SPOTLIGHT: Harris/Xerox survey finds consumers support EMRs, fear data theft

Patients seem ready to accept EMRs even if their physicians and other health providers aren't, according to a new Harris Interactive survey conducted on behalf of Xerox. Nearly half of the 2,180 U.S. adults interviewed online in February said that they thought EMRs would "enable more efficient healthcare," Xerox reports, but only 16 percent of respondents said their providers have approached them to discuss EMRs. The No. 1 concern consumers had about EMRs was the risk of theft, and sizable majorities also expressed fear that their data would be misused and/or lost. More than a quarter of respondents also said that patients had the least to gain from switching to EMRs. Press release/video