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Electronic Health Records and Patient Safety

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Patient Safety in Surgery

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Abstract

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) offer a promise of improved documentation, clinical communication and decision support for clinicians, which should have direct benefits for quality and safety of patient care. However, like all medical devices, EHRs can also generate unwanted effects. Increased adoption of EHRs and other health information technology (HIT) has also been accompanied by recognition of a new domain of hazards, unintended consequences and adverse events associated with them. This chapter surveys a range of risks related to HIT, emphasizing EHRs, discussing issues in design, configuration and use that can induce failures and harm. It also addresses efforts to mitigate risks and improve the benefit/risk ratio of information technology used in medical practice.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management, COPIC Insurance Cos, 5195 E Weaver Dr, Denver, CO, 80121, USA

    Michael S. Victoroff MD

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  1. Michael S. Victoroff MD
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Correspondence to Michael S. Victoroff MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Philip F. Stahel

  2. Department of Orthopaedics, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Cyril Mauffrey

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Victoroff, M.S. (2014). Electronic Health Records and Patient Safety. In: Stahel, P., Mauffrey, C. (eds) Patient Safety in Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4369-7_19

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4368-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4369-7

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