Open Notes Becomes Law: A Challenge for Mental Health Practice
What is it about?
As of April, 2021 in the USA new federal laws, enacted with bipartisan support, mandate that health providers offer all patients rapid and secure online access to their clinical notes via patient portals (‘open notes’). This practice innovation will also include psychiatry notes. We believe that many psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians in the USA (and beyond) will be unaware about what this change in law means in practice, and its potential impact on patients and clinicians. In this article, we explain what this innovation means for patients and mental health clinicians, and what remains to be understood.
Why is it important?
Mental health clinicians are understandably concerned that patient access to their notes will lead to adverse effects upon patient care and increase work load burden. Yet the experience and research findings on mental health access to clinical notes has shown clear improvements in patient engagement, therapeutic alliance and medication adherence. Over 7 years of experience in opening up mental health notes indicates far more benefit than harm to most patients.