OpenNotes Leader in Behavioral Health Receives NASW-MA Lifetime Achievement Award

We’re excited to announce that Steve O’Neill, LICSW, BCD, JD, Director of Behavioral Health for OpenNotes, has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. This honor recognizes Steve’s outstanding contributions to social work, bioethics, patient care, and healthcare transparency. Read more.

NY Times: "Heads Up: That Patient Portal May Contain Your Therapy Notes"

"Unlike [other patients], the patients at Beth Israel knew the notes were being posted online. The doctors openly discussed them and provided guides explaining how open notes worked and what to do if a patient found a mistake." Read more. (paywall)

Relevant Research: 15 Foundational Publications on Open Notes in Mental Health

HIMSS: "How A.I. is Enabling a New Level of Patient Empowerment"

Chethan Sarabu, MD, AI & Informatics Strategist at OpenNotes, discusses how generative AI and large language models (LLMs) can offer patients new tools to help them navigate and understand their healthcare journeys, from diagnosis to treatment. Watch the interview.

New OpenNotes Publication

Leveraging an EHR Patient Portal to Help Patients Formulate Their Healthcare Goals: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Pilot Interventions (open access)

Naimark J, Tinetti ME, Delbanco T, Dong Z, Harcourt K, Esterson J, Charpentier P, Walker J. Leveraging an Electronic Health Record Patient Portal to Help Patients Formulate Their Health Care Goals: Mixed Methods Evaluation of Pilot Interventions. JMIR Form Res. 2024;8:e56332. doi: 10.2196/56332

OpenNotes Formalizes Partnership with The Light Collective

This month OpenNotes formalized a working partnership The Light Collective—a non-profit patient advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights, interests, and voices of patient communities in health technology. In 2023, we submitted joint statements on the Proposed HTI-1 Rule on Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability to ASTP, and OpenNotes endorsed The Light Collective's “Patient AI Rights” charter.

NY Times: "That Message From Your Doctor? It May Have Been Drafted by A.I."

A recent story published by the NY Times shared how many physicians are using artificial intelligence to help manage patient communication. While some hospitals disclosed when responses were AI-generated, others did not. Hospitals like U.C. San Diego Health informed patients that their messages were crafted by AI and reviewed by a physician. However, others, like Stanford Health Care and NYU Langone, chose not to notify patients, fearing it may cause confusion or concern.

This story raised important questions about transparency in patient-doctor communication, which is central to the mission of OpenNotes. Keep reading. (paywall)