For years, consumer advocates and some leaders in healthcare policy wanted to change how clinicians and the public viewed the medical chart. "[T]he Institute of Medicine urged society to view the note not as an artifact, but as a living interactive document shared between patients and providers." (from "Open Notes: Doctors and Patients Signing on").
Why did they work so hard for this change?
Because the potential benefits are huge.
Despite my initial negative reaction (described in my last post) to the idea of patients being able to read their own chart, I can see the potential benefits. By enabling patients to read and amend their chart, we open opportunities to:
- pick up serious inaccuracies and avoid medical errors
- facilitate sharing of notes with other consultants
- reinforce the clinician's findings and recommendations discussed at a visit
- clarify something the clinician said or did at the visit
- improve patients' insight into clinicians' decision-making
- gradually accept and adjust to some diagnoses
- motivate patient to comply with prescribed behavioral modifications
- help patient prepare for office visits
- dispel unfounded worries about what clinicians were finding or thinking
- involve family and other caregivers in the patient's care
Advocates believe that when open notes become the standard of care, clinicians and patients will enjoy improved efficiency, communication and satisfaction.
This idea begs us to take a moment to discuss the purpose of a patient's medical chart, which we'll do with my next post.
Comments