This week brings some excellent reading about why and how to educate patients so they can help make better decisions about their own care.
What happens when patients get to read their own medical records? The Oct. 2nd Annals of Internal Medicine published two editorials and results of a quasi-experimental trial of 100 primary care doctors who voluntarily provided 13,500 patient volunteers with access to their doctors’ notes for a year. To read details, read further, but some results in brief :
- patients loved being able to read their visit report, and 75% said they were more likely to take medicines as directed;
- doctors didn’t see increased patient anxiety, visits, or time demands.
Meanwhile, an expert panel of “thought leaders” gathered by the Institute of Medicine released an in-depth report about helping patients make better care decisions by giving them the best available medical evidence. The results, summarized in an online JAMA article and discussed by Dr. Robert Miller for ASCO Connections, included:
- 8 in 10 patients want their provider to listen, but only 6 in 10 say it happens;
- 8 in 10 want to hear the full truth about their diagnosis;
- fewer than half of patients say their provider asks about their goals and concerns. Read the rest of this entry »
