Over

HHS has frustrated some doctors by requiring them to send patients test results before they have a chance to explain them.

The regulation went into effect in a more limited scope that included test results in April 2021 and expanded to include the full definition of electronic health information in October. When a nurse called her to inform her, the nurse had “zero sympathy,” she said. California passed a California Medical Association-backed law that would allow doctors more time to review results before releasing them. Congress was motivated to act by concerns that electronic health records vendors and providers were making it more difficult to release patient health information to stifle competition. “Patients often will get anxious about the results. “My journey was eased by a care team that embraced health information technology and shared decision making,” she wrote. Doctors say that patients are now receiving news about potentially terminal disease, or other, less catastrophic but confusing, test results from patient portals before they have a chance to explain them. “What we’re talking about is very rare, less than 1 percent of cases.” The doctors say they know how their patients feel. Concerned doctors have convinced legislatures in at least two states to weigh in on their behalf. But patient advocates, and HHS, say patients should, and can, decide when they want their results. The debate underscores how medicine’s digital transformation is changing the doctor-patient relationship and upending ingrained practices.