Every little thing makes us think of cancer: How patient access to medical records influences role relations

While increasing attention in society is given to openness and visibility enabled by digital technologies, relatively few studies have considered the consequences that visibility of work creates for role relations. Building on a field study of 115 consultations and interviews with 11 physicians and 30 cancer patients who received digital access to their records, we show unexpected consequences of openness for physician-patient relationships: instead of helping patients to inform themselves and take over the tasks of physicians, the portal seems to increase patients’ reliance on professional expertise. Our preliminary findings illustrate that role relations are reinforced even though the portals are introduced and actively used by patients with attempts to alter them.