OpenNotes is a national movement that encourages patients and doctors to improve communication through shared clinicians' notes and fully transparent medical records. Today, more than 12 million patients have access to their doctor's notes. According to research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, patients feel more in control of their care when they have access to the notes, thus becoming more active in their health.
Agnesian Health Care, is an integrated delivery network in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, has offered OpenNotes to its patients for more than a year with great success. Nancy Birschbach, VP and CIO at Agnesian, joined The Cerner Podcast to speak about the opportunities and challenges of opening notes to patients.
In Episode 11, Nancy answers these five questions:
- Nancy, could you explain Agnesian's experience with opening doctors' notes to patients?
- In comparison, where is the industry at with opening notes?
- Which stakeholder group - patients, clinicians, administrators - are typically the strongest advocates for this functionality?
- What are some of the opportunities and challenges associated with opening notes to patients?
- From a technology perspective, what is your advice for provider organizations looking to open doctor notes and achieve strong results, as Agnesian did.
Listen to Nancy's full episode below, or click here to view all episodes of The Cerner Podcast!
