Electronic Medical Records Can Reduce Errors

Over the years our Georgia medical malpractice lawyers have been involved in medical negligence lawsuits involving missing or improperly documented medical records. In an effort to avoid such problems the federal government is pressuring medical professionals and facilities to adopt electronic record keeping. While this has the potential to eliminate life threatening record keeping errors, there are also potential dangers associated with this system.
Electronic medical records allow healthcare professionals to easily document medical findings. With just a few keystrokes, a physician or PA can describe a full medical exam using predesigned templates. However, using boilerplate templates for every patient can have serious shortfalls. Reviewing pages of repetitive documentation can be time consuming and lead to increased chances of missing important findings. Overlooking important findings in records has in our experience been a leading cause of harm to patients.
The use of templates can also result in the wrong template being used for a particular condition or patient. It has been reported that a neurologist who had just converted to electronic medical records discovered that the template documented a finding of orientation to time, place, and person for a one year old. Children this young cannot be tested in this manner.
Other advantages of electronic medical records include the ability to catch medication errors, check for adverse drug interactions, and track test results and schedule follow ups. One surgeon recently demonstrated his practices electronic record system to one of our attorneys. He extolled the ability to have all patient records and test results available at the practices many offices and the ability to have the records accessible on his lap top computer so he could prepare for the next days surgeries from his home.
Electronic medical records can increase the safety of patients and make health care more efficient. However, care should be taken to ensure that all users are properly trained.