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Letter| Volume 136, ISSUE 3, e56, March 2023

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The Reply

  • Ebrahim Barkoudah
    Correspondence
    Requests for reprints should be addressed to Ebrahim Barkoudah, MD, MPH, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115.
    Affiliations
    Hospital Medicine Unit and the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
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  • Carson Moss
    Affiliations
    Hospital Medicine Unit and the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
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  • Nathan T. Connell
    Affiliations
    Hematology Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass

    Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass
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DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.11.011
The Reply
Previous ArticleThe Term 'Endorse' Should Not Be Used Clinically
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      We appreciate the comment in reviewing our work by Dr Reynolds.
      • Moss C
      • Patil DT
      • Connell NT
      • Zon RL
      • Barkoudah E.
      Occam's razor for severe B12 deficiency.
      Am J Med. 2022; 135: 844-847
      Language is inherently dynamic, with constant addition of new definitions for existing words. Dr Reynolds points out that new words have entered our medical language and have been used for years without checkpoints or guards of such admissions. We agree that our medical community should maintain standardized language in printed literature and medical records.
      In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, under the medical definition, endorse (as a verb) means “to report or note the presence of (a symptom).” An example of this use is: “He endorsed nausea without emesis and denied any associated shortness of breath.”

      Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online. Endorse. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endorse. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

      Furthermore, searching the MEDLINE literature database through PubMed for endorse, the term yielded 35,577 publications, and after adding the terms “patient,” “endorse,” and “symptoms,” the output yielded 6704 results.

      U.S. National Library of Medicine. Search for endorse. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=endorse+. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

      ,

      U.S. National Library of Medicine. Search for endorse, patient, and symptoms. Available at:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=patient+endorsed+symptoms. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

      The search goes back as early as 1975, which could reflect how the word is embedded in our daily practice—from affirming the guidelines to reporting symptoms in modern medicine. The debate might be valid. However, the use continues in other practice domains in medicine, which could imply specific meaning in psychiatric literature while reporting complaints with the shift in specific words in medical charting.
      • Gillean JA
      • Ries R.
      Should the use of ‘endorse'be endorsed in writing in psychiatry?.
      Current Psychiatry. 2015; 14: e1-e3
      The US federal rule mandates “Open Notes,” a federal rule known as the “Cures Rule” under the 21st Century Cures Act. This national policy requires health care providers to give patients access to all health information in their electronic medical records.

      Federal Register, National Archives. 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Available at:https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/01/2020-07419/21st-century-cures-act-interoperability-information-blocking-and-the-onc-health-it-certification. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

      As a result, the review of the medical records resulted in a better overall experience.
      • DesRoches CM
      • Leveille S
      • Bell SK
      • et al.
      The views and experiences of clinicians sharing medical record notes with patients.
      JAMA Network Open. 2020; 3e201753
      However, the use of specific words since 1975 in our medical practice is now visible to our patients, which could open the door for further interpretation.
      The need for a standardized medical lexicon is essential, necessitating an adaptive design to the current environment around clinical care, health policy, and the proper meaning and delivery.

      References

        • Moss C
        • Patil DT
        • Connell NT
        • Zon RL
        • Barkoudah E.
        Occam's razor for severe B12 deficiency.
        Am J Med. 2022; 135: 844-847
        View in Article

      2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online. Endorse. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endorse. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

        View in Article

      3. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Search for endorse. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=endorse+. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

        View in Article

      4. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Search for endorse, patient, and symptoms. Available at:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=patient+endorsed+symptoms. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

        View in Article
        • Gillean JA
        • Ries R.
        Should the use of ‘endorse'be endorsed in writing in psychiatry?.
        Current Psychiatry. 2015; 14: e1-e3
        View in Article

      6. Federal Register, National Archives. 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. Available at:https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/01/2020-07419/21st-century-cures-act-interoperability-information-blocking-and-the-onc-health-it-certification. Accessed on December 7, 2022.

        View in Article
        • DesRoches CM
        • Leveille S
        • Bell SK
        • et al.
        The views and experiences of clinicians sharing medical record notes with patients.
        JAMA Network Open. 2020; 3e201753
        View in Article

      Article info

      Footnotes

      Funding: None.

      Conflict of Interests: None.

      Authorship: All authors had access to the data and role in writing this manuscript.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.11.011

      Copyright

      © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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