Supporting Non-Hospital Systems to Improve Patients’ Access to and Use of Visit Notes

On December 13, 2022, NYHealth hosted a webinar with OpenNotes and New York State non-hospital system providers to discuss successful examples of adopting open notes and engaging patients.

The 21st Century Cures Act, which went into effect last year, includes a federal mandate that requires health care providers to make visit notes available to patients electronically and at no charge. Although a growing number of health systems had been implementing and sharing visit notes (often referred to as “open notes”) with patients before the mandate, the groundbreaking 21st Century Cures Act has accelerated the spread of open notes.

Many non-hospital systems are complying with the law to some extent. However, the level of compliance and, most importantly, the proactive use of open notes to improve care varies. For some, note-sharing is embedded into their practice, and they are ready to test innovative ways to increase patient engagement. For others, note-sharing is new territory, and they can benefit from adapting proven tools to their own settings and learning best practices from more experienced systems.

Speakers discussed lessons learned from compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act note-sharing requirements, as well as best practices and strategies for engaging patients and making note-sharing easier and more productive, including in diverse care settings like federally qualified health centers and independent physician practices.

Funding Opportunity: NYHealth is supporting non-hospital systems in implementing and sharing open notes with funding, technical assistance, and peer-learning opportunities. Learn more and see the Request for Proposals here.

Watch the webinar recording here.