Surescripts Patient Survey Reveals Increasing Demand for a More Connected Healthcare Consumer Experience

ARLINGTON, Va. – December 14, 2016 – Health data-sharing technology exists today, yet patients are increasingly frustrated with their healthcare experience, according to a recent survey by Surescripts, the nation’s leading health information network. The 2016 Connected Care and the Patient Experience survey found that patients are particularly dissatisfied with the lack of a central location for their health records as well as the difficulty in accessing and sharing those records. Plus, they’re expecting to see digitized care settings in the very near future through the use of telehealth and other technologies.

“Despite major medical and technological advancements in our country, and the fact that patients are more active consumers of care, our healthcare system is still inefficient, complex and unsatisfying for patients,” said Tom Skelton, Chief Executive Officer of Surescripts. “It’s clear that American healthcare consumers expect a better consumer experience through effective and efficient access to their data, more convenient care and new ways to interact with their doctors.”

Surescripts is working to do just that for patients, physicians and pharmacists by broadening its network connections, effectively improving data access and quality. Recent Surescripts milestones in patient data sharing include:

• Surescripts e-prescribing capabilities, including CompletEPA for electronic prior authorization has had a massively positive impact on cost, safety and efficiency, with more than 3,000 e-prescriptions sent across the United States every minute.
• In 2015, Surescripts Medication History for Reconciliation may have saved hospitals more than $400 million and prevented more than 25,000 readmissions and 15,000 adverse drug events.
• Since its launch this year, Surescripts National Record Locator Service received more than 4.5 million requests for patient locations and returned more than 890,000 locations of care summaries, including more than 15 million visit locations for care delivered by 109,000 providers.

Here are some notable patient insights from the survey results.

Patients overwhelmingly want their medical information electronically stored in a central location and easily accessed and shared.

Most patients (94 percent) feel their medical information and records should be stored electronically in a single location. This lack of central storage of electronic records forces patients to take matters into their own hands. In fact, 58 percent of patients have tried to compile their own complete medical history—a task that is not just tedious, but often inaccurate or incomplete.

Along with the desire for efficiency, patients feel that lives are at stake when their doctors don’t have access to their complete medication history. Most patients (93 percent) feel doctors would save time if their medication history was stored in one location, and 90 percent feel that this would make their doctor less likely to prescribe the wrong medication.

Patients are increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of time and effort they’re spending on recounting medical information and waiting in doctor’s offices or pharmacies.

Increasingly long wait times and spending time on paperwork rather than interacting with their providers is frustrating for patients. They’re typically spending an average of 8 minutes telling their doctor their medical history (up from 6 minutes in 2015) and 8 minutes filling out paperwork at a typical doctor visit (up from 6 minutes in 2015). Four out of 5 patients (80 percent) feel they should only have to complete this paperwork the first time they visit a new provider. These repeat scenarios often stem from a lack of patient data access and information exchange between providers.

Patients increasingly prefer and expect new and innovative ways to receive care and get prescriptions.

Within a more consumer-centric healthcare marketplace, patients are playing a more active role in their care plans. They want more choices for how and where they receive care through alternatives like telehealth, mobile and other electronic means. More than half (52 percent) of patients expect doctors to start offering remote visits, and more than one third (36 percent) believe most doctor appointments will be remote in the next 10 years. Patients also expect to use telehealth to receive their prescriptions from their doctor (61 percent) and would trust a prescription from a remote doctor (64 percent).

The 2016 Connected Care and the Patient Experience survey was conducted by Kelton Global from June 16-23, 2016, with participation from more than 1,000 adult Americans.