The expanding OpenNotes movement
Open and transparent communication involving all patients and clinicians…the OpenNotes mission for the next decade.
No longer are medical records hidden from patients. Everyone in the U.S. has won the right to review and use their clinicians’ notes. However, most people are unaware of how much they may benefit and don’t read them…and many still cannot access their medical records. For OpenNotes, our work has just begun!
To build meaningful transparency into the fabric of care, we have to work together to change the culture of medical practice.
Pressing Challenges for OpenNotes:
- Mounting and expanding both broad and targeted educational initiatives for health professionals, patients, and families
- Promoting shared decision-making between clinicians and patients
- Engaging the most vulnerable patient populations in transparent communication
- Supporting care partners at a time of extraordinary stress
- Using open notes to maximize patient safety
- Preparing for apps and the next generations of medical records
I want to be a partner. I want to be on board with my health. I don’t want to be in the dark. I don’t want the doctors to have access to things I don’t. I want to know. –Patient quote
We are working to reach out and educate
- Teaching future doctors: Embedding transparency as a foundational element of medical education. Read More
- Learning Collaboratives: Bringing patients and clinicians together to change the culture of medical care. Read More
- New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) OpenNotes Collaborative: Bringing effective implementations of open notes to a broad variety of patients throughout New York State. Read More
- Case Studies: Learning from diverse institutions that incorporate transparent communication really well. Read More
- International Deployment of eHealth: Studying implementation of transparent records in a growing number of nations. Read More
It really is much easier to show my family who are also my caregivers the information in the notes than to try and explain myself. I find the notes more accurate than my recollections, and they allow my family to understand what is actually going on with my health, not just what my memory decides to store. –Patient quote
We are creating and studying new approaches to transparent communication
- OurNotes: Can patients and clinicians develop closer partnerships by writing progress notes together? Read More
- OurNotes for Caregivers: Can OurNotes benefit both patients and those caring for them at home? Read More
- OurDiagnosis (OurDx): Can we improve patient safety by engaging patients and families in the diagnostic process? Read More
- Documenting the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH): Might notes that incorporate individual social determinants of health benefit patients while maintaining their privacy? Read More
- MyDischarge Summary: Can shared records help ensure optimal care for patients as they leave the hospital? Read More
- Patient Priorities Care: Can patients decide on their primary goals for care…and share their insights with their clinicians? Read More
- OurResearch: Can patient-led and co-designed research lead to more successful participant recruitment than studies designed by investigators alone? Read More
Sometimes I forget what is said to me because it is emotional, and it is so nice to be able to go back and read exactly what my doctor was telling me. –Patient quote
Thanks to the generous support of forward-thinking institutions, foundations, individual philanthropists, and federal agencies, the next wave of OpenNotes is expanding rapidly.
We think of this as an OpenNotes “expanded universe” of research, implementation, and education that will stimulate and inform the next decade of transformation in clinician-patient-researcher relationships.
