Transparency in medicine is a major goal for healthcare organizations and practitioners worldwide. The Division has served as a leader in efforts to promote and study transparency through the OpenNotes program. Inspired by former Division chief Tom Delbanco and his seminal work with the Salzburg Global Seminar, OpenNotes is an international movement committed to spreading the availability of open visit notes and studying their effects.
Supported by philanthropies, OpenNotes does not sell software or other products. Division faculty members Cait DesRoches, Sigall Bell, and OpenNotes co-founders Jan Walker and Tom Delbanco currently lead studies of the effects of medical transparency on a wide variety of outcomes, including medication use, patient safety, and patient-physician communication.