AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Hazards tied to medical records rush.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Boston Globe article discusses some of the unintended consequences of the rapid adoption of health care information technology that followed the federal incentive payments.Boston Globe. July 20, 2014.

Hazards tied to medical records rush.

Rowland C. Boston Globe. July 20, 2014.

Government incentives have led to rapid development and adoption of electronic health records (EHRs). This newspaper article examines some of the unintended consequences of implementing electronic systems that have not been fully optimized for use in the health care environment, such as serious adverse events and medication errors. Moreover, failure to mandate reporting of EHR-related errors hinders developing strategies to improve them. Although clinicians want to avoid returning to paper records, they find current electronic systems inadequate, difficult to use, and nonintuitive.

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