Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Shared visit notes, often referred to as open notes, are an important way to help consumers become active participants in their own care.

Established in 2010, OpenNotes is a national effort to give patients access to the visit notes written by their doctors, nurses, or other clinicians. When patients have access to their own visit notes written by health care providers, they better remember what was discussed during the visit; feel more in control of their care; are more likely to take medications as prescribed; and can share notes with their caregivers. Since 2016, NYHealth has supported efforts to spread open notes throughout the State, including at geographically dispersed hospital systems and federally qualified health centers and other nonhospital settings. To further support this initiative, NYHealth previously awarded a grant to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where the national OpenNotes program office is based, to provide technical assistance to grantees implementing open notes. In 2021, NYHealth issued a request for proposals (RFP) to further support New York State hospital facilities in implementing and sharing open notes in compliance with new federal rules. NYHealth awarded Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center another grant to provide technical assistance to the next cohort of NYHealth grantees participating this initiative.

Under this grant, OpenNotes staff will collaborate with NYHealth on the development of the RFP and participate in the review process of applicants. After the new grant recipients have been selected, Open Notes will provide them with technical assistance via a 12-month learning collaborative and one-on-one sessions. It will develop and coordinate topics and sessions tailored to grantees’ projects, including specific areas that present challenges and opportunities for robust implementation.