title: Patient-perceived usefulness of an emergency medical card and a continuity-of-care report in enhancing the quality of care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the patients' opinion on the usefulness of the electronic medical card (EMC) and continuity-of-care report in enhancing quality of care, and to assess the effects of the patient-entered data on the quality of data in the electronic medical record (EMR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A structured survey assessed patients' opinion on the usefulness of the EMC and continuity-of-care report. The accuracy of EMR data involved comparing the patient-entered data in the continuity-of-care report with the healthcare-provider-entered data in the EMR. The analysis assessed whether the EMR information was consistent with the patient-entered data. A data completeness evaluation compared data entries in the EMR collected before and after the use of continuity-of-care record application.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and thirty-three patients used the application, of which 76% who had actually used the EMC and continuity-of-care report to seek medical care and/or update EMR information were surveyed. Age was associated with the reported usefulness of the documents. Few users (16%) printed the continuity-of-care reports to take to their healthcare providers for data updates and fewer (9%) to correct errors in the EMR. Overall, 68% of patients found the documents to be useful.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients reported that the EMC and continuity-of-care report were useful in enhancing quality of care. They were able to identify missing or erroneous data in the EMR data, making them an important source of quality control for their information in the healthcare-provider-maintained EMR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA. c_olola@yahoo.com
authors.forename: C H O
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Olola
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poynton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nebeker
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hales
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055815:Young Adult