Cleveland Clinic increases patient access to EMRs

Cleveland Clinic is making its patients' EMRs much more transparent and accessible by providing patients online access to almost all of the information in their medical files.

The current version of Cleveland Clinic's online patient portal, MyChart, offers patients access to their after-visit summary, medications list, allergies, immunization records, preventative care details, laboratory results and radiology reports. The new, transparent MyChart EMR will give patients nearly complete access to pathology records, x-ray reports, physician notes and list of current health issues. Patients will be able to view online nearly everything their doctor sees in their EMR. The hope, according to a release, is that providing patients with this convenient access to all of their medical data will enable them to play a bigger role in their own care and allow them to better collaborate with their care teams.

"Our 21st century, value-based healthcare delivery system requires that patients are actively engaged in their health and healthcare decision-making," said Toby Cosgrove, MD, CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic. "It is our job to provide MyChart-activated patients with the tools and information they need to make informed decisions about their own healthcare, under the guidance and expert advice of their physicians."

Cleveland Clinic has taken several steps over the years to improve patient access to their medical records. Any patient can gain access to hard copies of their complete medical record, and, earlier this year, the reports associated with medical images including MRI, CT, ultrasounds and mammograms were made available online through MyChart. The EMR system is expected to be fully transparent to patients sometime next year.

"We have to approach this change carefully and thoughtfully with the input of all involved in order to be sure that patients receive the appropriate, physician-guided education that will ensure they will fully understand the information they will see," said C. Martin Harris, MD, chief information officer for Cleveland Clinic. "By enhancing the connection between our patients and their clinicians, we will create new opportunities to use information to more fully engage our patients as active partners in their health and the decisions they make related to the care they receive."

Beginning this month, Cleveland Clinic will start automatically releasing pathology reports to patients through MyChart. Patients will have secure online access to both the results and their textual interpretation. There will be a delay built into the release process so that patients will be able to hear the results directly from their physician before logging into MyChart to access them.

The procedure and problem lists and patient notes will be available on MyChart during the next phases of the transparency rollout later this year and into 2014.