A red-flag-based approach to risk management of EHR-related safety concerns.
Although electronic health records (EHRs) have a significant potential to improve patient safety, EHR-related safety concerns have begun to emerge. Based on 369 responses to a survey sent to the memberships of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management and the American Health Lawyers Association and supplemented by our previous work in EHR-related patient safety, we identified the following common EHR-related safety concerns: (1) incorrect patient identification; (2) extended EHR unavailability (either planned or unplanned); (3) failure to heed a computer-generated warning or alert; (4) system-to-system interface errors; (5) failure to identify, find, or use the most recent patient data; (6) misunderstandings about time; (7) incorrect item selected from a list of items; and (8) open or incomplete orders. In this article, we present a "red-flag"-based approach that can be used by risk managers to identify potential EHR safety concerns in their institutions. An organization that routinely conducts EHR-related surveillance activities, such as the ones proposed here, can significantly reduce risks associated with EHR implementation and use.
Co-Author of Improving Outcomes-A Practical Guide to Clinical Decision Support Implementation and Clinical Information Systems: Overcoming Adverse Consequences.
Dean F
DF
Sittig
Hardeep
H
Singh
D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*