Majority of Australian consumers favor having their own e-health record but at no cost to them, according to a phone survey commissioned by the CSC, the world's largest health systems integrator.

The result of the survey conducted in March showed that 96 percent of 1,208 respondents believe that common medical data should be stored on a shared electronic record.

The survey showed that 88 percent of Australians felt that it was either the Federal or State governments' responsibility to contribute financially to the cost of individual e-health records.

About 63 percent of respondents regard private health insurers as also having some responsibility for financially contributing to the costs for e-health records. This is despite the fact that less than half of Australians have private insurance.

Consumers now expect e-health records and expect the basic foundations to be funded as part of the health system, primarily, and convincingly, by governments, with contributions from others such as health insurers, said Lisa Pettigrew, director of health services for CSC in Australia.

Healthcare