WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services will conduct two surveys to find out more about patient perceptions and preferences for the use of healthcare information technology.

HHS announced the two studies in the May 14 Federal Register.

The announcement said HHS knows little about patient perceptions of practices that use electronic health records or about patient preferences about what functions they want from a personal health record.

HHS said it plans to survey 860 patients about their opinion of their medical care when their physicians use EHRs. The survey will help policymakers understand how primary care physicians' use of EHRs affects consumer satisfaction with care, communication between patient and doctor and coordination of medical care.

The department said it was concerned that "patients may have negative experiences as practices begin to use EHRs."

HHS also has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, an organization that analyzes federal and state health policy and programs, to survey 500 Medicare beneficiaries about benefits and difficulties they may have experienced using personal health records systems. The vendor will collect the information in the fall.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Systems last year began offering Web-based PHR tools to Medicare fee-for-service patients in Arizona and Utah to help them track their health and healthcare services.