EHRs, Meaningful Use Improve
Patient Safety, Medical Errors
Electronic health records have the ability to improve patient safety, raise care quality, and reduce potentially serious medical errors, the ONC said during a Health IT Week presentation, with more than half of physicians acknowledging that their EHRs have helpful when providing patient care. Providers that adopt the principles of meaningful use, including computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and electronic documentation see significantly fewer patient safety events and a 52% reduction in the number of adverse drug events.
A physician workflow survey found that three times as many physicians reported that their EHRs prevented a medication error than caused one, with nearly 70% saying that lab alerts or medication reminders were helpful in avoiding potential patient harm. Forty-five percent said an EHR feature had alerted them to a potential medication error, while twice as many physicians said EHRs helped them pick the right lab test than pick the wrong one.
Fifty-one percent of physicians expressed a positive opinion on EHR alerts, with just 14% saying that they missed something important due to the overwhelming number or distraction of alarms and reminders. Forty-seven percent improved the amount of preventative care they provided due to EHR features, while 39% were more likely to meet clinical guidelines for chronic disease care when prompted by their computers. While EHRs were also associated with improved clinical communication, including easing the ordering of referrals and exchanging data with other providers, 39% of physicians believe EHRs are responsible for less effective communication with patients during their visit.
A study conducted in Pennsylvania adds that advanced EHR adoption has contributed to a 27% decline in aggregated patient safety events, including a 30% drop in medication events and a 25% decline in complications related to procedures, tests, or treatments. CPOE adoption resulted in a 14% decline in events that resulted in adverse reactions to a patient, while robust clinical documentation reduced “near miss” situations by almost a third.
The biggest barrier to continuing the trend of using health IT to reduce patient safety errors is ensuring that providers understand the role of health IT in patient safety to begin with, the presentation added. A large number of incidents occurred due to EHR system interface issues, improper inputs, and software configuration errors, an ECRI report shows. Understanding whether the error occurred due to a user issue or a software issue is key for accurate reporting and problem solving, the report says, and industry stakeholders must work together in order to prevent unintended patient safety consequences resulting from the improper use of health IT.
By Jennifer Bresnick, EHR Intelligence, September 22, 2014