ArticleDigital health
Psychotherapists' views on open notes: An online survey from Germany.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Understanding Patient-Reported Offenses in Electronic Health Records: Cross-Sectional Mixed Methods Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Errors in AI-Transformed Patient-Centered Mental Health Documentation Written by Psychiatrists: Qualitative Pre-Post Study.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Open Notes in Mental Health: A Scoping Review of Stakeholder Experiences and Implications for Clinical Practice.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Changes in Documentation After Implementing Open Notes in Mental Health Care: Pre-Post Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Patient-Health Care Professional Communication via a Secure Web-Based Portal in Severe Mental Health Conditions: Qualitative Analysis of Secure Messages.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Psychiatrists' perceptions of conditions and consequences associated with the implementation of open notes: qualitative investigation.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- What do patients consider sensitive health information? A cross-sectional survey of national patient portal users.Digital healthArticle
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: In an increasing number of countries, patients are given online record access (ORA) to their clinical notes ("open notes"). In many places, psychotherapy notes are exempt, even if patients explicitly wish to read them. Previous research suggests that psychotherapists (PTs) have reservations that are not yet fully understood. Objective: To investigate the attitudes and perceived effects of open notes on psychotherapeutic care, patients, and individual psychotherapeutic practice in Germany. Methods: Psychological and medical therapists were invited to participate in a national online survey. Sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, age, professional group, and psychotherapeutic school were gathered. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the 51-item survey. Results: 129 PTs completed the survey. Only a small proportion of respondents (30 out of 129, 23.3%) suspected that open notes would improve the efficiency of psychotherapeutic care. On the one hand, participants assumed that patients gain more control over their treatment (59 out of 129, 45.7%) and are better able to remember therapy goals (55 out of 129, 42.6%), although this was considered unlikely to lead to greater engagement in the therapy process (94 out of 129, 72.9%). On the other hand, PTs expected patients to misunderstand their notes, feel offended (98 out of 129, 76.0%), and approach them with questions (107 out of 129, 82.9%) or requests for changes (94 out of 129, 72.9%). The respondents also anticipated being less honest when writing (95 out of 129, 73.6%) and reported they needed more time for documentation (99 out of 129, 76.7%). A meaningful use of open notes for working with relatives was envisaged (101 out of 129, 78.3%). Conclusion: PTs in Germany tend to have a negative attitude towards patients' ORA on open notes. Further research on clinical efficacy and feasibility is necessary to demonstrate whether open notes add value in the context of psychotherapy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.