Thursday, February 21, 2013

From another happy EHR user: automatic data "corrections" that alter the past

From another happy EHR user:

One of my patients was married in late 2012.  

Her name changed from XXXX to YYYY.

Today I incidentally reviewed this patient's chart.

Can you guess what name appears on all progress notes (on the LCD screen and in printed form)…going back to early 2007?

You guessed it…YYYY…even though her name was XXXX until late 2012.

I've also seen this happen with providers.  Example:  an RN received her NP.  When they updated her prof designation in the EHR, ALL of her notes were changed to NP…even though about 10 of those years she was an RN.

That's data integrity if I've ever seen it!

These "features" could create injurious clinical confusion, and credentialing issues in litigation as well.

Thus are the risks of having merchant computing "experts", with little understanding of how clinical and medicolegal issues differ from selling doggie biscuits, shove their bad health IT down clinician's throats.

(Or, perhaps the better metaphor would involve the distal end of the GI tract.)

-- SS

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

EHRs have corrupted the source of truth. But, since they are computers, they are always right. Who, as a human, has the right to question the wisdom of a computer?

Anonymous said...

I do and always will. And here is the reason. Nurse and physicians handed thee most up to date medication sheet from the family detailing patient's daily medication. 3.5 hrs from ED to admit to discharge. No less than 20 medication reconciliation errors, because everyone involved relied on the computer for information, despite being handed thee most up to date list from the family.