A recent survey conducted by health insurer Aetna explored consumer attitudes toward health care, relationships with their providers, and what they view as the most important aspects of healthcare.
The Health Ambitions Study was conducted using responses from 1,000 consumers aged 18 and above, with a corresponding survey conducted on 400 physicians – 200 primary care doctors and 200 specialists.
The consumer survey showed consumers are indeed paying attention to their healthcare. As part of the study, consumers were asked about their biggest concerns about healthcare. While rising health care costs are an issue, the cost of health care was not the biggest concern for consumers.
Patient privacy and data security were more important to consumers than the cost of healthcare. 80% rated patient privacy as very important, 76% of consumers rated data security as very important, and 73% rated the cost of health care as very important.
Patient privacy was more important to women (84%) than men (71%). Women were also more concerned than men about data security (80%/66%). Getting personalized care was rated as very important by 71% of respondents, and coordination among health care providers was very important for 68% of patients.
Smart Training’s Safelock Certified® process helps ensure client practices are responsive to patient privacy concerns. “We’ve found many practices do not take HIPAA and patient privacy seriously,” says Smart Training HIPAA consultant Jim Moore. “In many situations, patients are clearly paying more attention than practitioners.”
Get Safelock Certified® here.