Since the passage of the HITECH provisions of the ARRA, most of the attention surrounding EHRs has been on the federal policy deliberations concerning “meaningful use” guidelines and other aspects of federal efforts to move healthcare providers forward on health IT.

But every once in a while, an article appears that reminds us that patients will have a big say in how health IT systems evolve in the years ahead.

Take, for example, this Huffington Post piece that looks at the challenges doctors face when it comes to patients viewing their own health information.

As the article points out, according to the recently proposed “meaningful use” guidelines,
“ doctors receiving stimulus money starting next year must be able to give patients electronic copies of their ‘health information’ in as little as 48 hours after an office visit.”

The proposed rules, however, “don’t specify precisely how much detail doctors and medical systems are obliged to report. Lack of agreement on this issue, and others, suggests a bumpy road ahead as patients begin to assert control over records that thus far have remained almost exclusively in the custody of medical providers.”

Not surprisingly, there are a range of opinions on this situation, with some doctors concerned about disclosing too much information for fear that patients will misinterpret it and become unduly alarmed. On the other hand, “consumer groups argue that patients generally should view the same records their doctors do.”

From a policymaking perspective, one question is how the uncertainty surrounding the appropriate disclosure of patient information might affect the course of the HITECH incentive schedule. After all, physicians run the risk of doing a lot of work to implement IT systems that enable them to qualify for incentives, only to run into patient objections or concerns over how their personal health information is being handled.

It seems safe to say that, over time, some sort of balance will be reached that enables doctors to meet their requirements and patients to get solid, comprehensive health information.

But at the same time, the ongoing uncertainty seems like yet another reason for policymakers to consider pushing back the HITECH incentive timeline.