Patients are encouraged to become engaged in their healthcare, but they can’t do it unless providers give them the tools and information they need to actively participate. Everyone agrees that patient engagement is important. No one agrees on what, exactly, the term means. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Participatory Medicine,”The Many Faces…
OpenNotes Pilot
KUOW News – 94.9FM: When Doctors Invite Patients To Read Their Notes
Do you wonder what your doctor scribbles in the chart during your visit? Patients at Harborview Medical Center got to read their medical records, including their doctors’ detailed notes. For some, that access prompted them to become more involved in their health care. Linda Johnson, 67, had been relatively healthy all her adult life. She…
MEDCITY News: Open Notes advances from research project to ‘movement’
The initial success of the Open Notes program is well-documented. As MedCity News reported, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine at the beginning of 2014 found widespread enthusiasm about the idea of opening unedited primary care clinician notes to patients at three test sites. After the first year of Open Notes, 99 percent…
The New York Times: The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Data
Steven Keating’s doctors and medical experts view him as a citizen of the future. A scan of his brain eight years ago revealed a slight abnormality — nothing to worry about, he was told, but worth monitoring. And monitor he did, reading and studying about brain structure, function and wayward cells, and obtaining a follow-up…
The Wall Street Journal – The Experts: How High-Tech Patient Portals Will Revolutionize Health Care
As the health-care world finally shifts from analog to digital, increasing numbers of patients have access to a patient portal–a site that allows them to schedule appointments, email their physicians, refill medications, and check the results of laboratory studies. As part of a national movement known as OpenNotes, nearly five million Americans can also read…
Neurology Today – Your Patients Can Read Their Entire Medical Record Online: OpenNotes is Coming Your Way
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…
Health IT Outcomes: OpenNotes Allows Patients To Access, Annotate Their EHR
An OpenNotes pilot study has shown allowing patients access to their EHR leads to better medication adherence and a sense of control over their health – now researchers plan to allow patients to add notes to their records as well. OpenNotes, a project designed to allow patients access to their EHR, is planning to take…
Huffpost Healthy Living: New Study Suggests Patients Should Have Access To Their Own Medical Records
(Reuters Health) – Letting patients see their medical records while they’re in the hospital might ease worry and confusion without extra work for doctors and nurses, a small study suggests. “The hope is that increased transparency achieved by sharing electronic medical records with patients while they’re in the hospital would make them more engaged in…
EHR Intelligence: OpenNotes Pilots Show Value of Patients Annotating EHRs
With the advent of EHRs, mobile health products, telehealth services, and other health IT innovations, it comes as no surprise that physicians have also provided patients with electronic access to their written notes. The OpenNotes study started in 2011 and immediately showed patients feel better about and are more likely to adhere to their medications…
Reuters Health: Patients, doctors see benefits of sharing medical records
When Stacey Whiteman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, she didn’t realize the toughest challenge would be its impact on her brain. The 53-year-old from Massachusetts was forced to quit work as an executive assistant after becoming easily confused and prone to forget, even about priorities like doctor appointments. When her physician suggested…
