The Transparency Paradox in Medicine

Medicine today is more transparent than it has ever been. Patients are encouraged to ask questions of their care providers, view their health records on online portals, and get test results immediately sent to them without going through a doctor first. In many ways, this is great for patients. They can be active participants in their care and obtain more detailed information regarding their treatments and test results.

But there are downsides to medical transparency—and those downsides can affect the care that patients receive and affect their anxiety. Learn more about this paradox and how it fits into your healthcare experience. If you’re struggling with questionable medical care you’ve received, let’s talk about whether or not you have a medical malpractice case. Call Crandall & Pera Law now.

An overview of the transparency paradox

The healthcare transparency paradox refers to the unintended issues that arise when patients are given full and immediate access to their medical records. Yes, it’s important to have access to and control of your own healthcare information—but without the necessary context, guidance, or medical expertise, it’s easy to misinterpret readings.

The heart of the paradox is this: information that intends to empower patients can actually have the opposite effect and leave them feeling confused, overwhelmed, or in danger.

How transparency can backfire for patients

There are numerous ways that medical transparency can actually lead to worse outcomes for patients. While the intention of healthcare transparency is obviously good, the execution can lead to problems:

• Confusing medical terms: Doctors leave all sorts of notes in patient records and appointment notes, often for their own use or for the use of other healthcare professionals who may work with the patient. However, the vast majority of users have no idea how those words are used and what they actually mean. Terms like “differential diagnosis,” “lesion,” and “malignancy” can all trigger anxiety in patients before they’ve even had a chance to talk to their doctor.
• Premature access to test results: Immediate access to test results can help patients get answers more quickly, but sometimes, those answers aren’t what they’re looking for. On many apps, lab and imaging results automatically come with normal and abnormal flags. The issue, though, is that there’s no gray area—a reading can be a tiny bit out of the normal range, but when it’s flagged as abnormal, it causes a patient to panic. In the same vein, these readings may not be adjusted for patients’ specific health needs. For example, the blood tests a pregnant woman undergoes may result in multiple abnormal readings—but while the readings are abnormal for the average non-pregnant woman, they are completely within range for a pregnant woman.
• Doctor self-censorship: The sudden change to full and constant access to healthcare records has been a shift for doctors, who for many years have known that they’re likely the only ones who will ever read their notes. Now that they recognize patients can read everything they write—and knowing the risk of an overreaction—doctors may censor themselves by leaving out details or potential diagnoses. This loss of information could affect the care a patient gets. For example, a doctor may hesitate to document potential severe negative outcomes out of fear of frightening their patients—even though that information could help them or other providers who later provide treatment.
• Patient anxiety: Seeking healthcare can be anxiety-inducing on its own. Being flooded with constant information about your vital signs, test results, and doctor’s notes can make it even worse. Patients may send constant messages to their doctors about test results, request unnecessary tests, or self-diagnose via terms and phrases they’ve Googled.

The role of AI in the transparency paradox

The sudden uptick of AI usage in the past couple of years also plays a role in this. AI models like ChatGPT will look at medical scans, test results, and medical records—and then break them down into plain English. It sounds great—but AI is notoriously inaccurate. People put their medical records in, and AI spits back something that sounds accurate but may be completely off-track. Again, this often leads to significant anxiety among patients, and if what AI says deviates a lot from what a doctor says, it may actually weaken the trust a patient has in their doctor.

When does transparency become a malpractice issue?

Healthcare transparency isn’t just a medical issue. There’s a legal side to it, too. From this perspective, questions arise when transparency leads to issues. Did the hospital or care provider explain test results in a timely manner and offer follow-up care? Did the care provider improperly withhold or change information in a way that harmed the patient? Did the doctor’s self-censorship lead to an error in treatment? What if the doctor trusted the platform to deliver results to patients and then never followed up?

These questions aren’t easy to answer, and the answers vary from case to case. That’s why working with an Ohio medical malpractice lawyer from the beginning is important. They can get a full picture of your case, look at the nuance in your case, and figure out whether or not you have a claim. If your doctor hid information from you, failed to respond in an appropriate timeframe to alarming test results, or otherwise caused you to suffer a negative outcome, a medical malpractice attorney should be your next call.

Explore your legal options with Crandall & Pera Law

Medical malpractice can leave patients with little trust in doctors and the care they provide. If you’ve been victimized by inadequate medical care, the team at Crandall & Pera Law is here to help. Call us or contact us online to discuss your next steps.