Study: No negative consequences to open notes
There is little drawback to sharing providers’ notes with patients, according to research published Oct. 1 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers recruited 105 primary care providers associated with either Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., or Harborview Medical Center in Seattle who were willing to electronically share their notes with patients and invited a total of more than 20,000 patients to participate.
Nearly 12,000 of 13,564 patients with notes available during the intervention period accessed them.
“In response to a relatively simple intervention, the patients in this large-scale trial reported striking benefits and presented a clear mandate to continue open notes,” wrote lead authors Tom Delbanco, MD, and Jan Walker, RN, MBA, both employees of BIDMC and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “The doctors encountered few problems.”
Pre-intervention surveys conducted with both participating and non-participating providers indicated that some were worried about disrupting workflow or worrying patients. Actually sharing notes laid those fears to rest among participating providers. In a post-intervention survey, 3 percent of participating providers said visits took significantly longer compared to 23 percent that predicted visits would take longer. More than 85 percent of providers reported that making visit notes available to patients is a good idea.
Patients responded well to having their notes available, with 90 percent claiming open notes would affect decisions about future care. “The vast majority reported an increased sense of control, greater understanding of their medical issues, improved recall of their plans for care and better preparation for future visits,” Delbanco and Walker wrote.
At least one patient reported taking action to lose weight after noticing his provider noted he was slightly obese. Many reported that open notes helped them manage medication. However, half as many providers as patients believed open notes would lead to drastically improved health outcomes.
Researchers determined that open notes could lead to improved health outcomes and that future research should determine best practices for sharing providers’ notes. “The study findings suggest that open notes may be a powerful intervention for improving the health of patients and point to many avenues for further elaboration and inquiry.”
Researchers recruited 105 primary care providers associated with either Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., or Harborview Medical Center in Seattle who were willing to electronically share their notes with patients and invited a total of more than 20,000 patients to participate.
Nearly 12,000 of 13,564 patients with notes available during the intervention period accessed them.
“In response to a relatively simple intervention, the patients in this large-scale trial reported striking benefits and presented a clear mandate to continue open notes,” wrote lead authors Tom Delbanco, MD, and Jan Walker, RN, MBA, both employees of BIDMC and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “The doctors encountered few problems.”
Pre-intervention surveys conducted with both participating and non-participating providers indicated that some were worried about disrupting workflow or worrying patients. Actually sharing notes laid those fears to rest among participating providers. In a post-intervention survey, 3 percent of participating providers said visits took significantly longer compared to 23 percent that predicted visits would take longer. More than 85 percent of providers reported that making visit notes available to patients is a good idea.
Patients responded well to having their notes available, with 90 percent claiming open notes would affect decisions about future care. “The vast majority reported an increased sense of control, greater understanding of their medical issues, improved recall of their plans for care and better preparation for future visits,” Delbanco and Walker wrote.
At least one patient reported taking action to lose weight after noticing his provider noted he was slightly obese. Many reported that open notes helped them manage medication. However, half as many providers as patients believed open notes would lead to drastically improved health outcomes.
Researchers determined that open notes could lead to improved health outcomes and that future research should determine best practices for sharing providers’ notes. “The study findings suggest that open notes may be a powerful intervention for improving the health of patients and point to many avenues for further elaboration and inquiry.”