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Patients just get a read-only copy of their records. Also, providers don't use the patient as an intermediary when updating and exchanging medical records. That

by jmull 9y ago

Patients just get a read-only copy of their records. Also, providers don't use the patient as an intermediary when updating and exchanging medical records. That addresses most of your concerns. - "they'll want things clarified they don't understand" This is, by far and overwhelmingly, the reason it is a good idea to expose patients (and their defacto caregivers, AKA, their families) to their medical records. When it comes to preventative medicine and chronic conditions people have far more control over their health than the doctor does and the better they understand their health, the better they are able to do something positive about it.

macintux 9y ago
I'm reminded of a sad story about a kid, probably 10ish, who overdosed on prescription meds designed to help him not sleep so deeply (he had problems with bedwetting because his bladder wasn't noisy enough to wake him). Failing to understand the purpose of the pills, he decided that if he just took all of them, his problem would go away. Granted, adults (usually) have better judgment than a 10-year-old about things like that, but nonetheless patients almost inevitably are able to make better decisions when they understand why they're being asked to do things.
jbob2000 9y ago
The things that are in your medical record are technical and won't help you at all. "Patient's CD4+-T-Cell count reduce from 5^9/L to 5^6/L, advised increase Prolenaslezapam from 50mg to 75mg" (I'm making this up). Your doctor won't tell you this, instead they'll say "Your HIV is progressing and we're upping your dosage". There's no benefit to reading the technical note, you'll just ask for the clarification... which the doctor already gave you. Or you're going to waste his time having him explain undergrad biology to you. Think of it like this: Would you want your customers reading the comments you leave in your code? Probably not! They'll waste your time asking you about the comment you left saying "this could cause an error and bring the servers down". Or they completely misunderstand something and cancel the service. Or they'll complain that you left a swear word in. Etc. etc.

by jmull 9y ago

macintux 9y ago

I'm reminded of a sad story about a kid, probably 10ish, who overdosed on prescription meds designed to help him not sleep so deeply (he had problems with bedwetting because his bladder wasn't noisy enough to wake him). Failing to understand the purpose of the pills, he decided that if he just took all of them, his problem would go away. Granted, adults (usually) have better judgment than a 10-year-old about things like that, but nonetheless patients almost inevitably are able to make better decisions when they understand why they're being asked to do things.

jbob2000 9y ago

The things that are in your medical record are technical and won't help you at all. "Patient's CD4+-T-Cell count reduce from 5^9/L to 5^6/L, advised increase Prolenaslezapam from 50mg to 75mg" (I'm making this up). Your doctor won't tell you this, instead they'll say "Your HIV is progressing and we're upping your dosage". There's no benefit to reading the technical note, you'll just ask for the clarification... which the doctor already gave you. Or you're going to waste his time having him explain undergrad biology to you. Think of it like this: Would you want your customers reading the comments you leave in your code? Probably not! They'll waste your time asking you about the comment you left saying "this could cause an error and bring the servers down". Or they completely misunderstand something and cancel the service. Or they'll complain that you left a swear word in. Etc. etc.