Technology is supposed to make people's lives easier and safer. When looking for health care providers, one of the criteria people usually incorporate into their decision-making processes is how technologically advanced the provider is. After all, most people want to have the latest available technology when it comes to taking care of health issues. However, a report issued in November 2011 by the Institute of Medicine, a non-profit group aimed at improving the nation's health, revealed that information technology in the health care field may actually be contributing to medical malpractice.
IT Does Not Eliminate Malpractice
The IOM report notes that when implemented well, IT in health care can improve patient outcomes. However, the report cautioned that advances in health care IT have led to malpractice, as well.
One of the examples that the report cited was difficult-to-use electronic medication ordering forms that can lead to medication errors and overdoses. A study published in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association in the summer of 2011 supported the IOM's assertion by revealing that electronic prescription ordering does not reduce medication errors.
Another problem that can come from Electronic Health Record systems is that software can often "over-warn" health care workers about possible dangers of drug interactions, to the point where health care workers simply ignore all such alerts - and end up missing the important, and possibly fatal, warnings.
Other common technology-related medical errors include:
- Data loss when IT systems are incompatible with one another
- Failing to note patient conditions in records because the health care worker entering information into electronic records uses the default "normal" setting in the data field
- EHR systems leaving no room for health care provider notes, only allowing for diagnostic codes, causing information loss
- Doctors failing to adjust from paper to electronic records, recording events before they happen
- Entering data into the wrong patient's record in emergency situations
- Reliance on electronic recording of physiological data without a backup and having the electronic system fail
Possible Federal Regulation
The IOM's report does not call for federal regulation of health care IT systems at this point. However, the report notes that unless the situation improves, some kind of federal oversight is necessary, possibly under the existing network of Patient Safety Organizations and a new federal agency with the authority to recommend corrective action for faulty HER systems.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society supported the IOM report's findings, noting that it had suggested many of the same recommendations that the IOM outlined in the report for improving IT in health care.
Having the most cutting-edge technology in health care might make patients feel like they are getting the best possible care available. However, health care workers still make errors with these systems that can lead to serious consequences. If you have suffered injuries due to a health care worker's negligence, contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who can help you obtain just and proper compensation.
