Three in five Americans with chronic disease say using a home medical device would improve their health, according to a new survey.

The poll was conducted by GfK Roper on behalf of San Francisco-based EHR provider, Practice Fusion.

Almost half of Americans currently live with at least one chronic condition, and more than ninety percent of Americans age 65 or older are living with some form of chronic illness, according to the CDC.

The survey found that interest in doctors monitoring patient health using remote medical devices was equally high for respondents with and without chronic conditions.

"Home medical devices can save the healthcare system money and also enable patients to live more independently while managing their chronic conditions," said Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion. "EHR systems are a key connection for linking these devices to patients and physicians."

But although new technology has made home medical devices affordable, connections to physician EHR systems have not been developed extensively and have limited their clinical use.

Howard said that his company is focusing on leveraging its application programming interface (API) development to provide device connectivity to its users.

Key survey findings among those with one or more chronic condition:

• Sixty-two percent say communication with their doctor using home medical devices would improve their health.
• Up to 57 percent respondents between the ages of 25 and 49 were interested in home medical devices.
• Just 35 percent of people age 65+ were interested in home medical devices technology.
• Men with chronic conditions were more interested in home monitoring devices (52 percent) than women (41 percent).

Other survey findings:

• Respondents with and without chronic conditions were virtually equal in their interest in home medical devices.
• Interest in these devices tended to decrease with age: 48 percent for those age 25-34 down to 34 percent for those age 65+.

Practice Fusion is currently inviting the makers of home medical devices to connect through the company's EMR Integration and API.