Patients like reading their doctors' notes

Researchers at three U.S. practices found doctors' initial concerns about the extra time it would take to write out notes and answer patients' related questions didn't pan out. And almost everyone who got access to their notes for the study wanted to keep seeing them, even if some patients were concerned about privacy issues. "We were thrilled by what we learned," said Dr. Tom Delbanco, who worked on the study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Delbanco led the study with Jan Walker, a nurse at Beth Israel. They and other researchers implemented the program at Beth Israel, Geisinger Health System in Northeast/Central Pennsylvania and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.