In the decade-and-a-half since the startling To Err is Human report, its still hard to discern whether billions invested in electronic medical records are improving patient safety. Health systems have made significant investments in digitizing their operations primarily through the deployment of the electronic medical record (EMR). The EMR platform, in fact, holds the promise of being the foundation to address the many clinical shortfalls documented in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 1999 landmark report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. The report identified that as many as 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as a result of preventable medical errors. The source for a significant percentage of these errors is the lack of appropriate patient data available to clinicians at the point of patient care.With more than 15 years since the IOM report, the question is: Have these EMR investments made a difference in reducing the reported eye-opening outcomes?” Its an important question to ask and like most in our industry, Im not completely sure of the answer. A quick scan of the internet identifies multiple articles on the topic that are fairly dated and often speak to the promise of the EMR along with the barriers to adoption. Logically, it’s sensible to think that having patient data aggregated and distributed freely across a health system as well as to other caregivers should be beneficial to patient care. Its also sensible to believe that in todays environment of complex regulation, personalized medicine and ever changing reimbursement models, operating without an EMR seems unfathomable. But where is the study that specifically identifies the benefits and shows improvements from the To Err is Human report?

Source: Click here