The patient, a wiry businessman in his 50s, needed a copy of his medical records to bring to a specialist for a second opinion. He assumed that getting the copies would be straightforward; the records were, after all, his. But after multiple trips to his doctor’s office and the hospital and several days of missed…
OpenNotes in the Media
The Atlantic: Would You Want to See Everything Your Doctor Writes About You?
Let’s say you gained a bit of weight since your last physical. You know it, deep down at least, but you don’t really want to talk about. You’ve convinced yourself that it’s just a phase. It’s one thing to have your doctor point it out to you in the exam room. But what if, at…
The Wall Street Journal: Access to Doctors’ Notes Aids Patients’ Treatment
Patients who have access to doctor’s notes in their medical records are more likely to understand their health issues, recall what the doctor told them and take their medications as prescribed, according to a study published Monday. The study, published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is the culmination of an experiment known as OpenNotes, an effort…
Annals of Internal Medicine: A Patient’s View of OpenNotes
When I was young, most doctors refused to tell terminal patients that nothing more could be done. They would lose hope, the rationalization went. Anxiety or depression would make them suffer more than ignorance. No one, of course, wants to be the messenger of death or face the slippery slope that candor can evoke—painful discussions…
The Boston Globe: Patients benefit from reading doctors’ notes, study shows
by Liz Kowalczyk, Should patients be able to read the notes doctors write about them? Physicians have disagreed about this issue for years. But in a new study from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, patients reported that opening up notes increased their understanding of their medical problems and improved their compliance with medication regimens. Despite…
Society for Participatory Medicine: OpenNotes: The results are in. GREAT news for patient engagement.
by Dave deBronkart, Regular readers know that we’ve long anticipated the result of the OpenNotes project. Our first post about it was in June 2010: “OpenNotes” project begins: what happens when patients can see the physician’s visit notes? It tied the issue all the way back to the birth of the Web, in 1994: The opening…
Ted Eytan, MD Blog: Now Reading: OpenNotes results are HERE
by Ted Eytan “little impact on doctors, 99% of patients recommended continuation” When I was visiting Group Health Cooperative in Seattle 2 weeks ago, I was involved in a conversation about releasing/sharing imaging results with patients online, as Group Health (@GroupHealth) has been doing for about a year (See: What Group Health Physicians are saying about…
Welcome to OpenNotes! A letter from Tom Delbanco and Jan Walker
In 2010, we invited patients of more than 100 primary care doctors from three diverse medical institutions to read their doctors’ notes online. Our overall goal is to help patients become more actively involved in their care and to draw patients and their healthcare team closer together. To do that, we need to foster meaningful,…
Journal of General Internal Medicine: The Essence of Morning
by Leonor Fernandez, MD Hot coffee beckons with its promise of contraband comfort on a cold and busy Monday morning. Ms. H, my first patient, has not arrived yet. I consider a quick dash downstairs to the coffee shop. I can usually make it back in 4 minutes.… I glance at my email. You have 2 newPatientSitemessages.…
SGIM Forum: OpenNotes Debate Part I, II & III
DEBATE: PART I– Benefits from Destroying the Black Box (or Are We Opening Pandora’s Box?) – Tom Delbanco, MD, and Jan Walker, RN, MBA Dr. Delbanco and Ms. Walker are on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. DEBATE: PART II– Patient Access to Electronic Records: Not Now – Douglas…
