(0237) Otolaryngology Patient Perception of Their Outpatient Clinic Notes

Introduction: In 2016, the United States Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, and, in 2022, the section mandating immediate patient access to their clinical documents was imposed. This act was received with mixed responses, related to concerns on how it may negatively impact the physician-patient relationship. Our goal was to evaluate patient and physician perception and experiences related to patient access to outpatient otolaryngology notes. We hypothesized that patients and physicians would report overall good satisfaction of their clinic note quality.

Methods: We conducted a single-institutional retrospective qualitative study to assess patient and physician perception of outpatient clinic notes using a novel survey. Patients and physicians were recruited at a tertiary academic center from February 2023 to April 2023. Self-reported participant demographics, perception, and clinic note experience data were collected. Subsequently, patients were provided a copy of their prior clinic notes to annotate inaccurate, offensive, or confusing content. Frequency analysis was performed using Excel or SPSS.

Results: A total of 112 patients and 10 otolaryngology physicians were enrolled in this study. Of the 86 patients who reported having previously reviewed their clinic notes, 8% (n = 7) reported confusing, 8% (n = 8) inaccurate, and 1% (n = 1) offensive content. When provided a copy of prior clinic notes, only two patients in our study identified offensive content. The majority of inaccurate or confusing content was noted to be in the medication list (n = 15, 13.4%) or physical examination (n = 14, 12.5 %) sections. Still, 93% of patients reported “agree” or “strongly agree” when asked if they have a good understanding of clinic discussions with their physician.

Conclusions: Patient access to clinic notes may be beneficial to both patients and providers in identifying errors. Even with confusing statements in clinic notes, patients express understanding of their clinic discussions and satisfaction with their clinic notes.