Patients should get Wikirecords

The Government should create ‘Wikirecords’ – online, accessible medical records which patients can contribute to and comment on – according to a new report from think tank Demos.

The idea is one of a number of recommendations designed to reform relations between doctors and patients, and help patients to more fully engage with their treatment.

Demos says allowing patients access to their records would put them in control of the information, and let them raise any issues where they did not argee with the decisions of their health care provider.

“As patient records open up, policy makers should take inspiration from Wikipedia and allow patients to contribute to and comment on (though perhaps not edit) professional information. This will have clinical benefits while also sending the clear signal that information should be owned by and be under the control of patients,” says the report.

Demos researcher and The Talking Cure report co-author Faizal Farook said the idea of Wikirecords would be an additional functionality to the electronic patient records currently under development by the NHS National Programme for IT. Patients would be able to see the observations of doctors and consultants, and make comment, but would not be able to change them.

Farook told E-Health Insider: “It’s part of the idea of moving away from the idea that the notes are the property of the health service. Wikirecords are about taking the next step forward and giving patients the chance to have a conversation about their healthcare in a written format.”

The report said patients now have access to vast amounts of medical information and want to participate in their healthcare decisions. It said healthcare providers should embrace informed patients, rather than brand them ‘cyberchondriacs’.

Curbs on the ability to comment on records would have to be thought about in implementation, said Farook, but the idea of hypochondriacs arguing endlessly with their doctors should not be allowed to shape the idea of Wikireports.

Other recommendations include placing GP-patient relationships at the heart of the proposed NHS Constitution, and patients with chronic conditions should work with their GPs to establish ‘outcome statements’ with shared goals.

The report, The Talking Cure: Why Conversation is the Future of Healthcare, is available from the Demos website.

Links

Demos