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Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review.

Davis Giardina T, Menon S, Parrish DE, Sittig DF, Singh H. Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA. 2014 Jul 1; 21(4):737-41.

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Abstract:

OBJECTIVES: We conducted a systematic review to determine the effect of providing patients access to their medical records (electronic or paper-based) on healthcare quality, as defined by measures of safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. METHODS: Articles indexed in PubMed from January 1970 to January 2012 were reviewed. Twenty-seven English-language controlled studies were included. Outcomes were categorized as measures of effectiveness (n = 19), patient-centeredness (n = 16), and efficiency (n = 2); no study addressed safety, timeliness, or equity. RESULTS: Outcomes were equivocal with respect to several aspects of effectiveness and patient-centeredness. Efficiency outcomes in terms of frequency of in-person and telephone encounters were mixed. Access to health records appeared to enhance patients' perceptions of control and reduced or had no effect on patient anxiety. CONCLUSION: Although few positive findings generally favored patient access, the literature is unclear on whether providing patients access to their medical records improves quality.




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