As the OpenNotes movement continues to grow, a broad variety of journalists, patients and health care professionals are taking note. Even better, they’re sharing the facts, data, opinions and experiences of those sharing medical notes. See what the buzz is all about.
The use of technology in medicine, and patients’ desire to be more involved in their own healthcare, is changing the way that medicine is practiced. The WebMD/Medscape Digital Technology Survey was conducted in August and early September to gauge the thoughts of clinicians and patients on the new technology and gadgets used in medical practice,…
Would you want to know what your therapist thinks of you? Hundreds of patients with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston are taking part in an experiment where they have full access to their therapist’s notes about them. Most are reporting it’s a good thing. Steve O’Neill is a therapist and one of…
The woman was sitting on a gurney in the emergency room, and I was facing her, typing. I had just written about her abdominal pain when she posed a question I’d never been asked before: “May I take a look at what you’re writing?” At the time, I was a fourth-year medical resident in Boston.…
Canada’s premier medical journal says it’s time patients had easy access to something they normally aren’t invited to see: the notes their doctors write about them. In an era of electronic health records and password-protected portals, patients should be able to access their medical records as easily as they do online banking, argues an editorial…
A doctor who sees a child with an odd appearance might write “FLK” in his notes. Short for “funny-looking kid”, it is meant not as an insult, but as a reminder to watch for slow growth and mental retardation, which can accompany physical abnormalities. Later he may add “FLD”: funny-looking dads tend to have funnylooking…
There is a growing group of articulate and engaged patients committed to getting access to all their medical information in order to be better positioned to work collaboratively with their clinical teams. Published studies like the OpenNotes project have consistently shown significant benefits and a lack of serious problems. Health care systems are slow to…
If you’ve ever met with a therapist, you may have wondered what he or she is writing down while you’re speaking. Maybe you’ve even tried to sneak a peek and decipher upside-down handwriting. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is removing that guesswork for some patients. A new pilot program lets carefully selected psychiatric patients read…
by Eileen Hughes I was 20 years old when a new doctor I had just started seeing for my recent diagnosis of type 1 diabetes told me that his job was to help me learn more about diabetes, but ultimately it was my disease to manage. It was my choice to take insulin, to watch…
