Doctors Not Using Electronic Records

Dan Frith

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I can't tell you how many times we see medical negligence cases which arise out of problems with medical records. A radiologist's report never makes it into the patient's chart or is never communicated to the patient's treating doctor resulting in the death of the patient. How about two patients with the same name on the same floor of the hospital and the nursing staff reads the wrong record and the wrong patient gets a blood transfusion which results 5 days in the Intensive Care Unit. Or, how about the mother who delivers a healthy (apparently) baby only to have that baby die 5 days later due to a group b strep infection, which was diagnosed in the hospital laboratory the afternoon of birth but never communicated to the mother or her treating doctor. The infection could have been easily treated.

Enter the era of electronic records! Doctors are now able to pull up your medical history and records on any computer - right? Wrong! A Harvard University survey, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that just 4 percent of doctors use software that includes electronic prescriptions and drug-interaction warnings. A larger group, 13 percent, opted for more basic software that only allowed them to enter notes and medical histories. Those who use the computer systems said they helped improve patient care.

Pretty sad if you ask me!