To Ensure Patient Safety While Modernizing Health IT, HTI-5 Must Preserve Core Certification Protections Raj M. Ratwani Rollin J. Fairbanks Jacob Reider April 2, 2026

https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/ensure-patient-safety-while-modernizing-health-hti-5-must-preserve-core-certification Electronic health records (EHRs) are used in nearly every patient encounter, so it should come as no surprise that the technology’s usability is directly associated with patient safety. Poorly designed EHRs have been associated with harm to adults and children. There are numerous examples, from confusing displays causing erroneous documentation of patients’ vital signs, to text truncation and pre-populated fields leading medications to be delivered at the wrong dose. To prevent these types of threats to patient safety, policy makers have embedded protections in EHR certification requirements. The aim is to ensure usability, auditability, clinical decision support transparency, and quality management.