Here are a few stories about patients as “consumers” that have piqued our interest: Study: Health Researchers Find Major Gaps in How Consumer-Facing Data Is Being Used In the March issue of Health Affairs, researchers find major gaps between the ideal of consumer-facing health data availability and its actual use. They urge providers to help…
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New Funding Source for OpenNotes in New York State Aims to Empower Health Care Consumers
OpenNotes’ Tom Delbanco and Deb Wachenheim were on hand when the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) announced a new funding opportunity for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and other non-hospital health care settings in their state who want to spread OpenNotes adoption. The funding supports an effort to empower health care consumers by sharing…
New OpenNotes GIFs and Stickers
OpenNotes has partnered with Bare Tree Media to create a set of custom animated GIFs and iMessage stickers as part of a consumer outreach campaign. The OpenNotes ASK campaign aims to help people learn how to take full advantage of their open notes and suggests that patients: ACCESS their notes, SHARE notes when it might…
A Parent’s Perspective: Betsy Lowe on Accessing Notes
Betsy is a full-time mom of three children—ages 14, 11, and 9. Two of her children receive care at Boston Children’s Hospital and see two specialists regularly for chronic conditions as well as other specialists as needed. She prefers not to elaborate further on her children’s health out of respect for their privacy. Betsy began…
Spotlight on Homer Chin: A Pioneer in Health Care Technology
We sat down with Homer Chin, MD, MS, an electronic health record (EHR) expert at OpenNotes. He is an affiliate professor in the Department of Medical Informatics and Outcomes Research at the Oregon Health and Science University and a member of the board of OCHIN, a not-for-profit organization that provides information and management services to…
Welcome Asante Health
This month we welcomed another health system, bringing us to 195 health systems sharing notes across the U.S. We’re excited to welcome Asante to the OpenNotes team. Asante is a local, community-owned and governed, not-for-profit organization that provides medical care to nearly 600,000 people in a nine-county area of Southern Oregon and Northern California. It…
A Note From the Director: April 2019
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule to support the improved exchange and use of electronic health information. The proposed rule places a strong focus on patients’ ability to access their health information and proposes that clinical notes be included in an expanded set of data…
OpenNotes Comments on HHS Rule to Improve Patient Access and Interoperability
In February 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a new rule to support seamless and secure access, exchange, and use of electronic health information. The proposed rule places a strong focus on patients’ ability to access their health information and proposes that clinical notes be included in an expanded set…
Cultivating Culture Change: OpenNotes at SXSW
The annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festival held in Austin, TX, brings together industry leaders, up-and-comers, celebrities, and everyday people to share big ideas, enjoy great music, watch film debuts, and learn about cutting-edge technology. This year, for the first time, OpenNotes was on the scene in early March to sway opinions and…
Four New Health Systems Now Sharing Notes
We’re excited to welcome four new health systems to the OpenNotes movement: Bronson Healthcare is a not-for-profit, community-governed health system serving nine counties in southwest and south central Michigan. With 9,000 employees, nearly 1,400 medical staff members, and 836 licensed beds, Bronson is the largest employer and leading healthcare system in southwest Michigan. It offers…
