Source

Consumer Survey of Attitudes Toward the Privacy and Security Aspects of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchange (2012-2014), Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) (2017-2020, 2022, 2024)

Citation

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy. Trends in Individuals’ Use of Health IT: 2012-2024. Health IT Quick Stat #69.

This figure contains a line chart with markers showing individuals’ use of health IT across 8 different uses over the years 2012 to 2024. The top line, colored dark blue, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “view results” increased from 13 percent in 2012 to 15 percent in 2013, 22 percent in 2014, and then jumped to 84 percent in 2017, 85 percent in 2019, 86 percent in 2020, and 90 percent in 2022 and 2024. A dotted line was used to connect markers between the years 2012 and 2017 to indicate that a different data set was used to track this measure until 2017. The next line, colored orange, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “view notes” decreased slightly from 50 percent in 2017 and 51 percent in 2018 to 47 percent in 2019, and then increased back up to 54 percent in 2020, 70 percent in 2022, and 80 percent in 2024. A dashed line was used to connect markers between the years 2017 to 2020 to indicate that a different HINTS survey question was used to track this measure until 2020. The next line, colored dark green, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “message providers” increased from 23 percent in 2012 and 2013 to 31 percent in 2014. Rates jumped to 47 percent in 2017, 53 percent in 2018, 52 percent in 2019, 58 percent 2020, and then up again to 79 percent in 2022 and 2024. A dotted line was used to connect markers between the years 2012 and 2017 to indicate that a different data set was used to track this measure until 2017. A dashed line was used to connect markers between the years 2017 and 2020 to indicate that a different HINTS survey question was used to track this measure until 2020. The next line, colored brown, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “make appointments” increased from 60 percent in 2017 to 62 percent in 2019, 69 percent in 2020, 76 percent in 2022, and 77 percent in 2024. The next line, colored light blue, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “download” information increased from 17 percent in 2017 to 26 percent in 2018, 27 percent in 2019, and 32 percent in 2020 and 2022. The next line, colored light green, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “add health info” to their record increased from 19 percent in 2017 to 24 percent in 2018 and 2019. The next line, colored purple, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “transmit” information increased from 14 percent in 2017 to 17 percent in 2018, 19 percent in 2019, 21 percent in 2020, and down slightly to 20 percent in 2022. The bottom line, colored black, shows that individuals’ use of health IT to “correct errors” in their record increased from 7 percent in 2017 and 2018 to 10 percent in 2019.  

The past decade has seen considerable growth in individuals’ use of health IT, such as patient portals, to access and share their health information electronically, interact with providers, and make changes to their medical records online. This figure combines and updates early measures of patients’ use of health IT from the Consumer Survey of Attitudes Toward the Privacy and Security Aspects of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchange with newer data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Using available data this figure showcases over a decade of data on individuals’ use of health IT to view test results or clinical notes, make appointments, download or transmit information from the patient portal, securely message with health care providers, and make changes to their medical records online by adding health information or correcting errors. 

 

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

View results

13%

15%

22%

  

84%

 

85%

86%

 

90%

 

90%

View notes

     

50%

51%

47%

54%

 

70%

 

80%

Make appointments

 

 

 

  

60%

 

62%

69%

 

76%

 

77%

Message providers

23%

23%

31%

  

47%

53%

52%

58%

 

79%

 

79%

Download

     

17%

26%

27%

32%

 

32%

  

Transmit

     

14%

17%

19%

21%

 

20%

  

Add health info

     

19%

24%

24%

     

Correct errors

     

7%

7%

10%

     

In 2012-2024, data come from the Consumer Survey of Attitudes Toward the Privacy and Security Aspects of Electronic Health Records and Health Information Exchange. In 2017-2024, data come from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Dotted lines indicate use of a different data set to track a given measure. Dashed lines indicate use of a different HINTS survey question to track a given measure.

“View results” indicates individuals who used their online medical record or patient portal to look up test results. “View notes” indicates the share of individuals who had clinical notes (2017-2020) or viewed clinical notes (2022-2024) in their online medical record or patient portal. “Message providers” indicates individuals who sent or received an email message from their health care provider (2012-2014), used their online medical record or patient portal to securely message their health care provider and staff (2017-2020), or used the Internet to send a message to a health care provider or a health care provider's office (2022-2024). “Make appointments” indicates individuals who used the internet to make an appointment with a health care provider. “Download” indicates individuals who used their online medical record or patient portal to download their health information to their computer or mobile device, such as cell phone or tablet. “Add health info” indicates individuals who used their online medical record or patient portal to add health information to share with their provider (such as health concerns, symptoms, or side effects). “Transmit” indicates individuals who used their online medical record or patient portal to electronically send their medical information to a third party (e.g., another provider, family member, or smartphone health app). “Correct errors” indicates individuals who used their online medical record or patient portal to request correction of inaccurate information.

For all estimates of individuals’ use of health IT, the denominator only includes individuals who reported accessing health IT (i.e., their online medical record or patient portal) at least once in the past year. Estimates may differ from previously published trends which were limited to individuals who were offered and accessed their patient portal in the past year.