Cassie, the consent management platform serving Fortune 500 companies globally, unveiled a new research report about consumer’s level of uncertainty with consent and data management within the US healthcare systems.
Cassie’s new Prescribing Privacy Healthcare Report, which surveyed more than 800 US consumers, found the major concern for consumers with modern healthcare data practices is the lack of informed consent. Transparency and trust were noted to be a high priority when sharing data for consumers in addition to better patient education surrounding healthcare data privacy practices.
In the age of technology, healthcare providers are facing a critical challenge: gaining the trust of consumers who are increasingly concerned about protecting their data privacy. Notably, Cassie research reveals that 50% of consumers trust tech companies more than healthcare providers to protect their data, underscoring a concerning trend.
Data breaches, healthcare mergers and acquisitions and the continued integration of healthtech in patient services are becoming all too common, putting patients’ information at risk. Patients are now raising their expectations and looking for healthcare providers to provide transparency and guidance about their data-handling practices.
Cassie research uncovers the steps healthcare providers need to take in order to regain patient trust, including explicit opt-in consent — a practice that 92% believe should be mandatory when sharing health data.
Cassie’s Prescribing Privacy report found:
- 72% of consumers worry about the potential misuse of their health information by external entities
- Six in ten consumers have apprehensions about electronically sharing their health data due to privacy concerns
- The top red flags for consumers when it comes to data privacy, consumers rated their healthcare providers two out of five stars for compliance with regulations
- 35% of consumers have experienced a disjointed process with healthcare providers and of those consumers, eight in ten noted this caused confusion
“Empowering patients with knowledge on how to keep their data safe can help foster a sense of partnership in data security. It puts control back in the patients’ hands with user-friendly tools to manage their data, permissions and preferences for access and sharing ,” said Nicky Watson, co-founder and chief architect of Cassie. “Striking a balance between technological advancement and data privacy is vital for responsible healthcare progress.”