Consumers have become accustomed to using smart phones for self-managing many aspects of their daily lives but still lack access to their own healthcare data. While many doctors capture volumes of patient data in their own repositories, it’s rare that patients ever have access to this information, separating them from their personal data.
The introduction of new mandates and the growing trend of self-care among consumers has begun to shift the role of electronic health records (EHR) from a mere clinical repository to a platform for shared decision-making among patients and doctors.
Just as online banking tools, such as Quicken and Mint, empower consumers to self-manage their finances, giving patients the ability to access and contribute to their health records can give them a greater sense of ownership of their medical care.
Enabling a Platform for Patient Engagement
There’s growing evidence that doctors are becoming more open to allowing patients to update their records as long as certain protections are in place. In a recent Accenture survey, four out of five doctors (82 percent) said that patients should be actively engaged in updating parts of their record.
The survey also shows the vast majority of doctors believe patients should be able to update some or all of the standard information stored in their medical files, including demographics (95 percent), family medical history (88 percent), prescriptions (87 percent), allergies (85 percent) and self-measured metrics (81 percent) such as blood pressure readings and glucose levels.
For decades, patients have been asked to update their records in the doctor’s office by filling out paper questionnaires, and this information became part of their health record. However, these analog transactions have yet to make it into the digital world in any major way.
But, this may be changing. One area where patients have been participating in their personal health care with digital technology is in self tracking of their blood pressure and heart rate, which is becoming more relevant to clinical practice. While many digital health-monitoring tools have been used for years to track personal fitness, some of these devices are now configured to interface with medical records and are viable for remote monitoring.
In a recent Forbes post, another survey highlighted the growing trend of patients wanting to use electronic capabilities to self-manage their own healthcare and have access to their health records. In both cases, this level of engagement supports personal responsibility and allows patients and doctors to track health progress outside of scheduled appointments. In the recent Accenture survey, nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors (65 percent) stated that patients should have a limited view of their record while about third believed they should have full access.
Patient access is met with some resistance
Currently, only one in five U.S. doctors allow patients to have online access to their medical summary or patient chart—the most basic form of a patient’s record. Most resistance stems from two concerns. The first is the concern that doctors will be inundated with questions from patients regarding their health, while the second is a concern that if given the opportunity, patients will change valuable information in their record.
Some health systems have proven that the benefits of allowing patients to have access to their records can actually outweigh the risks. According to a recent Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study, when given the opportunity to review their medical notes, the majority of patients at three health systems reported a better understanding of their health conditions, felt more in-control of their care and had an improved doctor-patient relationship. Furthermore, patients did not create additional risk or an excessive burden. In fact, patients became a helpful part of the record-keeping process, and furthermore, increased their understanding of their own conditions and improved adherence to care protocols. Their outlook improved when they were engaged in the process.
The concern that patients could edit, delete or change specific parts of their medical record is a valid one. But, giving patients access does not mean that they would be able to change or overwrite the doctor’s notes – in the same way that consumers can self- manage nearly every aspect of their financial lives through online banking, but cannot manipulate their account balance.
With the recent reform mandates, there is a growing movement toward doctors and clinicians adopting care management models to break the cycle of transactional office visits. As physicians and health systems adapt to these guidelines, they must find effective ways to accurately capture, maintain and share healthcare information. Ultimately, an electronic health record platform will inevitably allow opportunity to advance patient engagement and inform decisions for individuals and populations.
The time for giving patients access to their electronic medical records has come.