My practice at Johns Hopkins has many virtues, but we have not yet adopted open notes. Through EPIC's MyChart system, patients can have access to their lab results and communicate directly with their doctors. (That is, the 25% of patients who sign up; patients who are too poor or disadvantaged to have computer access or facility are shut out from the beginning.) But we don't let anyone see their doctors' notes.
I won't revisit here the recent Open Notes trial which has found a surprising willingness from doctors to continue after a year of tryouts. I want to talk about my own limited, small-scale experience.
We don't have Open Notes as a clinic, but I'm trying it out by myself. I type as I see the patient, and let them know that at checkout, when the patient instructions are printed out, the note (as drafted, with all the mistakes and typos included) will be printed out for them too.
Some observations have come to mind over the past month as I've pursued my little non-experiment.
1. Patients seem to appreciate it.
2. I have received a handful (perhaps half a dozen or so) corrections out of a hundred or so notes. Perhaps patients are not used to correcting, or don't feel they have "permission."
3. I think more often about the register of language I use. I'm nervous about abandoning medical lingo, but think I should certainly tailor my presentation to the patient, if they are seeing the note.
4. I think I might be more careful in how I speak about the patient, knowing they might read the note.
What are your thoughts about this open notes trial of mine?
I won't revisit here the recent Open Notes trial which has found a surprising willingness from doctors to continue after a year of tryouts. I want to talk about my own limited, small-scale experience.
We don't have Open Notes as a clinic, but I'm trying it out by myself. I type as I see the patient, and let them know that at checkout, when the patient instructions are printed out, the note (as drafted, with all the mistakes and typos included) will be printed out for them too.
Some observations have come to mind over the past month as I've pursued my little non-experiment.
1. Patients seem to appreciate it.
2. I have received a handful (perhaps half a dozen or so) corrections out of a hundred or so notes. Perhaps patients are not used to correcting, or don't feel they have "permission."
3. I think more often about the register of language I use. I'm nervous about abandoning medical lingo, but think I should certainly tailor my presentation to the patient, if they are seeing the note.
4. I think I might be more careful in how I speak about the patient, knowing they might read the note.
What are your thoughts about this open notes trial of mine?
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