Neurologists who have adopted the OpenNotes program discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with sharing their medical notes and records with patients.
This 25-year-old obese woman with a history of depression, cocaine abuse, and pseudoseizures presents for neurologic consultation following an episode of whole body shaking...
It’s the kind of medical note that you may write routinely, but would you invite your patient to read it? At first blush you may not think so, but OpenNotes, a pilot project that began as a 2010 study in which patients were given access to their primary care doctors’ written notes, stunned many with its unanticipated success. Patients reported that they felt more in control of their care, were more educated, and adhered better to their medications. After 12 months, 99 percent of patients wanted to continue to have access to their notes online and none of the doctors decided to stop the practice.
Over the past five years, the movement has grown from the involvement of three programs registering about 20,000 patients — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Geisinger Health System, and Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center — to enthusiastic adoption at institutions all across the country, with around five million patient records.
Read the article by Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN here!
