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Why access to clinicians’ notes can improve patients’ health

Why access to clinicians’ notes can improve patients’ health

April 17, 2015

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Lately there’s been more of a push to give patients access to the information in their own health records, including the notes their physicians make. Advances such as electronic health records (EHR) systems and online patient portals have made it easier to share these details with patients. Now there’s evidence that giving patients access to their information can help hospital staff and other healthcare providers give better care to patients.

Usually, when patients access their own health information through a portal, they’re just given data like test results, medications prescribed or other smaller details in their health record. But since the capabilities are already there in many EHRs for patients to access their own information, some clinicians took it a step further in the Open Notes Project.

As described in an article written in The BMJ, with the Open Notes Project, doctors allowed patients to read the notes they made during patient encounters via a patient portal. After the doctor signed the medical record, patients got automatic notices that the clinician’s notes were available for review. They also received another notice to review the notes shortly before their next appointment.

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