Today’s NY Times includes a column by Dr. Pauline Chen describing the Open Notes study, which allows patients to view their medical records, including doctors’ notes.
The yearlong study, being funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, involves over 100 primary care physicians and 25,000 patients from three health care centers including Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Chen opens her column by talking about an experience she had in which a patient asked for a copy of Dr. Chen’s notes and, after Dr. Chen mentioned the request to other staff, she received a variety of reactions, including the following from one nurse: “Do you know what’s going to happen if you give them a copy now? They’re going to start calling and e-mailing you with questions about what you wrote.”
While we are often told that providers want to have engaged patients who will play an active role in managing their care, this kind of quote calls that into question. However, the physicians who have signed up to participate in this study are some of those who not only talk the talk but walk the walk. They are willing to allow their patients to view all of their notes for a year with the end result of the study being a better understanding of the impact of Open Notes on patient care and the patient-provider relationship. As one participating doctor says in the article, “In the end, we are all patients-if not now, then someday- and from that perspective it is easy to see the many reasons why this is a step in the right direction.”
-Deborah W. Wachenheim
