Starting this spring U.S. patients will have access to all of their inpatient and ambulatory visit clinical notes (“open notes”). As the result of a federal “information sharing” mandate, once clinical notes are signed by a clinician, patients will be able to read them via their online patient portals. In the practice of oncology, this kind of transparency and immediate access to information may represent a culture change for health care providers, patients, and their care partners.
In this webinar and companion office hours session, Bertram Yuh, MD (City of Hope National Cancer Center) and Everett Weiss, MD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) will share their experiences practicing in an open notes environment. Dr. Yuh will explore patient vs. oncology clinician views of open notes, and what it was like to launch inpatient and outpatient open notes at the same time within a cancer center. Dr. Weiss will present a case study about sharing open notes at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, including the work to involve patient/family advisory councils in community messaging. He will also share his current efforts to nurture an open notes environment at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
Kicking off the webinar is Rosie Bartel, a patient advocate and educator. Rosie will share about her experience as a patient who reads open notes, and how access to her husband’s oncology notes guided her family through difficult healthcare decisions.
Webinar: Monday, March 8, 2021
9-10am Pacific / Noon-1pm Eastern
Register for the webinar
Companion Office Hours: Thursday, March 11, 2021
Noon-1pm Pacific / 3-4pm Eastern
Register for office hours
You will learn:
- How open notes can help patients and families make informed decisions
- About survey results from oncologists and cancer patients on their views of open notes
- How to talk with cancer patients about open notes
- Oncologists’ common concerns related to open notes, and how to address difficult situations
- Best practices for involving patient/family advisory councils in developing patient-facing messaging and education about open notes
Why this matters: There is an urgent need for U.S. clinicians to get up to speed on best practices for open notes within a matter of months. Beginning April 5, 2021, the 21st Century Cures Act will require patients be provided access to all the health information in their electronic medical records, without delay, by their healthcare providers.
About Office Hours
Office Hours is an opportunity to ask more specific questions about open notes in an informal group setting. The goal is that you and others will learn from the experts and each other. There is no formal presentation during Office Hours. We encourage you to register for and attend the Open Oncology Notes webinar taking place on Monday, March 8, 2021, before attending Office Hours, although it is not mandatory.
About the presenters
Rosie Bartel is a widow, mother, grandmother, and educator who draws upon her story as a survivor of serious medical errors as a passionate patient advocate. She serves on numerous national advisory councils–including the National Health IT Patient/Family Advisory Council–and collaborates with medical professionals and researchers on projects to improve patient safety and transform patient-clinician communication.
Everett Weiss, MD, is the Associate Chief Health Informatics Officer for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Board-certified in both Pediatrics and Clinical Informatics, Dr. Weiss leverages his clinical, vendor, and executive informatics leadership experience to drive clinical product development and digital transformation to influence digitally enabled patient care. A steadfast advocate for open notes and patient stewardship in their healthcare, he believes in the transformative power of information transparency and shared decision making in driving person-centered care and higher quality outcomes.
Bertram Yuh, MD, MSHCPM, MISM, is the Associate Chief Medical Information Officer and a Clinical Professor at City of Hope National Cancer Center. As a strong advocate for transparency in information and data to bolster patient-physician relationships, Dr. Yuh is passionate about empowering patients to make informed decisions for their care. Board-certified in Urology and Clinical Informatics, Dr. Yuh collaborates with OpenNotes on the role of transparent communication in oncology settings and for people facing cancer.
