Sharing Clinical Notes: Potential Medical-Legal Benefits and Risks
As of April 2021, a new federal rule mandated that US clinicians and health organizations make electronic health records much more accessible to patients without charge. Part of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, the new rule seeks to promote patients’ access to their health information and to prohibit information-blocking practices in health systems. With a few permitted exceptions, clinicians are now required to provide full access to 8 types of notes: those relating to consultation, discharge, history and physical examination, imaging, laboratory tests, pathology, procedures, and progress.