Strengthening Patient Safety with Open Notes

March is Patient Safety Month, and transparency in healthcare helps prevent errors and improves outcomes. Explore OpenNotes resources to see how shared notes empower patients and support safer care.

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The Ethics of AI & OpenNotes

OpenNotes' Director of Behavioral Health, Steve O’Neill, LICSW, BCD, JD, is speaking at the "Advancing Social Work in Health Care Conference" at Nationwide Children's Hospital on March 20 in Columbus, OH. The conference convenes social workers from across the country, and his talk will focus on ethics for AI. Register for the event now.

"A Multisite Demonstration of Shared Access to Older Adults’ Patient Portals"

In this study, use of shared access functionality among registered care partners increased while registration remained unchanged. Gleason, et al, underscore the need for policies and strategies that support proper use of patient portal identity credentials. Keep reading. (open access)

Gleason KT, DesRoches CM, Wu MMJ, Peereboom D, Dukhanin V, Farrell TW, Gonzales MJ, Sharma S, Mohile SG, Epstein S, Supiano MA, Parshley MC, Roth DL, Wolff JL; for the Shared Access Project Team. A Multisite Demonstration of Shared Access to Older Adults’ Patient Portals. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(2):e2461803. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.61803

"Patients and Families Reading Their Discharge Summaries: A Cross-sectional Analysis of Benefits, Concerns, and Implications"

DesRoches, et al, explored patients' experiences with reading their discharge summaries and the impact this information had during a post-hospitalization period. Keep reading. (journal paywall 🔒)

DesRoches CM, Herzig SJ, Dong Z, Bourgeois F, Hurwitz I, Garcia A, Bell S. Patients and families reading their discharge summaries: A cross‐sectional analysis of benefits, concerns, and implications. Journal of Hospital Medicine. Published online February 12, 2025. doi:10.1002/jhm.13594 

"Identifying, Engaging, and Supporting Care Partners in Clinical Settings: Protocol for a Patient Portal-Based Intervention"

This study by DesRoches, et al, aimed to implement a novel patient portal-based intervention to identify, engage, and support care partners in clinical settings. Keep reading. (open access)

DesRoches CM, Wachenheim D, Ameling J, Cibildak A, Cibotti N, Dong Z, Drane A, Hurwitz I, Meddings J, Naimark J, O'Donnell K, Winger C, Winnay SS, Young J, Wolff JL. Identifying, Engaging, and Supporting Care Partners in Clinical Settings: Protocol for a Patient Portal–Based Intervention. JMIR Res Protoc 2025;14:e66708. doi: 10.2196/66708

Survey: Help Shape the Future of AI in Healthcare

The Digital Medicine Society (DiMe), in partnership with OpenNotes, is conducting a survey to identify key challenges and enablers of AI implementation in clinical care. Your insights will help develop The Playbook: Implementing AI in Healthcare, an open-access resource designed to support real-world AI implementation and improve patient outcomes. Take the survey (10-15 min).

JCO Oncology Practice Podcast: "Optimizing the Electronic Health Record for Patient-Centered Cancer Care"

Fumiko Ladd Chino, MD, talks with Aditi Singh, MD, and Liz Salmi about strategies for optimizing the EHR to be more patient-centered. The discussion is based off the JCO OP article published in late 2024, “Re-Envisioning the Electronic Health Records to Optimize Patient-Centered Cancer Care, Quality, Surveillance, and Research." Listen now or read the transcript.

What We're Reading

Susannah Fox published a study on SSRS called "Rare Disease in the U.S. 2025." This offers findings from the first probability-based national survey to measure the rare disease population. Fifteen percent of U.S. adults live in a household that is affected by rare disease or undiagnosed illness. They are using AI more frequently than the rest of the population. Keep reading.