Patients Want Health Record Access With Usability, Says Sequoia Project

This week, researchers with the Sequoia Project revealed in a new report how significant advancements in patient, career, and care partner access to health information are essential for enhancing interoperability.

The Consumer Voices Workgroup of the Sequoia Project sponsored discussions and surveys over the course of several months of direct study on the experiences of patients and providers using patient portals built on electronic health records as a means of accessing, using, and sharing health records. The researchers discovered that individuals frequently struggle to interpret the medical information they have access to in addition to being frequently unable to access their own health records. Additionally, it might be challenging for individuals to share their own data without the use of phone conversations, written correspondence, fax machines, and "sometimes even physically visiting their providers' offices.