Oh Yeah . . . the Patient

There's a lot of talk swirling about the pros and cons of e-health records. Will they affect cost? Will they improve safety? How feasible are they? But few ever thought to ask those most affected by this technology: the patient.

The Health and Human Services Department on Friday announced plans to survey patients about their perceptions of EHRs and the specific features they'd want in personal health records, reports Government Health IT.

According to the article, HHS will survey 860 patients about their opinion of their medical care when their physicians use EHRs, which will help policymakers better understand patient satisfation, communication and coordination.

Seems like a reasonable step.