Episode 6: Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH - the OpenNotes revolution

Challenging culture, how knowing can heal and using LLMs to unlock the David Attenborough of healthcare Welcome to the ⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-6-cait-desroches-the-opennotes and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week’s guest is Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH (Cait). Cait is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a health policy and data nerd with expertise in emerging trends in health care delivery. Cait noticed early in her career that the concerns of patients and their families are often not the same as those of clinicians and policymakers. Bringing this patient and family voice into the world of health services research led directly to her current role as the Director of OpenNotes. She is also the Program Director for the Keane OpenNotes Fellowship in Patient Engagement and Transparency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). I have been a long time fan of OpenNotes, both as a practicing physician and a healthcare software entrepreneur. I have worked on the belief that better informed patients have better outcomes, and OpenNotes has always been an inspiration for this. In this conversation, we talk about Cait’s fascinating career that brought her to the front and centre of the health information technology revolution in the United States. We discuss what evidence supports the effectiveness of OpenNotes and also some personal stories about real-life benefits from this program. We also talk about where generative AI fits into the picture of the engaged patient, and where OpenNotes is headed in the future. 00:21 Introduction02:49 Cait's Journey: From Public Health to Pioneering OpenNotes04:07 Defining the standards of Electronic Health Records11:56 What is OpenNotes?16:27 Emergence of generative AI20:02 Navigating the Challenges of Sharing Sensitive Health Information22:59 Reflecting on the Cultural Shift Towards Patient Empowerment29:37 Exploring the Future of Healthcare Documentation and AI31:21 Cait shares a personal story about the benefits of OpenNotes36:29 How knowing more helps patients prepare41:10 How might David Attenborough explain chronic disease - the generative AI experience48:10 OpenNotes: Expanding Partnerships and Exploring New Frontiers53:07 Future Vision - better understanding and access to health information56:40 What data supports OpenNotes being effective?