New Delhi, February 2, 2016: An astounding 88 percent of American adults believe that working with their health care professional as a partner will help them better manage their health, according to a survey released today by the Society for Participatory Medicine and conducted by ORC International.
The survey also revealed that overall 84% felt that tracking their own health data between visits – such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, glucose, physical activity and other key health metrics – with an easy-to-use device and sharing it with their health care professional would help them better manage their health, with 77% of respondents feeling it was equally important to both the patients and their health care professional.
“What this survey points out is that patients want to become engaged in their own health and collaborate with their health care professionals,” said Daniel Z. Sands, MD, MPH, co-founder and co-chair of the Society for Participatory Medicine and a practicing physician.
“Patients view themselves as key contributors of health data to manage their own health between visits, and to share during visits. Ultimately, we believe that this will lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs to the health care system.”
The survey also revealed that:
- 76 percent of adults would use a clinically accurate and easy-to-use personal monitoring device and 57 percent of respondents would like to use it themselves and also share that information with their health care professional.
- 81 percent of adults would be more likely to use a personal monitoring device if their health care professional recommended it.
Dr. Sands went on to say, “Increasingly, patients are actively monitoring their own health data to better self-manage their health and collaborate with their health care professionals. Self-monitoring is a vital component of an efficient and high-functioning health care system. This survey confirms that this concept resonates with the public and that most respondents are willing to utilize technology to gather this data to improve their health.”
