Online Access to Doctor Notes at Columbia St. Marys

Bruce McCarthy, MD, MPH, President Physician Division, Columbia St. Mary’s, Ascension Health, discusses the CSMConnect patient portal that gives 300,000 patients secure online access to view summaries of their visits, send secure messages to their clinic providers, schedule appointments, pay bills, get lab results, view medication lists, and more. The functionality has been expanded beyond summaries and now includes the physician’s actual clinical documentation. Being able to view the doctor’s notes has been described as being able to hit the “replay button on your visit.” Recent research has shown that patients feel more in control of their care and provided better communication and collaboration with their doctor. Open Notes users have said they take medications more reliably and share their notes with family, friends and other health professionals. Open Notes is a new way of interacting with patients and could profoundly change the way patients engage with their doctors and manage their care