title: Patient record access--the time has come.
abstract: There are now a number of systems across the world that enables patients to view their electronic health records. These include kiosks that have fingerprint authentication and also net-based access. The paper outlines the approach taken by the UK NHS explains the legal underpinning of access. Starting form the premise that record access is here to stay the paper outlines the research on benefits and risks of record access, concluding that, with simple precautions, record access is safe and affords many benefits to both patients and clinicians. It goes on to consider possible impacts of record access on the way records might be written as a co-produced document and emphasizes that national standards for record sharing need to be written.
authors.affiliation: GP, Wells Park Practice, UK. brian.fisher403@ntlworld.com
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fitton
authors.forename: Charline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stables
mesh_terms: D001292:Attitude to Computers; D016494:Computer Security; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D033283:Patient Access to Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013222:State Medicine; D018511:Systems Integration; D006113:United Kingdom