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Should patients have online access to their medical records?
Should all patients be given online access to their medical records? The British healthcare system is currently considering such a possibility.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8926055/All-patients-to-be-given-online-access-to-medical-records.html
With electronic medical records progressively becoming the norm throughout the medical world, this access would be feasible but would it be wise? Certainly, there would be advantages to the patient who would readily see the written result of the office visit and could then, if necessary, confront the physician with corrections, additions and questions and in a timely fashion. But what are the negatives to such an idea beyond potential loss of patient privacy due to inappropriate or illegal computer access? For example, would this mean that the medical record would have to be written in words understandable by any patient rather than in more concise and professionally understandable terminology and thus perhaps degrade professional communication? Would such access more easily give rise to patients starting malpractice actions due to misunderstandings of what was written to the record? Could patient's be pressured by others (insurance companies or employers as examples) into providing access to the electronic records since they would be more readily available? What do you think? ..Maurice.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8926055/All-patients-to-be-given-online-access-to-medical-records.html
With electronic medical records progressively becoming the norm throughout the medical world, this access would be feasible but would it be wise? Certainly, there would be advantages to the patient who would readily see the written result of the office visit and could then, if necessary, confront the physician with corrections, additions and questions and in a timely fashion. But what are the negatives to such an idea beyond potential loss of patient privacy due to inappropriate or illegal computer access? For example, would this mean that the medical record would have to be written in words understandable by any patient rather than in more concise and professionally understandable terminology and thus perhaps degrade professional communication? Would such access more easily give rise to patients starting malpractice actions due to misunderstandings of what was written to the record? Could patient's be pressured by others (insurance companies or employers as examples) into providing access to the electronic records since they would be more readily available? What do you think? ..Maurice.
asked Dec 05 at 08:23PM in Other
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0Votes
answered Dec 07 at 08:59AMMaurice,
I believe patients should have access to their medical records, not online access. I believe the safest system is for hand-to-hand paper access to the records. The patient requests to see his/her record and copies of the relevant medical records given in a timely manner. Online access is too risky! -
0Votesanswered Dec 07 at 07:39PMBrendan, beyond "too risky" from some potential loss of privacy issue associated with the internet, what other "risks" do you anticipate which are not part of the "hand to hand" paper access?
This leads to another general issue which may be accentuated by a patient's rapid access to their records without the physician being present: Beyond psychiatric diagnoses which in certain jurisdictions may be considered professionally privileged information for patient non-disclosure, could this extend to other diagnosis which the physician would find would be harmful for the patient to discover on their own with no physician present? ..Maurice. -
0Votesanswered Dec 08 at 02:25PMThere needs to be an explained version or an interactive version of the medical notes. Every patient is unique. Every diagnosis and treatment plan is individualized. Patients and family process diagnoses differently and at their own pace. A medically knowledgeable person who is familiar with the case should be present with the patient and family to explain the clinical findings and treatment plan.This would allay confusion, misunderstanding, distrust, anxiety and fear.
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1Votes
answered Jan 06 at 06:44AMWhere I live (British Columbia, Canada) patients already have free online access to all of our medical procedure records and lab test results. Easy peasey. Even before these were available online, all we had to do on our test requisition forms was to tick the box at the top of the page under "Copies to patient". A blood test result, for example, shows the patient's lab numbers in one of three columns: normal range, above normal range, below normal range. Any results not in the normal range column are clearly evident to the patient, who can then double-check immediately with the doctor to help explain the results and plan further action (IF the doctor has not already done this for the patient!) I have actually caught lab results like this that somehow had become lost in the avalanche of patient records in my doctor's office. This access provides another level of safeguarding, from the patient's perspective.
This reluctance on the part of some physicians to allow patients access to their own health records is puzzling and patronizing. Here, nurses/docs are taught during hospital charting to write as if the patient were looking over their shoulders. -
0Votes
answered Jan 23 at 02:57PMI agree with Carolyn. As a patient, it would make my life easier to access my medical records online. In fact, when I changed primary care physicians, the office would only give me copies of records for the last five years. This may be standard protocol, but I was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago, and it would've been nice to be able to access these.
We have online banking, online everything in fact, and people aren't so concerned about someone hacking into people's online banking accounts and such. I agree with Carolyn that it is patronizing not to allow patients to access our own health records. After all, it is our health and lives we are talking about. -
0Votesanswered Jan 23 at 08:30PMBut Beth, don't you think that many patients are going to need interpretation of the data or narrative written in the medical chart? And wouldn't that require further direct communication with the doctor? Shouldn't the to and fro discussion of the facts take place in the doctor's office when, for example, decisions need to be made and not put off until patients become concerned about uncertainties in the computerized medical record? Or maybe there should be as Brendan suggested "an explained version" of the medical record accessed by the patient on the computer. I am not sure the medical system will tolerate the time and expense of preparing two versions of the same medical record. ..Maurice.
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The content on or accessible through Medpedia.com is for informational purposes only. Medpedia is not a substitute for professional advice or expert medical services from a qualified health professional.
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