UPDATE: April Fools’! Thanks to all who laughed along with us for this announcement. Our apologies to those who were hoping “Retro Notes” was a real initiative. For now, OpenNotes continues to partner with our human colleagues to advance open, transparent communication in health care.
— Liz Salmi, Communications & Patient Initiatives Director, OpenNotes
BOSTON, MA – April 1, 2025 – In a bold move to restore the art of human connection in healthcare, OpenNotes is proud to announce its newest initiative: Retro Notes—a revolutionary program delivering medical records to patients the old-fashioned way: meticulously handwritten in calligraphy and flown to doorsteps via carrier pigeon.
“Digital records are convenient, but they lack that certain je ne sais scribble,” said Catherine M. DesRoches, Executive Director of OpenNotes. “We’re committed to transparency, but now we’re adding a touch of elegance—sometimes in the form of medieval-looking ink smudges.”
Inspired by a bygone era when doctors squinted to decipher the writing of colleagues, Retro Notes aims to bring back the personal charm of hand-penned documentation. Each note is transcribed onto recycled parchment and sealed with a wax stamp before being entrusted to a team of highly trained (and mostly cooperative) pigeons.
“Back in the 1980s, I wrote all my notes by hand,” said Tom Delbanco, MD, co-founder of OpenNotes. “Patients would ask, ‘Is that migraine, mongoose, or just meshugas?’ And I’d say, ‘Yes.’ That patient curiosity was really the spark for OpenNotes.”
Jeffrey “Feathers” Feldman, MD, an endocrinologist in Alabama and early Retro Notes adopter, says the process has reconnected him with his roots.
“I haven’t written this much since med school,” Feldman said. “My calligraphy is still evolving—it currently resembles a mix of Elvish and chicken scratch—but my patients love the extra effort.”
Patients, too, are responding positively.
“It’s thrilling!” said Beverly K., a Retro Notes recipient from Portland, Maine. “After a medical visit, my pigeon, Flapjack, lands on the windowsill with my latest note. It’s like a medical Hogwarts letter. Last week, it said ‘continue meds,’ or maybe ‘consume reds’—it’s a little fuzzy. Either way, I feel seen.”
The Retro Notes program launches today, April 1, 2025, and is expected to… fly.
For more information, or to adopt a carrier pigeon of your own, visit opennotes.org.
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