In a change, patients can now read the clinical notes written by their physicians

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Health

In a change, patients can now read the clinical notes written by their physicians

By Corey Meador
April 10, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. EDT

Many people trying to gather their health-care data may be all too familiar with calling medical records departments, driving to a clinic to sign a release, and paying a fee for a pile of papers with loads of medical information they don’t understand. ... But this spring, new federal rules went into effect that will allow patients to see the clinic notes physicians write, which advocates say will improve patients’ knowledge of their own health.

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Catherine DesRoches, executive director of OpenNotes, a research group that promotes sharing clinical notes with patients, calls this a “new world” where shared notes are valuable tools to improve communication between patient and physician while strengthening their relationship.

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When DesRoches first heard of shared notes, she thought this was going to be useful for only patients who were highly educated and well resourced. But after years of research, her group observed that patients who are traditionally underserved by the health-care system are more likely to report benefits from reading their notes.

“Patients with lower levels of formal education, patients who have limited English proficiency, patients who self-identify as racial or ethnic minorities, they’re more likely to say that reading their doctors notes helps them feel in control of their care, helps them understand their medications, improves their trust in their provider,” she says.

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Corey Meador is a physician and a Health and Media Fellow at the Georgetown University Department of Family Medicine.