The study, conducted among 50 patients of various racial and income backgrounds by researchers from the University of Colorado at Denver, provided patients with tablets during their stay at a hospital. Beforehand, 92 percent of patients thought reviewing the chart would help them understand their conditions, and 80 percent expected it to help them understand physicians’ actions. However, after reviewing the charts, 82 percent said they thought they understood their conditions and 60 percent said it helped them understand the physician’s choices, according to Reuters.
At the same time, the number of patients who were worried about their treatment was more than halved — the percentage fell from 42 percent to 18 percent. The number of those confused about the physician’s actions fell from 52 percent to 32 percent, according to the report. The physicians and nurses caring for the patients also reported that providing the charts to the patients did not create onerous extra work for them.
“It’s encouraging that this wasn’t a sample of all affluent, white men, because that suggests you may be able to try it with a broader population of patients,” said Andrew Rosenberg, MD, CMIO at Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Health System, who was not involved with the study. “It’s also encouraging there doesn’t appear to be a major signal of harm for the patients and it didn’t create more work for the doctors and nurses.”
