Abstract

Objective To ascertain the hopes and fears of the New Zealand lay public with respect to the development and use of universal electronic health records (EHRs). Design In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 purposefully chosen members of the lay public in Dunedin and subjected to thematic analysis. Results Most participants could see the advantages of EHRs but all had reservations about the capture, storage and use of their health information. Concerns emerged about privacy and confidentiality, access to records, security of the information, quality of the data entry, transparency in development, ownership of data and accountability. Conclusions There is a low level of awareness and many misconceptions amongst members of the lay public about ehealth information and patient rights. National awareness campaigns, as recommended by the WAVE project, could go some way towards reversing this situation.