Test Results: What if it's bad news?

March 2023

New Research: First-of-its-kind survey examines user attitudes about test results and online patient portals

New study shows patients prefer immediate access to test results, even when the news may not be good. Only a small subset of patients report experiencing additional worry after receiving abnormal test results.

Learn more about this study >>

Cait DesRoches, DrPH, Senior Author

Liz Salmi, Co-Author

Read The Study:

Steitz B, Turer R, Lin C, et al. Original Investigation: Perspectives of Patients About Immediate Access to Test Results Through an Online Patient Portal. JAMA Netw Open. March 2023.

Fund Our Research

We're passionate about studying the effects of transparency on patient-clinician communication. If you care about research like this, you can join our efforts by donating to support our work. Every little bit helps (and is tax deductible).

Donate here >>

New OpenNoter

We're excited to welcome a new research assistant to the OpenNotes team: Isabel Hurwitz. Isabel earned her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Read more about Isabel >>

New OpenNotes Publications

Bell S, Bourgeios F, Dong J. et al. Patient Identification of Diagnostic Safety Blindspots and Participation in “Good Catches” Through Shared Visit Notes. Milbank Quarterly, 100: 1121-1165.
Blease C, Torous J, Dong Z, et al. Patient Online Record Access in English Primary Care: Qualitative Survey Study of General Practitioners’ Views. J Med Internet Res 2023;25:e43496.
Lam B, Dupee D, Gerard M, et al. A Patient-Centered Approach to Writing Ambulatory Visit Notes in the Cures Act Era. Appl Clin Inform 2023; 14(01): 199-204.

Learning Collaborative: Shared Access to the Patient Portal for Older Adults

Join our next meeting on patient portal use for older adults and care partners on Tuesday, April 11, 2-3pm EST.

We welcome health care professionals, patients, care partners, and EHR vendors to join us in creating patient portal-based solutions to help older adults and their care partners get the information they need.

What We're Reading

Yang K, Lau CB, Lau WC, et al. Patient Perspectives on Clinic Note Transparency Within Dermatology. JAMA Dermatol. Published online March 08, 2023.
Brooks J, Zegers C, Sinclair C, et al. Understanding the Cures Act Information Blocking Rule in cancer care: a mixed methods exploration of patient and clinician perspectives and recommendations for policy makers. BMC Health Serv Res 23, 216 (2023).
Richards T, Coulter A, McMillan B, et al. Patient access to full general practice health records. BMJ 2022; 379 :o3019.
Smith C, Kelly M. In Anticipation of Sharing Pediatric Inpatient Notes: Focus Group Study With Stakeholders. J Particip Med 2022;14(1):e37759.
Holmgren J, Apathy N. Assessing the impact of patient access to clinical notes on clinician EHR documentation. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2022, ocac120.

Tweet of the Month

Open notes now start in medical school, thanks to the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.

Medical students and core faculty at Harvard Medical School are learning how to write progress notes with patient readers in mind. Learn more about our work in preparing medical students and their teachers for shared records