Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has received a $450,000 grant from The Commonwealth Fund to develop OurNotes, an initiative to that invites patients to contribute to their own electronic medical records.
As part of the deal, the multi-center team will work with industry experts, clinicians and patients on a user-centered design process, focusing initially on primary care. Findings from this initial phase of work will be used to develop prototypes at each site and to conduct pilot testing that, in turn, will lead quickly toward formal clinical trials.
The number of patients who can read their medical notes online has risen to more than 5 million in the U.S.“We know that increasing patient engagement is a critical component of improving health care, and we hope to build on BIDMC’s well-established work in this area,” said Anne-Marie Audet, MD, Vice President at The Commonwealth Fund. “This research will explore the potential for OurNotes to help improve care among the most medically complex patients–those with multiple chronic health conditions.”
BIDMC is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding.
OurNotes is an extension of OpenNotes, a movement to offer patients ready, online access to their clinicians’ visit notes. Increasingly accepted by patients, families, providers and institutions throughout the United States, the number of patients who can read their medical notes online has risen to more than 5 million nationwide.
