Intimate Partner Violence and Open Notes: Challenges and Opportunities

Purpose of Review: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread public health issue with significant physical and psychological consequences. OpenNotes, which allows patients to view their clinical notes, presents an opportunity to enhance care for survivors by fostering transparency, trust, and patient engagement. This review provides background information on OpenNotes specifically as it relates to IPV and proposes practical recommendations for forensic nurses and clinicians in healthcare settings. Methods: We conducted a literature review of peer-reviewed publications about OpenNotes or trauma-informed IPV documentation. The writing team using an iterative process synthesized and summarized how OpenNotes can be used to support trauma-informed IPV care. Subject matter experts from various disciplines (nursing, psychiatry and social services provided feedback on the summary synthesis. Key Findings and Recommendations: best practices for leveraging OpenNotes to support IPV survivors, including strategies for sensitive documentation, shared decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration were identified. The benefits of OpenNotes can empower patients, reinforce trauma-informed care, and facilitate safer, more effective communication between survivors and members of their clinical team. Limitations: there are inherent limitations of a narrative review such as potential selection bias, search strategy limitations, and lack of a systematic critical appraisal of literature. Conclusions: This narrative review provides concepts for best practices in the context of documentation in electronic health records. Further exploration using rigorous methodology is needed to understand best practices, inform policy and education.