Patients Trust Docs More Than Government with Records
Where personal medical records are concerned, patients trust their physicians more so than the federal government, insurance companies or employers, according to a new national poll released by the Physicians Information Exchange (PIE), based in Monroe, La.
Spurred by the Clinton administration's recommendations for a national system to protect the privacy of patient records recently submitted to Congress, PIE is developing a national database for doctors to keep confidential patient information under their control but share clinical and cost data unconnected to individual names.
The PIE study polled 1,000 U.S. adults and found that:
- Most Americans trust their physician to keep their medical records confidential (76%) significantly more than their employers (46%), healthcare insurance companies (39%) or the federal government (29%).
- Most respondents believe that a national repository of medical information controlled by physicians would benefit the nation's healthcare system by assisting in the most effective treatment procedures (88%), creating a national record of healthcare outcomes (86%) and helping doctors achieve better cost control (84%).
(PIE, 314/982-9199)
California Birth Study Shows Major Population Shift
The birthrate among Latinos in Orange County has outpaced that of whites since 1992, and the overall birthrate for girls aged 10 to 14 years old has surged 10 times faster than the national average birthrate, according to recent findings from a study released by the Orange County Health Care Agency. The findings have marketing consequences for healthcare, education, criminal justice and the business sector.
Its "Trends in Birth Outcomes: Orange County (1984-1993)" describes a rapidly changing demographic landscape in which the Latino population is catching up with the white majority through a higher birthrate, particularly among the young. The report's key findings include:
- Between 1984 and 1993, there were 585 births to girls 10 to 14; of those 72% were Latinos. (The study only looked at births, not all pregnancies.)
- In 1992, the Latino birthrate began to shift, exceeding those of whites. In 1993, Latino births were 23,247, compared with 21,253 white births.
- While the overall rates of prenatal care in Orange County were good compared to national figures, Latinos and Asians fared worse than other ethnic groups. While 93% of whites and 80% of blacks received prenatal care in 1993, only 70% of Asians and 69% of Latinos did so. (Orange County Health Care Agency, 714/834-4722)
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Did You Know?
The largest hospital facilities (500+ beds) significantly "out advertised" the average hospital (less than 100 beds) by a three-to-one ratio in 1996, according to a recently released by Opinion Research Corp. (Evanston, Ill.) But large hospital ad budgets nosedived in 1996 to $570,100 from $779,200 in 1995 while the average hospital's ad spending shot up to $108,600 in 1996 from $73,180 in 1995. (ORC, PHONE) |
Students Are More Likely To See Poorer, Minority Patients
Although patient satisfaction is not hindered by primary care visits that involve medical students, a recent study by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found that poorer and minority patients were more likely to receive teaching visits. "It is hoped that sensitivity to this tendency is raised by this finding and that physicians attempt to be egalitarian in the distribution of their teaching visits," said the researchers.
The study also highlighted:
- Students were not involved in a greater percentage of visits resulting in lab tests or prescriptions.
- Physician referrals occurred slightly more often when medicalstudents were involved.
- There was no significant difference in time spent by physicians in treatment planning, physical exams or health education.
These findings were recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). (AMA, 312/464-5374)