94% Indians Willing To Store Health Records In Cloud For Easy Access: Cisco

Cisco has released the Cisco Customer Experience Report focused on health care. The findings from the survey conducted globally indicated a growing shift in consumer’s expectations on medical services in India. It also examined perceptions of consumers and health care decision makers (HCDMs) on patient experience in health care.

The report shows that as information, technology, bandwidth, and the integration of the network become the centre of the “new world,” both human and digital aspects are key parts to the overall patient experience. These components lead to more real-time, meaningful patient and doctor interaction.

The survey studied the views of consumers and HCDMs on sharing personal health data, participating in in-person medical consultation versus remote care and using technology to make recommendations on personal health. Views on these topics sometimes differed widely between the two groups (consumers and HCDMs) and the 10 geographies surveyed.

The global report conducted in early 2013, includes responses from 1,547 consumers and HCDMs globally, with a consistent sample size of around 200 local respondents in each of the 10 countries surveyed. Additionally, consumers and HCDMs were polled from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages within each country.

Privacy And Personal Service

This portion of the survey focused on how comfortable consumers and HCDMs are with sharing personal health and medical information for a better experience. Overall, health care practitioners were more willing to share personal and private information than patients or other citizens. The degree to which all clinicians, patients and citizens are willing to share personal health information and to improve the quality of care varies by geography.

Report Findings – Indicative Trends In India

• 94 percent of those surveyed in India are comfortable with storing their health records with a high degree of security in the cloud in order to enable them and their health care provider to access it easily. 86 percent of Indian consumers surveyed would be comfortable with submitting genetic information to a doctor or other health care professionals to ensure they have all information available to treat and offer the most personal diagnosis possible

• 75 percent of HCDMs surveyed in India believe data protection is adequate for protecting health/medical data privacy in their respective countries, while a lower percentage of the surveyed consumers (64 percent) believe data protection is adequate

• Nearly half of all consumers surveyed and two-thirds of the HCDMs surveyed would be comfortable getting health information through social media channels. Compared to global consumers, Indian consumers expressed a greater than average comfort level in sharing and receiving health information through social media channels. In return, an even larger proportion of HCDMs feel comfortable providing health information to consumers via social media channels

• In India, over 50 percent of the consumers surveyed would find it valuable if their health care provider presented appointment reminders, information for managing drug side effects and treatment reminders via social media.

• 62 percent of the Indian consumers surveyed expressed a willingness to share a range of information regarding their health as compared to 42 percent global response rate

• In India 75 percent of HCDMs believe consumers would be willing to share a variety of health information via social media websites, while only 35 percent of Indian consumers indicated previously using social media to share information about their health with their doctors

• On a contradictory note, of the Indian consumers surveyed, almost 60 percent are okay with health care providers sharing personal data about their patients if it improves the quality of future care, however, only 45 percent of HCDM’s believe that health care providers should be allowed to share patient information.

In-Person vs. Virtual Customer Service

The report findings challenged the assumption that face-to-face interaction is always the preferred health care experience. While consumers still depend heavily on in-person medical treatments, three- quarters of patients and citizens are comfortable with the use of technology for the clinician interaction.

Report Findings – Indicative Trends In India

• 75 percent of global consumers indicate they are comfortable with the idea of communicating with doctors using technology instead of seeing them in person.

• 88 percent of consumers surveyed in India indicated they would be comfortable with communicating about health care with their doctors using technology instead of seeing them in person. 76 percent of HCDMs also indicated they would be comfortable communicating with consumers using technology rather than in person.

• Respondents in India are significantly more willing than the rest to receiving health care remotely. Nearly 88 percent of consumers would be comfortable communicating with a specialist using virtual technology (e.g. video chatting, text messaging) for a health condition rather than visiting the specialist in person

• Additionally, more than 75 percent of consumers in the country would prefer to consult a specialist using virtual technology than to receive treatment in person from a less experienced professional.

• More than half of consumers in India indicate they can access upcoming health care appointments, lab reports, physician visit notes and prescription notes electronically

• 75 percent of consumers and HCDMs in India agree it would benefit a patient’s care if healthcare professionals were able to monitor conditions using remote monitoring devices that send health information automatically

How Much Do Consumers And HCDMs Rely On Technology?

As machines become connected and networked, they play an even larger role in the overall health care experience. Interest in accessing health information on mobile devices is growing rapidly and is the No.1 topic of consumer interest in India, Mexico, Brazil and China. Nearly 30 percent of those surveyed in India confirmed using health & fitness or medical apps on their mobile devices.

Report Findings – Indicative Trends In India

• At 85 percent, the proportion of Indian consumers who would trust a machine designed to help them perform everyday tasks such as planning and preparing meals is among the highest globally

• 87 percent of consumers in India would trust a machine designed to diagnose their overall health and provide a medical recommendation determining whether or not they needed to see a doctor

• Around 69 percent of Indian consumers surveyed tend to use the Internet for a variety of health care activities