Federal incentives such as meaningful use and programs like the Blue Button Initiative [1] are increasing patients’ electronic access to their medical records and encouraging greater engagement in their own care. That’s a good thing since medical records can contain errors External Links Disclaimer.  Having a “second pair of eyes” on the medical record can help improve the quality of the information that providers ultimately use to make clinical decisions. Patients, after all, know the most about their health and want to make sure their doctors have the most accurate information about them.

The results demonstrate that patients can be effectively engaged online to improve the quality of the information in their medical record — helping to spot errors such as outdated information and omissions such as medications prescribed by another provider.