Key Takeaways

* There is widespread use of health care apps or websites too manage individuals’ health care with about three in four adults in the U.S. saying they have used a health care app or website in the past year, including majorities of adults regardless of income, education, race and ethnicity, and where they live. The most common use of these health care apps includes getting test and lab results, making appointments, and managing prescriptions or medications. This includes health care apps managed by a health provider like MyChart or other online patient portals for doctors, hospitals, or insurance companies, but does not include personal fitness or wellness apps used to track health and wellbeing.

* About eight in ten adults ages 65 and older with Medicare say they have used a health care app or website in the past year, and the large majority say using these tools made it easier to manage their health care. This may be seen as encouraging sign for the “Make Health Tech Great Again” initiative announced by President Trump and CMS Director Dr. Oz announced earlier this year,wich aims to partner with dozens of companies to increase the availability and use of digital health tools, including apps. But one in ten older adults with medicare say that these digital health tools make managing their care more difficult.

* A majority of older adults with Medicare say it should be at least an vital priority for Medicare to make it easier to securely share data between different providers (81%) and increase the availability of apps that help manage chronic conditions with a health care provider (63%). However,few say that either of these items should be a top priority for Medicare.Instead, majorities call it important, but not a top priority.

* While use of health care apps is common and most find them helpful in managing their care, the public is still very worried about privacy and many are cautious about the use of artificial intelligence, or AI. Majorities of adults express concerns about the privacy of their health information, regardless of whether the app is managed by the government (78%), a private technology company (75%), or a health insurance company (64%). Fewer, or about half (52%), are concerned about the privacy of their information if the app is managed by a hospital or other health care provider. Less than half of the public say they would trust a health care app that used AI to manage their health care (41%) or access their medical records and provide personalized health information or advice (32%).

about eight in ten of the public say they have ever used a health care app or website to manage their health care, including three in four who say they have done so in the past year. This includes at least six in ten adults across education, income, race and ethnicity, and age groups.But the recent rate of uptake does vary somewhat within demographic groups. For example,eight in ten White adults say they’ve ever used an online tool to manage their health care in the past yearcompared to seven in ten Black adults,and about two-thirds of Hispanic adults.  Education and income are also factors in recent use of health care apps or websites,with smaller shares of those with lower incomes and less than a college degree reporting they’ve ever used these online tools to manage their health care. Use of these digital health tools is widespread across age groups, with at least seven in ten saying they’ve ever used a health care app or website to manage their care and at least two-thirds having done so in the past year. In addition, use of health care apps does not vary depending on where peopel live, with large majorities of people living in

How Older Adults with Medicare See Technology as a Priority for CMS

A majority of older adults with Medicare say it is important for Medicare to prioritize aspects of app or website growth for health care delivery, but few say it should be a top priority for the agency. Eight in ten (81%) say it is at least an important priority that Medicare makes it easier to securely share health information between different health care providers, and about two thirds (63%) say it’s at least an important priority that Medicare increases availability of apps that help manage chronic conditions like diabetes or obesity with the help of a health care provider.

Even though majorities say that it is indeed at least critically important,few older adults with Medicare say that these are a top priority for them,including a quarter (27%) who say making it easier to share health information between providers is a top priority and one in ten (12%) who say increasing availability of apps to manage chronic conditions is a top priority.  About half of adults ages 65 and older with Medicare say each is important, but not a top priority. Conversely, three in ten say increasing availability of apps to manage chronic conditions is not too important and 6% say it shouldn’t be done, while one in seven (14%) say making it easier to securely share health information is not too important and 5% say it shouldn’t be done.

Among the public these shares are similar across partisanship, with majorities of Republicans and Democrats saying each of these is at least an important priority for Medicare but smaller shares seeing them as top priorities.

one of the purposes noted by CMS in creating this digital health ecosystem is to reduce the number of apps that people have to use to access their health information. Half (51%) of people who have ever used health care apps, including 55% of those with Medicare ages 65 and older, report that they use multiple apps, websites, or accounts to manage their health care.

Most people who use multiple apps say they find it “very” or “somewhat easy” to keep track of the multiple sources, including 72% of Medicare enrollees ages 65 and older. However, three in ten adults and a similar share of older Medicare enrollees (28%) say they find it either “somewhat” or “very difficult” to manage multiple apps or websites.