Help us make open notes the standard of care for all patients.
2. Ask for Your Visit Notes
Your doctor writes a note after your visit. When the notes are shared with patients, we call them open notes. Let your doctor or nurse know – in person, by email, by mail, or by phone – that you’re interested in accessing your notes. Remember, by law, you’re entitled to see them. The notes can be printed out or made available online. You can find an email template to edit and send here.
3. See Who’s Already Sharing Visit Notes Online
Look at the map to see which health systems are already sharing notes. Know that we’re talking with institutions and doctors every day, encouraging them to share notes online. If you don’t find your institution, or if you do find your institution and your doctor is not yet sharing notes, it’s still okay to ask for them. It lets your medical team know you’re interested in being a partner in your care.
4. Register for Your Health System’s Patient Portal
If your health care system uses an electronic health record and has a patient web portal, we recommend that you register for it. It’s an easy and secure way to engage with your health information, and there’s lots of evidence indicating that engaged patients get better health care. You can find links to patient portals on the map, as well.
5. Use Your Notes
Refer back to your notes any time you want to remember what was discussed with your health professional, and to remind yourself of follow up appointments, medication changes, and such. To prepare for an upcoming appointment, you can go over your past notes. And, you can choose to share your notes with family members or any other person involved in your care. Visit Our Stories page to see how patients use their notes.
6. Feel Confident About Your Care
You are at the center of your health care. Reading your notes can help you take more control of your health, and create a stronger, more trusting relationship with your care team. The notes are about you, and you have the legal right to review them. Read more in the Notes & You section.
7. Ensure that Your Health Information Is Accurate
By reviewing your note, you can play an important role in the safety of your care. Make sure that the information in your medical record is current and accurate. If you see something you don’t understand, or find a mistake, let your health care team know. To partner with patients more actively, some health systems are now offering a patient reporting tool that lets you send feedback easily when you have something new to discuss.
8. Be an Informed Caregiver
Some of us may be helping family members or friends to understand more about their condition, their medications, or assist with things like scheduling appointments. Sharing notes can help us manage the health and illnesses of the patients we support. You can find more information in the Caregiver Toolkit.
9. Share Your Story
We’d love to hear from you about how you’re managing your health information – successes, obstacles, concerns…we’d like to hear it all. Use the Connect & Contact page to send us a message.
Podcast recommendation for the holiday week:
This episode of "The Exam Room," in which