A new study from OpenNotes shows patients and families who read open notes hold unique insights and can catch potential safety hazards that are difficult for clinicians or organizations to see.
Patient Experience
Deciding on my dimples
OpenNotes advocate/researcher Liz Salmi describes a high-stakes decision she made in collaboration with her neurosurgeon during awake craniotomy.
Open notes in patient care: confining deceptive placebos to the past?
In some countries, the practice of “open notes” is advanced with patients using online portals to access their clinical records. In this report, the authors reflect on the consequences of access for placebo prescribing, particularly for the common practice of deceptive placebo use, in which patients are not aware they are being offered a placebo.
Patient characteristics and utilization of an online patient portal in a rural academic general internal medicine practice
In a rural academic internal medicine clinic, female patients, aged 41–65, non-smokers, and those without certain chronic conditions were more likely to use an online patient portal. Recognizing and addressing barriers to patient portal use is essential for robust and sustained patient portal uptake and ensuring that the benefits of portal use are equally distributed among all patients.
Sharing Clinical Notes Potential Medical-Legal Benefits and Risks
It is possible that greater mutual understanding and strengthened patient-physician communication could promote better health outcomes and reduce patients’ inclination to litigate even when medical errors do arise. Verifying the potential effects of sharing clinical notes on malpractice liability risks will require thorough study and monitoring.
Sharing Clinical Notes and Electronic Health Records With People Affected by Mental Health Conditions: Scoping Review
PAEHRs in MHC may strengthen user involvement, patients’ autonomy, and shift medical treatment to a coproduced process. Acceptance issues among health care professionals align with the findings from general health settings. However, the corpus of evidence on digital sharing of EHRs with people affected by mental health conditions is limited. Above all, further research is needed to examine the clinical effectiveness, efficiency, and implementation of this sociotechnical intervention.
Attitudes, experiences, and safety behaviours of adolescents and young adults who read visit notes: Opportunities to engage patients early in their care
Today’s adolescents and young adults have grown up immersed in technology, but their interest in and benefit from reading their care notes online is not well understood. In our study, the majority of AYA read notes and rated them as extremely important for several engagement and safety behaviours. Although a similar proportion of AYA reported definite or possible errors in their notes as adults, fewer spoke up about them, citing knowledge and cultural barriers like fear of conflict. Taken together, these findings support initiatives that encourage AYA to read notes and share concerns. Efforts that include note-reading may help transition patients from paediatric to adult care with greater autonomy, activation and safety partnership.
Patients Contributing to Visit Notes: Mixed Methods Evaluation of OurNotes
OurNotes interests patients, and providers experience it as a positive intervention. Participation by patients, care partners, clinicians, and electronic health record experts will facilitate further development.
Patient Perceptions of Receiving COVID-19 Test Results via an Online Patient Portal: An Open Results Survey
This study evaluated patient perspectives related to receiving COVID-19 test results via an online patient portal prior to discussion with a clinician. Users found the portal easy to use but expressed mixed preferences about the means of notification of result availability (e.g., email, text, or phone call). Users found immediate access to results useful for managing their health, employment, and family/childcare. Many users shared their results and encouraged others to get tested. Our cohort consisted mostly of non-Hispanic white, highly educated, English-speaking patients. Overall, patients found open results useful for COVID-19 testing and few expressed increased worries from receiving their results via the patient portal.
The benefits and harms of open notes in mental health: A Delphi survey of international experts
This survey used a Delphi poll – an established methodology used to investigate emerging healthcare policy, including in psychiatry. International experts who included health professionals and persons with lived experience of mental healthcare were asked to give their opinions, anonymously, in three rounds of online surveys, and to offer their views about the potential benefits and harms of online access to mental health notes. Experts – drawn from 70 experts from six countries – agreed patients’ access to their mental health notes could offer multiple benefits and few harms.
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