Fundamentally, patient data access is about improving overall patient engagement and empowerment in care. Since meaningful use mandated patient portal adoption, the logic has dictated that a more informed patient would be a more educated and thus more engaged patient.
Healthcare providers who have offered patient portal and clinical note access have seen a difference in their patients, data has shown. Investigations into the OpenNotes movement, which says every patient have digital access to their provider notes, has shown that patients come in better prepared for visits and with meaningful questions about their care when they can see their data.
In March 2020, OpenNotes published clinician survey data stating that clinicians who share open clinical notes notice a positive difference in their patients.