Hospitals made EHR engagement gains but key gaps remain: 5 notes

Most U.S. hospitals had adopted foundational digital tools that enable patients to access their health information electronically by 2024, according to an August 2025 data brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy / Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

Five things to know:

1. Nearly all hospitals support foundational patient engagement tools. In 2024, 99% of hospitals enabled patients to view their health information, 96% allowed downloads, 84% allowed transmission to third parties, and 92% offered secure provider messaging, according to an August 2025 data brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy.

2. Most hospitals also offered access to clinical notes and apps. The share of hospitals that let patients view clinical notes reached 95%. App-based access was available in 81% of hospitals via APIs, and 70% offered FHIR-enabled app access.

3. Advanced capabilities remain less common. Just 62% of hospitals enabled patients to submit their own health data, and only 56% allowed record imports from external organizations.

4. Adoption has steadily grown since 2021. Hospitals with all foundational capabilities rose from 72% in 2021 to 80% in 2024. Those offering both emerging capabilities (notes and app access) grew from 65% to 85%, and advanced tools (import and patient-generated data) increased from 37% to 45%.

5. Lower-resourced hospitals lag in app-based access. In 2024, FHIR app access was available at 84% of large hospitals but only 66% of small hospitals. Hospitals using the market-leading EHR vendor had higher adoption of app access (92%) than those using other vendors (70%).

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