Patients and doctors alike are seeking shorter, formatted improvements for patient records. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
+ Regulatory
Amanda Rupp | Sep 29, 2016

Patients and doctors desire records-related improvements, research suggests

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently stated that many patients and family physicians want shorter, better formatting for the electronic health records (EHR) related to patient visits.

Researchers recently evaluated the after-visit summary (AVS) that the EHR generates for outpatients. In the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association, the AVS is described as a meaningful way to show standards for patients in the EHR program. Despite this, there are ways that the AVS can be even more useful to doctors as well as patients.

Researchers used personal interviews and focus groups to discover the perspectives of patients and doctors as they looked at the AVS. Qualitative assessments were also completed, based at community adult primary care practices in Chicago, New York City and Long Island, New York.

According to the research, both patients and doctors see the AVS as a way to communicate important health care information. They also use it to relay information and outline self-management for certain health care homework that patients must complete.

Despite these positives, patients and doctors believe there is room for improving the AVS. One suggestion was to make it shorter and uniform the formatting so that it is more user-friendly.

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