EHRs could raise liability concerns for providers
Without thoughtful intervention and sound guidance from government and medical organizations, EHR technology may encumber rather than support clinicians and hinder rather than promote health outcome improvements, based on research from Cleveland-based Case Western Reserve University.
“EHR systems likely will soon become a fixture in medical settings,” wrote Sharona Hoffman, JD, professor of law and bioethics and co-director of Case Western's Law-Medicine Center, and Andy Podgurski, PhD, professor of computer science at the university's School of Engineering. “Although benefits of bringing IT to health records can be substantial, EHR systems also give rise to increased liability risks for healthcare providers due to possible software or hardware problems or user errors.”
The authors offered an analysis of the liability risks associated with use of EHR technology that many doctors might not even be aware of. "Whether or not there is a software bug, in the sense of a clear error that causes a wrong output, the usability of the system may be lacking, and that may lead a user to make mistakes that have safety implications," the authors stated.
Aiming to prevent potential liability problems, Hoffman and Podgurski proposed a uniform process for developing authoritative clinical practice guidelines, exploring how EHR technology can assist in determining best practices.
“Now is the best time to consider pitfalls,” concluded the authors. “[For example,] EHR system purchasers may never know about product flaws, because no regulation requires such disclosure, and some vendor contracts even prohibit it.”
“EHR systems likely will soon become a fixture in medical settings,” wrote Sharona Hoffman, JD, professor of law and bioethics and co-director of Case Western's Law-Medicine Center, and Andy Podgurski, PhD, professor of computer science at the university's School of Engineering. “Although benefits of bringing IT to health records can be substantial, EHR systems also give rise to increased liability risks for healthcare providers due to possible software or hardware problems or user errors.”
The authors offered an analysis of the liability risks associated with use of EHR technology that many doctors might not even be aware of. "Whether or not there is a software bug, in the sense of a clear error that causes a wrong output, the usability of the system may be lacking, and that may lead a user to make mistakes that have safety implications," the authors stated.
Aiming to prevent potential liability problems, Hoffman and Podgurski proposed a uniform process for developing authoritative clinical practice guidelines, exploring how EHR technology can assist in determining best practices.
“Now is the best time to consider pitfalls,” concluded the authors. “[For example,] EHR system purchasers may never know about product flaws, because no regulation requires such disclosure, and some vendor contracts even prohibit it.”