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You are in consultation with your doctor and have just been told that you have cancer. You are in shock and you have trouble understanding anything that the doctor says during the rest of the appointment.
Research shows that receiving bad news can impact people's ability to understand and badimilate information. Specifically, this affects the information processing and memory training.
People in poor health who handle difficult health situations will often find it difficult to remember important and complex medical information. This can include their diagnosis, prognosis, treatment plans, appointments, and when to take their medications.
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Since the 1970s, researchers have been experimenting with medical consultations with audio recording to combat this problem.
Since then, numerous studies and journals have shown that patients who receive personalized records of their medical consultations feel that their recall and understanding are improved.
We do not yet have evidence establishing a direct link between registration of medical consultations and improved health outcomes. But we know that people who understand and remember important medical information are better able to remember to attend appointments, choose the best treatment options and take their medications properly.
This is commonly referred to as health literacy, and it is known that people with higher health literacy have better health outcomes. We therefore have good reason to believe that doctor appointments could have a positive impact on the long-term health of people.
Can you save your medical appointments?
Although most research on medical records has been done with people who have been diagnosed with cancer, the process could help anyone in any medical situation.
People who speak English as a second language find records of medical consultations particularly useful.
And the records of consultation are not only helpful to patients. Family members and friends often play an important role in caring for a loved one in distress. The recordings give them the opportunity to be involved and informed – even if they can not attend the appointment in person – because the recordings are easily shared.
In a recent study, patients described the use of recording to retransmit important sections to their family, to remember the words to look for and to ask questions to ask their doctor.
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In addition, registrations have been shown to improve patient confidence and satisfaction with their physician.
Health professionals, including physicians and nurses, believe that consultation records are helpful to patients and improve the care they are able to provide.
The patients described the appointments that they found most useful to record. These include appointments when diagnosing a health problem, appointments where important information is discussed, or appointments where treatment plans are developed. Others think that the registration of each appointment would be useful to them.
What is good with the recordings is that they are under the control of the patient. They can therefore be created and used in the way that best suits the person.
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Ethical considerations
People are already using their mobile phones to record their doctor's appointments. A UK study found that 69% of people wanted to record consultations on their phones.
Although this is usually done with the doctor's permission, this is sometimes done secretly. This may diminish the confidence and openness that should characterize any doctor-patient relationship, or even be illegal in some states.
You should always ask your doctor's permission before recording.
It is important to note that if a health service approves and provides a way to record your medical consultations, registration is considered part of your medical record.
Under Australian law, hospitals are responsible for securely storing all parts of your medical record, including copies of consultation records made in this context.
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Who's listening? Ethical and legal issues related to the development of a health application
Our Peter MacCallum Cancer Center team has developed a smartphone application called SecondEars as part of a research project. This app will allow patients to record their consultations and share the recordings with their family and friends.
It is important to note that this application has been designed to be integrated and supported by hospitals and other health services. Once it is integrated into a health service, the recordings can be downloaded and saved in the patient's medical record.
Patients will have full control over the appointments they wish to save. It is hoped that this service will be made available to health services around Australia in the future.
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