The handwritten notes of physician used to be just seen
by clinicians. Yet, today's electronic medical records now mean that laboratory
results and even medical images are readily available and easily shared. Almost
every facet of health care is currently digital which is igniting debate about
whether patients should have the ability to see their physician's notes.
OpenNotes, a trial initiative set at 4 distinct medical centers allowed over 20,000 patients accessibility to the notes of 100 primary care doctors.
The trial results imply that patients did benefit from this access. After one year the notes had been read by four out of five patients. A bulk of these surveyed said they felt more in control of their care and had a better understanding of their care.
The trial also found that patient accessibility had little to no influence on doctors' ability to do their work. Doctors who were apprehensive about OpenNotes, are now more welcoming to the notion.
One issue doctors have regarding opening their notes to patients is the need to spend extra time, that they don’t have, with patients explaining their notes. Moreover, understanding that patients will have access to these records could affect how doctors document information. For example, if a patient is found to have a mass on a chest x-ray, clinical practice would be to write down all the possible diagnoses. However, if a patients sees "cancer" among those possibilities, it could result in unnecessary worry and stress to a patient. Doctors could end up altering the documentation from a manner that is exact to a manner in which the information in a readily understandable to patients. There is also a concern that patients could post notes to social media which could expose physicians to criticism.
OpenNotes, a trial initiative set at 4 distinct medical centers allowed over 20,000 patients accessibility to the notes of 100 primary care doctors.
The trial results imply that patients did benefit from this access. After one year the notes had been read by four out of five patients. A bulk of these surveyed said they felt more in control of their care and had a better understanding of their care.
The trial also found that patient accessibility had little to no influence on doctors' ability to do their work. Doctors who were apprehensive about OpenNotes, are now more welcoming to the notion.
One issue doctors have regarding opening their notes to patients is the need to spend extra time, that they don’t have, with patients explaining their notes. Moreover, understanding that patients will have access to these records could affect how doctors document information. For example, if a patient is found to have a mass on a chest x-ray, clinical practice would be to write down all the possible diagnoses. However, if a patients sees "cancer" among those possibilities, it could result in unnecessary worry and stress to a patient. Doctors could end up altering the documentation from a manner that is exact to a manner in which the information in a readily understandable to patients. There is also a concern that patients could post notes to social media which could expose physicians to criticism.
Many factors must be taken into consideration when choosing whether to share notes with patients. For more information regarding the risks of open notes, contact us.
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