The Latest Zoomer Reports: 10/07/29

Patients See Medical Records

Would it be a good idea to know what your doctor is saying about you? In an effort to improve patient-doctor communication, American researchers are launching a pilot program giving 25,000 patients access to notes their doctors make in their medical records.

American patients have had the legal right to see their records since 1996, but few do. Here in Ontario we’ve have had this right since 2004.

The new initiative coincides with the push for electronic medical records. The hope is that they can improve the quality of care, and decrease medication errors.

When it comes to giving access to notes, many doctors worry that they’ll be swamped with questions from patients. But the researchers this may not turn out to be the case. A lot of time-consuming interactions that used to take place on the phone may now be dispensed with just by logging onto secure Internet connections used for the trial.For instance, patients can log onto the Internet to get test results instead of calling.

Both patients and doctors expressed initial worry that the program might lead to confusion and anxiety on the part of a patient if, for instance, the patient didn’t understand something in the notes or saw that cancer had been included on a list of possible explanations for their symptoms.

But the researchers hope this will just force doctors to be clearer and more careful in how they express themselves in their notes.They pilot project will run for 12 months.