Abstract
<jats:p>This book uses the gap between women’s experience and their medical charts to reveal the broader challenges of addressing social determinants of health through health systems. The stories that electronic health records tell about these women, and the stories they tell about themselves, differ dramatically. The authors—a sociologist and an epidemiologist—explore what the discrepancies between these accounts reveal about the clinical encounter itself, as a moment that might either ameliorate or exacerbate health disparities. Using in-depth interviews, the authors hear how patients experience the clinical encounter and connect their own health experiences to the broader social conditions in which they live. At the same time, the authors observe how the medical chart translates women’s suffering into diagnostic codes, prescriptions, and treatment plans.</jats:p>