Yelp and other online consumer review sites already provide information on physicians and hospitals, but a slight change to their evaluation system could incentivize providers to allow patients easy access to their records.
Niam Yaraghi, PhD, a fellow in the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation, writes many providers don't provide patients with a copy of their records, even though it is within a patient's right to have such information and it could even be beneficial to their care.
This issue has come to light in the recent lawsuit filed against MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., alleging the hospitals excessively and illegally charged patients to obtain copies of their records.
Dr. Yaraghi writes the lawsuit benefits patients, regardless of the outcome, because it creates publicity around a patient's right to access his or her medical records. As such, including access to EHRs as a criterion on review sites' evaluation systems might motivate providers to allow patients to easily access their records.
He also suggests Medicare include patient access to records in its HCAHPS survey. "If Medicare, in its survey, starts asking patients whether they have a copy of their medical records, hospitals will make sure that every patient has access to his medical records," Dr. Yaraghi writes.
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