Duke Health is joining national Open Notes initiative

Duke University Health System has joined a growing national Open Notes initiative to improve patient-physician communication and support our ongoing work to promote patient-centered care.

Beginning February 1, 2016, outpatient progress notes documented in Duke Maestro Care will be shared with patients via Duke MyChart. Duke Health patients will only be able to access progress notes that are documented on or after Feb. 1, 2016, and patients will only see the note after the encounter is closed.

Notes from the Department of Psychiatry, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse and Neglect teams will not be shared with patients.

Open Notes

Open Notes is a national initiative working to give patients access to the visit notes written by their doctors, nurses, or other clinicians.

  • Open Notes acknowledges that patient has right to view her/his medical record, including their physician’s notes.
  • Research suggests Open Notes increases patient engagement, and leads to improvements in patient safety and satisfaction.
  • The DUHS Patient Advisory Council encouraged participation, and the School of Medicine clinical department chairs support participation.
  • Open Notes initiative is not meant to alter the way you document your care or communicate your thoughts to other providers.
  • Data suggest that after Open Notes implementation few clinicians actually altered the way that they wrote their notes, and few experienced any change in the total volume of e-mails from patients.

Resources

For questions

Dr. Dean Miner
Maestro Care physician champion and clinical lead for Duke MyChart Governance
dean.miner@duke.edu

Dr. Momen Wahidi
Chief Medical Officer PRMO and chair for Duke MyChart Governance
momen.wahidi@duke.edu 

Share