Abstract
Background It is now widely accepted that patients can meaningfully provide feedback on the safety of their care, and recent efforts have concentrated on novel ways of gathering this feedback. Increasingly, patients are encouraged to access their electronic health record (EHR), with access associated with improved patient satisfaction and enhanced patient safety through identifying medication errors.
Aim With a view to developing a novel intervention to gather safety information from patients in primary care, this study aimed to explore patients’ views on the feasibility and acceptability of inputting feedback on care experiences directly into their EHR.
Method A qualitative design and opportunity sampling strategy was used. Fifteen primary care users participated in semi-structured interviews which focused on inputting feedback into EHRs. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse transcribed interviews.
Results The majority of participants were interested in viewing their EHR and felt they would benefit from providing feedback about their care experiences directly into their EHR. Three key themes were identified: monitoring EHR for improvement; security of EHR; and centralising EHR across care settings. Specific barriers and levers were recognised within each theme.
Conclusion Allowing patients to have access to their EHR has the potential to improve patient experience and safety from a primary care user perspective. Nevertheless, there are barriers to consider such as, potential to increase staff workload as additional capacity may be required to interpret and act on feedback to produce service improvements.