Impacts of Electronic Government Legislation and Initiatives on Community Health and Electronic Health Literacy

Abstract

The electronic information the US government provides to the public on health issues may impact how the public protects itself from large scale diseases, illnesses and chronic conditions that are both self-inflicted as well as environment-based. This paper primarily focused on analyzing past research and survey data on linking electronic health literacy to electronic government legislation and perceptions of quality, confidence, and security of information in government. The study first applies a logistic regression on 2007 HINTS survey data analyzing the level of trust in government that impacts interest and access to e-health data. The paper then describes how the US has made efforts in improving e-health literacy through various pieces of e-government and e-health (as well as non e-health) legislation. Finally, focus was on state and federal e-health initiatives: mobile health programs or resources, health information exchanges, and state and privately funded health information technology centers, RHIOs. This shows how perceptions of government and government action may impact health literacy and access to e-health information in the community going forward.