Latest Truven Health Analytics–NPR Health Poll on Medical Data Privacy


How concerned are people about the privacy of their medical information? Not very—according to the November 2014 Truven Health Analytics–NPR Health Poll (opens as PDF). The poll asked how respondents feel about sharing their electronic health information and other data with researchers, employers, health plans, and their doctors. The majority expressed a willingness to share their anonymized health information with researchers; less than a quarter expressed willingness to share non-healthcare data with their healthcare providers.

Each month, the Truven Health Analytics–NPR Health Poll surveys approximately 3,000 Americans to gauge attitudes and opinions on a wide range of healthcare issues. Poll results are reported by NPR on the health blog Shots. Among the results of this survey:

  • 74% of respondents indicated that their physician uses an electronic medical record system.
  • 68% of respondents would share their health information anonymously with researchers.
  • 44% of respondents have looked through their health information kept by their physician.

The survey analyses were stratified by age, education, generation, and income. Poll questions were posed by cell phone, land line, and online during the first half of August 2014. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. An executive summary of the survey, including questions and survey data, is here.