In previous years, hospitals often relied upon handwritten charts while tracking and treating patients. Under a recent federal mandate, however, hospitals are now required to chart patients via electronic means. Today, electronic health records are used to store and track a patient's health-related information as well as recommend and administer appropriate treatments and prescription medications.
While the use of EHRs is often credited with improving efficiency and preventing medical errors, new information coming out of Pennsylvania proves the use of this technology is still vunerable to human error. Mistakes involving the incorrect or improper administration of prescription medications seem to be especially previlent.
A state agency reported more than 300 medication errors during the course of a 10-year period. The majority of these errors revolved around patients receiving medications either too early or too late. Other reported medication errors involved instances where patients were given the incorrect dosage of a medication or did not receive the medication at all.
Researchers conducted the study focused on discovering those medication errors that resulted when a patient's electronic medical record was not complete or filled in properly. In other cases, medication errors occurred when information entered by a health care provider was overwritten by EHR default settings set up by a hospital which were aimed to improve efficiency.
The information provided by the state agency is useful in helping prove the use of electronic medical records is not infallible. The onus to ensure information contained in patient's medical record is correct still falls on doctors, nurses and other health care providers. While reliance on EHRs can help improve a hospital's efficiency, medical and medication errors can result when hospitals fail to properly train employees on how to best and appropriately use such technology.
Source: Tribune Live, "Errors in default settings of electronic medical record ssytems raise risks for patients," Alex Nixon, Sep. 6, 2013