Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review

• Published in: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA 2014-07, Vol.21 (4), p.737-741
• Main Authors: Davis Giardina, Traber, Menon, Shailaja, Parrish, Danielle E, Sittig, Dean F, Singh, Hardeep
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electronic Health Records - organization & administration; Health Records, Personal; Humans; Medical Records; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Patient Access to Records; Patient Participation; Patient-Centered Care; Quality of Health Care; Review
• ISSN: 1067-5027; 1527-974X
• DOI: 10.1136/amiajnl-2013-002239

We conducted a systematic review to determine the effect of providing patients access to their medical records (electronic or paper-based) on healthcare quality, as defined by measures of safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. Articles indexed in PubMed from January 1970 to January 2012 were reviewed. Twenty-seven English-language controlled studies were included. Outcomes were categorized as measures of effectiveness (n=19), patient-centeredness (n=16), and efficiency (n=2); no study addressed safety, timeliness, or equity. Outcomes were equivocal with respect to several aspects of effectiveness and patient-centeredness. Efficiency outcomes in terms of frequency of in-person and telephone encounters were mixed. Access to health records appeared to enhance patients' perceptions of control and reduced or had no effect on patient anxiety. Although few positive findings generally favored patient access, the literature is unclear on whether providing patients access to their medical records improves quality.