The South Dakota Department of Health is asking consumers to complete an online survey about their opinions of electronic health records, the Rapid City Journal reports.
The survey is part of the state's Electronic Health Records Assessment project, which also will examine how health providers and insurers currently use EHRs.
Some consumers have raised concerns about confidentiality and computer glitches, but IT professionals say that electronic recordkeeping is safer and more efficient than paper records, the Journal reports.
Arlyn Broekhuis, CIO for Sioux Valley Health Systems in Sioux Falls, S.D., said, "We actually have a better handle on confidentiality and security of information in the electronic world than we do in a paper world." She added, "With [EHRs], we can tell who is accessing those records."
Sioux Valley, which plans to spend $47 million over five years to adopt an EPIC EHR system, is among area health systems that are adopting health IT.
Another health system, Regional Health in Rapid City, S.D., uses a picture archiving and communication system and electronically enters laboratory, pharmaceutical and other clinical records. Dick Latuchie, vice president of business development and information systems at Regional Health, estimated that the hospital has completed 40% of its transition to an EHR system.
Consumers have until Feb. 28 to complete the online EHR survey. A final report from the EHR Assessment project is expected to be released in July and could serve as a roadmap for future health IT initiatives in South Dakota, the Journal reports (Garrigan, Rapid City Journal, 1/20).