Drivers of information disclosure on health information exchange platforms: insights from an exploratory empirical study.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to empirically explore the drivers of patients' consent to sharing of their medical records on health information exchange (HIE) platforms.


METHODS
The authors analyze a dataset consisting of consent choices of 20,076 patients in Western New York. A logistic regression is applied to empirically investigate the effects of patients' age, gender, complexity of medical conditions, and the role of primary care physicians on patients' willingness to disclose medical information on HIE platforms.


RESULTS
The likelihood of providing consent increases by age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.055; P < .0001). Female patients are more likely to provide consent (OR = 1.460; P = .0003). As the number of different physicians involved in the care of the patient increases, the odds of providing consent slightly increases (OR = 1.024; P = .0031). The odds of providing consent is significantly higher for the patients whom a primary care physician has been involved in their medical care (OR = 1.323; P < .0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Individual-level characteristics are important predictors of patients' willingness to disclose their medical information on HIE platforms.
Center for Technology Innovation, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC, 20036, USA nyaraghi@brookings.edu.
Niam
N
Yaraghi
Department of Management Science and Systems, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA.
Raj
R
Sharman
Department of Operations and Information Management, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
Ram
R
Gopal
Department of Management Science and Systems, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA Department of Family Medicine, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 14203, USA UB Patient Safety Research Center, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA.
Ranjit
R
Singh
Department of Management Science and Systems, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA.
R
R
Ramesh
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003219:Confidentiality; D030881:Disclosure; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D066275:Health Information Exchange; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care
Health information exchange; meaningful consent; patient privacy