It's a catalyst for improvement

We must not lose sight of the potential of universal patient record access to fundamentally change the quality of consultations.1 The key step in any consultation is to reach a shared understanding of the problem with the patient: expectations, hopes, and fears are identified and what can and cannot be done explicitly is discussed and acted on.2 In a series of educational assessments of the consultation skills of volunteer experienced UK general practitioners, the most common recommendation for improvement was identifying the patient's reasons for consulting (77% of participants)3 and the fourth most common was collaborating with the patient in agreeing management plans (23% of participants; unpublished data), vividly demonstrating that the achievement of shared understanding can be improved.

When patients can assess the records we make of their consultations, the gap between their agendas and our actions will become explicit and a powerful catalyst for us to improve our consulting skills. Such access will produce a paradigm shift in our relationships with our patients, and our world will never be the same again.