Open Notes in Swedish Psychiatric Care (Part 1): Survey Among Psychiatric Care Professionals
2018 (English)In: JMIR Mental Health, E-ISSN 2368-7959, Vol. 5, no 1, article id e11Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BACKGROUND: When the Swedish version of Open Notes, an electronic health record (EHR) service that allows patients online access, was introduced in hospitals, primary care, and specialized care in 2012, psychiatric care was exempt. This was because psychiatric notes were considered too sensitive for patient access. However, as the first region in Sweden, Region Skåne added adult psychiatry to its Open Notes service in 2015. This made it possible to carry out a unique baseline study to investigate how different health care professionals (HCPs) in adult psychiatric care in the region expect Open Notes to impact their patients and their practice. This is the first of two papers about the implementation of Open Notes in adult psychiatric care in Region Skåne.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe, compare, and discuss how different HCPs in adult psychiatric care in Region Skåne expect Open Notes to impact their patients and their own practice.
METHODS: A full population Web-based questionnaire was distributed to psychiatric care professionals in Region Skåne in late 2015. The response rate was 28.86% (871/3017). Analyses show that the respondents were representative of the staff as a whole. A statistical analysis examined the relationships between different professionals and attitudes to the Open Notes service.
RESULTS: The results show that the psychiatric HCPs are generally of the opinion that the service would affect their own practice and their patients negatively. The most striking result was that more than 60% of both doctors (80/132, 60.6%) and psychologists (55/90, 61%) were concerned that they would be less candid in their documentation in the future.
CONCLUSIONS: Open Notes can increase the transparency between patients and psychiatric HCPs because patients are able to access their EHRs online without delay and thus, can read notes that have not yet been approved by the responsible HCP. This may be one explanation as to why HCPs are concerned that the service will affect both their own work and their patients. © Lena Petersson, Gudbjörg Erlingsdóttir.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Toronto, ON: J M I R Publications , 2018. Vol. 5, no 1, article id e11
Keywords [en]
baseline survey, eHealth, electronic health record, health professionals, mental health, open notes, psychiatry
National Category
Other Social Sciences Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-38458DOI: 10.2196/mental.9140ISI: 000425255400009PubMedID: 29396386Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85042098885OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-38458DiVA, id: diva2:1267260
Funder
AFA Insurance2018-11-302018-11-302018-12-03Bibliographically approved