We sat down with Sigall Bell, MD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, to learn why she thinks sharing notes with patients is a critical safety intervention. Dr. Bell leads the OpenNotes Patient Safety Initiative, a multi-site study examining relationships among OpenNotes and safety outcomes. How did you get involved with OpenNotes?…
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Countdown to the New Year: Top 10 of 2018
by OpenNotes It’s been a remarkable year for OpenNotes! In 2018, the number of health systems sharing notes and the number of patients with access to notes has continued to rise. We’re excited by the momentum OpenNotes is gaining, but there’s still plenty of work ahead. Here are ten highlights from 2018 that have us…
Improving Patient Access to Notes on Patient Portals: An OpenNotes White Paper
Download the full white paper: Implementing OpenNotes: Improving patient access to notes on patient portals. At institutions or practices that have joined the OpenNotes movement and invite their patients to read their clinicians’ notes, an important question that arises is: How many patients actually read the notes they are invited to review? This report provides…
Liz Salmi – Quality Talks 2018
At an age when her peers were in school, Liz Salmi was touring the country as the drummer in a punk rock band. When others her age were launching careers and starting families, she was confronting a life-threatening illness. She approached that illness with a curiosity and creativity that has put her at the forefront…
Top Five Reasons OpenNotes Should Be Your Next Patient Safety Project
Identify documentation errors. Medical records are prone to errors, including dosing, inactive or non-updated medications. Providers may manage thousands of charts, while patients review one: their own. They may be more likely to catch a mistake because they are most familiar with their own medications, history, family history, etc. Help patients remember. Clinic visits…
Three Important Principles for Sharing Notes
by Cait DesRoches, DrPH
Right now, nearly 26 million patients have access to their visit notes nationwide. As we continue to grow we increasingly hear health systems leaders ask, “How do we do OpenNotes well?” Our goal is not just to encourage health systems to “turn on”…
OpenNotes for Pediatric and Adolescent Patients
Doctor Fabienne C. Bourgeois introduces her recent article “Ethical Challenges Raised by OpenNotes for Pediatric and Adolescent Patients”. The article has been published online (ahead of print) on May 18th, 2018.
OpenNotes Explained: It’s Okay to Ask
We’re honored to be connected with many remarkable patient activists from across the country. This video includes a few who, in addition to the countless other things they do, are helping to spread the word about OpenNotes and the power of knowing what’s in your medical record.
Helping Caregivers Help Patients
By Hannah Chimowitz, BA & Sigall K. Bell, MD – posted first on The Joint Commission Blog on March 1st 2018 This blog post goes beyond the study “Empowering Informal Caregivers with Health Information: OpenNotes as a Safety Strategy” in the March 2018 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. An…
“OpenNotes” for Funders: A Radical Idea for More Transparency and Better Relationships
By Kevin Bolduc – posted first in the Center for Effective Philanthropy Blog on February 27th 2018 Transparency — being open, honest, and clear — is a key driver of strong relationships between funders and grantees. It’s valued by foundation and grantee CEOs alike, and grantees think foundations are doing a decent job of being transparent (though more so in…
