More US Patients To Have Easy, Free Access To Doctor's Notes [View all]
Source: AP News
More U.S. patients will soon have free, electronic access to the notes their doctors write about them under a new federal requirement for transparency.
Many health systems are opening up records Monday, the original deadline. At the last minute, federal health officials week gave an extension until April because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Britta Bloomquist of Duluth, Minnesota, has been reading her clinical notes for years, first struggling through red tape and more recently clicking into a secure online patient website.
“It means information about your care can no longer be hidden from you. And you have a say in your care,” said Bloomquist, 32, who has a rare type of arthritis that took years to diagnose.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/technology-virus-outbreak-dc762ec0fd60f363adc8e5d4ce42b7ff
Patients have long had a right to their medical records, including doctor notes, but obtaining them could mean filling out requests, waiting for a response and paying fees. A 2016 law said delays and barriers must be removed.
About 15% of health care systems already are letting patients read doctor notes online without charge. That means about 53 million patients already have access to their doctor’s notes.
Doctor’s notes tend to use abbreviations. “SOB” means short of breath.
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