AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Contingency planning for electronic health record–based care continuity: a survey of recommended practices.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Of 50 institutions surveyed, nearly all had experience an unexpected failure of their EHR in recent years, often for more than 8 hours. Yet few had adequate contingency plans.Int J Med Inform. 2014;83:797-804.

Contingency planning for electronic health record–based care continuity: a survey of recommended practices.

Sittig DF, Gonzalez D, Singh H. Int J Med Inform. 2014;83:797-804.

As institutions continue to transition to electronic medical records (EMRs), they will need contingency plans to ensure patient safety in the event of system failures. This survey of 50 institutions with fully integrated EMRs found that nearly all had experienced unexpected failures—70% of which resulted in EMR unavailability for more than 8 hours—in the past 3 years, but most had only partly implemented comprehensive safety plans to avoid patient harm during these instances.

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