What Happens When Hospitalized Patients See Their Own Records

The effect of giving hospitalized medical patients access to their problem-oriented hospital records was investigated. Twenty-five subjects were given free access to their records while 25 other subjects served as controls. Few of the open record group actively sought and studied their records; most elected to see them only as part of routine ward rounds; and one objected to seeing the record at all. Taking the experimental group as a whole, there was no measurable effect of seeing the record on the subjects' ability to list their diagnoses or medications, their self-assessment of depression, anxiety or contentment, or their attitudes toward selected components of the health care system. On the other hand, in individual instances access to the hospital record seemed to facilitate communication and provide an opportunity for hospital inpatients to monitor objectively their hospital course.