Open Notes Debate!

Most, if not all, of us believe that in order for consumers of healthcare to truly take accountability for our own health, they should have access to their health records. This has been minimally included in meaningful use requirements, but certain institutions are taking it a step further and opening up the entire patient record to their members. As innovators in this space, it is widely understood that health reform enabled by technology will only come from increased access to data. But we also need to understand that the majority of doctors are out there to help people (not just make money), and many of these doctors have hesitations about opening up records entirely. With this in mind, we are putting together a debate on the matter so both sides can be heard in a reasonable dialog.

Our guests on the pro-open notes side will be Tom Delbanco and Jan Walker, who are leading the research into the impact such changes to the health system may have. See their research here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22184688

If I could attach the PDF of the entire article, I would. On the other side of the argument will be Nisha Basu, an internal medicine doctor from BIDMC that originally agreed to participate in the program, but later opted out. I think she will have a great counter-perspective on the issue.

In preparation for the event, check this out: video about Open Notes (http://www.bidmc.org/News/InMedicine/2010/July/OpenNotesAnnals.aspx). I want you ready to ask some penetrating questions!

Please register ahead of time to allow security desk to prepare for your arrival, speeding up the checking-in process.