed in Gdańsk, and a rural centre – Kaszuby Region Medical Centre in Sierakowicech. Anonymous answers were provided by 200 respondents – 100 from the urban centre (Gdańsk), and 100 from a rural centre (Sierakowice). Results Patients express their definite willingness to use e-health instruments. The frequency of using the Internet for purposes related with health was related with age (χ2=30.65; p<0.05); education (χ2=37.53; p<0.001) and place of residence (with this respect only from the aspect of using the Internet for purposes connected with e-health χ2=14.70; p<0.01, and especially with signing-up for a visit to a physician χ2=9.65; p<0.01, and obtaining the results of laboratory tests χ2=5.27; p<0.05). In addition, patients were interested in the safety of their medical records, and would like to be able to decide which professionals should be entrusted with the data on their drug information. Conclusions The majority of patients declared themselves to be prepared for the changes introduced, await these changes, and also perceive the potential benefits coming from the implementation of new technologies.

Keywords

• e-health
• patient opinion
• e-prescription
• e-referral
• safety of medical records