Carestream Health said an independent survey concluded that U.S. patients who use online patient portals would embrace the ability to download and share medical images and radiology reports with their physicians.
In the Carestream-commissioned study of 1,000 adults conducted by healthcare marketing firm IDR Medical, more than one-third of study participants reported they were booking appointments, emailing physicians, paying bills, or obtaining lab results using an online portal.
However, 85% of those who use an online portal would like to have Internet-based access to images and reports to share with other physicians, as well as to provide a more convenient way to access and store their records and their children's records, according to Carestream.
While more than half of those surveyed had obtained copies of their medical images, only 7% had received them electronically, either via email or a portal, Carestream said. What's more, 8% said they had to have an imaging study redone because original results were not available.
In other survey findings, the oldest age group (71 and older) showed less enthusiasm for using a portal, but 59.5% still indicated they were very likely to do so. In addition, 79% of patients felt they would be more likely to return to that same facility if they had access to their images, and 76% indicated they would recommend the imaging facility to a friend, Carestream said.
