A majority of voters support a nationwide health information network, but the issue will not influence who they vote for in the 2008 presidential election, according to an American Viewpoint survey conducted in September for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Technology Daily reports.
The survey of 1,000 adults found that 57% of respondents favor a health network, while 30% oppose it. Forty-three percent of respondents said the most important reason for opposing a network is privacy concerns.
At a HIMSS annual policy forum on Tuesday, American Viewpoint Senior Vice President Gary Ferguson said the public does not understand the potential savings of health IT. Only 18% of voters said the most important reason for a NHIN was to "lower health care costs," while 25% said the main reason to adopt NHIN was to "improve the quality of communications between health care providers."
While most voters reported that the creation of a NHIN was not a deal breaker when it comes to deciding who to vote for in the presidential election, candidates' support for NHIN has had a positive impact, particularly among Democrats (Sternstein, Technology Daily, 9/25).