Patient Access to Notes is Coming! Is Palliative Care Ready?

by Christian Sinclair (@ctsinclair)Patients and families across the US are about to get a close look under the hood of electronic health records in just a few weeks. Starting in November, the21st Century CURES Act is putting in place the rules for patient access to their health records including the clinical notes of the clinicians. Your organization is possibly planning for this new access to be flicked on like a light switch in the inky dark of night. Some of you may be shocked and seeing this for the first time, some of you have seen glimmers, some of you are well prepared, and some have had your eyes long adjusted and are probably thinking, “What’s the big deal with patient access?”Patient access to notes feels like it should be in our wheelhouse. It is about communication, patient-centeredness, and talking openly about hard truths. But understandably without much preparation, many palliative care and hospice clinicians are going to feel underprepared, which may cause a lot of anxiety. But there is hope! And time! Well, a little bit of time, but still time!*If all of this is news to you, I would encourage you to first spend some time on theOpenNotes website -www.opennotes.org. The group started over a decade ago to help clinicians and patients navigate this potentially tricky territory so that both can benefit. It is not directly related to the CURES act nor responsible for the implementation. The OpenNotes site has great resources, tips, videos and links to researc...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: opennotes sinclair Source Type: blogs