Community Health Center of Richmond, Inc.

True consumer empowerment begins when patients have access to the information they need to talk to their health care providers, share information, and develop a trusted relationship.

By giving patients access to the visit notes written by their doctors, nurses, or other clinicians, OpenNotes is an important step in achieving the goal of consumers being active participants in their own care. Since 2016, NYHealth has supported efforts to expand OpenNotes throughout the State, including at geographically dispersed hospital systems. Building upon this momentum, NYHealth issued a Request for Proposals (RFP), Growing OpenNotes Across New York State, to support OpenNotes in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), multispecialty group practices, hospital-affiliated physician groups, independent physician practices, and other non-hospital health care settings. Through this RFP, NYHealth aims to spread OpenNotes to all settings in which patients receive care, especially in underserved communities. In 2019, NYHealth awarded Community Health Center of Richmond (CHCR) a grant to participate in this initiative.

Under this grant, CHCR implemented OpenNotes at all four of its FQHC sites on Staten Island. CHCR provides primary care services to ethnically and culturally diverse communities on Staten Island, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. CHCR worked with its health care providers in internal medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics to share visit notes with patients. To promote adoption of OpenNotes, CHCR undertook an extensive program to educate providers, staff members, and patients. As nearly half of CHCR’s patients are best served primarily in Spanish, CHCR will have notes on the patient portal and other printed materials and videos available in Spanish.

See a full list of grantees working to grow OpenNotes in non-hospital settings across New York State.