Public and Doctors Alike Support Allowing Individuals to Download Their Own Health Information
Markle Health in a Networked Life
Markle
The Markle Survey on Health in a Networked Life uniquely compares the core values of physicians and patients on deployment of information technology in health care.
Key Findings
- Roughly 2 in 3 members of the public and doctors agree that people should be able to download their personal health information.
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In order to qualify for new federal subsidies for using health IT, health care providers and hospitals must meet requirements to give patients electronic copies of lists of medications, after-visit summaries, lab results, and other pertinent information.
- 62 percent of the public called this requirement important for the health IT subsidies to be well spent.
- Roughly half of the doctors surveyed agreed.
Observations
- Solid majorities of both the public and doctors surveyed support the principle that people ought to be able to download and keep copies of their personal health information.
- But patients today seldom request copies in electronic format.

