When Doctors Share their Notes

Patients may eventually be able to read their medical records with the notes their doctors use to guide treatment. Although several health care systems provide patients Web access to make appointments, pay bills and even see their lab results, the idea that they might also be able to read clinic notes is extremely controversial. Now a study is looking at what happens when patients get easy access to this information. They already have a legal right to their medical records, but getting the information is often difficult and can be costly.
The new study is called OpenNotes and was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The study will compare patients with and without access to notes in three large health care systems with electronic records: Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, Geisinger in Danville, Pennsylvania and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Will the quality of care improve, or will physicians and patients simply annoy each other? Many doctors and health systems will be watching to see whether this experiment improves doctor-patient communication or if it merely confuses patients and adds to the doctors’ work load.
[Annals of Internal Medicine, July 21, 2010]