Investment in health
information technology, the privacy and security of patient data, and ramping
up social media efforts will be top concerns for health care organizations in
2012, according to a study by PwC's Health Research Institute.
PwC made these predictions
after the completion of a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults on their attitudes toward
health care issues. Results were combined with an analysis of regulatory,
government and economic issues that will affect health care next year.
"2012 will be a seminal
year for the health industries as businesses wade through economic, regulatory
and political uncertainty," said Kelly Barnes, U.S. health industries
practice leader at PwC. "One of the ways the health industry is responding
to these uncertainties is by connecting in new ways with each other and their
consumers as they rethink existing business models and previous notions about
competition, cooperation and collaboration."
Health informatics is viewed
by many organizations as a means to improve patient care. PwC predicts that in
2012, health care organizations will invest more in information technology and
forge data-sharing partnerships with other organizations, including those with
whom they may be in competition.
The PwC survey found that 60%
of the population would be comfortable sharing data if they were used to
coordinate care, and 54% would agree to sharing it if the data were used to
support real-time decision-making for their care. Other data uses patients
support include an analysis of their doctor's performance (36%) and identifying
at-risk patients (29%). But patients want their data
to be handled securely, according to the report, and would choose one health
care organization over another for its ability to secure their information.
In a separate report published
in September, PwC found that nearly three-quarters of health care organizations
said they are using, or intend to use, patient data for purposes other than
treating patients. But only 47% said they have addressed privacy and security
risks associated with those uses.
Its recent survey of patients
found that 30% would select a hospital with clear privacy and security policies
over another if cost, quality and access were equal.
Technology and access to
information also would influence the decision of many patients, according to
PwC. Twenty-eight percent would select a health care organization that offered
online doctor consultations over others that didn't, 17% would make that choice
based on facilities that use an electronic medical record, and 5% would pick
one that had a social media presence over one that did not.
The report found that social
media will play a greater role in health care organizations' strategies to
improve health outcomes. The survey found that nearly one-third of survey
respondents, including half of those under 35, have used social media channels
for health care purposes.
"As more stakeholders
enter the data-sharing mix through digitized records, mobile devices, social
media and health databases, health care organizations need to build more
granular access-control models to prevent overexposure of information,"
the report's authors wrote.
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