Helen Salisbury: Unintended consequences of open access to medical notes | The BMJ

peter.suber's bookmarks 2022-07-03

Summary:

"Patients now have access to their own medical notes, which is surely progress. More patients are now taking advantage of the ability to view all of the coded information in their GP record online—and this November they’ll have access to all of the free text written in the consultation from that date onwards....

But there are unintended consequences. One is the increased demand for explanations....

As junior doctors, we learn that everything we write in a patient’s notes may potentially be read by them and that we should be polite and objective, backing up opinions with evidence. I may note mismatches between symptoms and signs when my patient who says that she’s fine has nevertheless objectively lost weight, or when the child with dreadful tummy ache clambers energetically onto my couch to be examined. In the past only a handful of patients ever asked to read their notes, but many GPs will have experienced protracted conversations with patients who were unhappy with the contents. In the future, when patients have routine access to everything we write, I fear that I may have to spend more time explaining my record of the consultation....

More fundamentally, if there’s a high likelihood that all notes will be viewed online, will GPs stop noting their “soft concerns” that are so vital in both child and adult safeguarding?..."

Link:

https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1570

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » peter.suber's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.new oa.medicine oa.lay oa.patients oa.risks

Date tagged:

07/03/2022, 09:58

Date published:

07/03/2022, 05:58