Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1431416
29 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE 76% of patients leave physician's office unsatisfied; 80% turn to the internet to supplement visits By Hannah Mitchell M ost patients use the internet to re- search their health concerns aer leaving their physician's appoint- ment unsatisfied, according to an October report by the AHIMA Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the American Health Information Management Association. Six study insights: 1. Seventy-six percent of respondents said they don't leave their physician's office on a positive note. Respondents reported feeling disappointed by ques- tions and answers exchanged, confused about their health and needing to do more research online. 2. Eighty percent of respondents are likely to research their medical recommenda- tions online aer an appointment with their physician. 3. Twenty-two percent of respondents said they don't feel comfortable asking their physician certain health questions. 4. Four in 10 respondents reported being dissatisfied with the questions they could ask and the answers they received. Twenty-four percent of respondents said they didn't get clear answers to questions they asked their physician, while 17 per- cent said they didn't have the opportuni- ty to ask any questions at all. 5. Twenty-four percent of respon- dents don't understand the medical information their physician provides. Fifteen percent said they are more confused after a visit than they were before their visit. 6. General divides have affected patients' ability to understand their office visit. Twenty-eight percent of Gen Zers re- ported feeling confused aer physician appointments, followed by millennials (19 percent), Gen Xers (13 percent) and baby boomers (9 percent). n Why patient portals still are not widely utilized: 5 ONC study insights By Katie Adams T hirty-eight percent of Americans accessed a patient portal in 2020, according to a September report from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The ONC surveyed 3,865 Americans about their use of patient portals from January through April 2020. Five key findings: 1. Fifty-nine percent of Americans were offered a patient portal in 2020, up from 42 percent in 2014. Thirty-eight percent of Americans accessed a patient portal in 2020, up from 25 percent in 2014. 2. Among the reasons cited by respondents who didn't use patient portals even though they were available to them were: prefer- ence of speaking with healthcare providers directly (69 percent), privacy and security concerns (24 percent), difficulty with logging in (24 percent) and not being comfortable around computers (20 percent). 3. Patients who were encouraged by their healthcare provider to use their patient portal accessed and used their portal at higher rates compared with those not encouraged. 4. In 2020, 61 percent of patient portal users accessed their health information using only a computer, 22 percent used both a smartphone app and a computer and 17 percent used a smart- phone app only. 5. About one-third of patient portal users downloaded their online medical record in 2020, a proportion that has nearly doubled since 2017. n 1 in 5 physicians has considered quitting their current job, survey finds By Cailey Gleeson T he Medscape Physician Nonclinical Careers Report 2021 published Oct. 8 found 1 in 5 physicians has con- sidered leaving their current job to pursue nonclinical careers. Researchers surveyed more than 2,500 physi- cians across the U.S. for the annual report. Five takeaways: 1. Fifty-eight percent of those wanting to change career paths said they planned to make the change within three years. 2. Eight in 10 looking for a career change are actively exploring other options, with 53 per- cent looking online. 3. Education was the top field surveyed physi- cians are looking to switch to (42 percent). 4. Thirty-four percent cited general burnout as the top reason for wanting to switch jobs, while 7 percent cited burnout from the pan- demic. 5. Twenty percent cited wanting to work fewer hours. n