Personal healthcare information is more valuable to hackers than credit card information, with healthcare data breach numbers climbing year over year¹. According to the 2017 Xerox eHealth Survey, released by Xerox today, patients understand the risk as nearly half of Americans (44 percent) are worried about having their personal healthcare information stolen.

In 2016, more than one data breach was reported each day² and healthcare providers can help protect personal information against these threats. The Xerox survey, conducted online by Harris Poll in January 2017 among more than 3,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, shows more than three quarters (76 percent) believe it would be more secure to share healthcare information between providers through a secure electronic method rather than faxing paper documents.

In addition to added security, Americans also believe better information sharing across providers can help improve patient care. Nearly 9 out of 10 (87 percent) believe wait times to receive test results and diagnoses would decrease if providers were able to securely share and access digital patient information from various providers. Eighty-seven percent believe quality of service of healthcare providers would improve if there was better information sharing and coordination among different providers.

“It’s clear patients are frustrated by the lack of care coordination and disjointed processes, so much so, that our Xerox survey shows 19 percent of Americans would rather wait in line at the DMV than coordinate between different doctors’ offices to ensure they have all of their records and health information,” said Cees Van Doorn, senior vice president, healthcare industry, Xerox. “We’re showcasing technology at HIMSS that will enable seamless interoperability, and increases patient satisfaction and outcomes in a secure, compliant manner.”

Enabling Better Healthcare with Technology at HIMSS
Devices like the new Xerox Healthcare Multifunction Printer (MFP) Solution will be on display at HIMSS to show how healthcare-specific printers can help providers digitize patient information for secure online exchange, improving care coordination and patient outcomes. The MFP helps healthcare professionals access, search and route patient information to millions of providers across the country, and comes equipped with ready-to-use apps to speed up paper-dependent business processes and make it easier for users to collaborate and work more effectively.

Wearable technology, like Xerox’s SmoothBand, also helps with care coordination between providers, making instantaneous patient identification a reality. HIMSS attendees will see how the wearable device expedites the hospital admission process by allowing providers to print an entire admissions package by simply loading the wristband media into any Xerox printer.