Foundation-funded work to address patient safety issues that occur with health information technology, particularly electronic health records, recently received critical testing and review from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In their report “Examining the Copy and Paste Function in the Use of Electronic Health Records,” the National Institute of Standards and Technology provided support for the Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety's recommendations for copy and paste practices used when recording information into a patient’s electronic health record.
The foundation supports the ECRI Institute’s Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety to develop effective health IT safety practices, with copy and paste as one of the first areas of focus. There are many upsides to copy and paste methods in electronic health records. For example, it can allow clinicians to easily duplicate information which can save time and be more efficient in reporting medication lists and test results. However, according to an ECRI Institute special report on copy and paste practices, such short cuts may also contribute to “lengthy and less-organized progress notes and propagation of outdated or inaccurate information in the patient chart, with potential risks for safety.” While unintended, certain copy and paste practices can perpetuate a continual spread of errors.
The recommendations issued by the Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety underwent usability testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, who followed several organizations as they implemented four safe practice recommendations. Data supported the Partnership's safe practice recommendations, specifically making copy and paste materials easily identifiable and ensuring that the provenance of the material is readily available. Read more about the usability results here.
In 2017, the ECRI Institute, through the Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety, will focus on two additional areas in health IT safety. The first will be to examine ways to assess, monitor and maintain a health information technology safety program for health care providers. This will include guidance on how to identify, and prevent, health IT-related events that may cause errors. The second involves closing the loop on diagnostic testing and referrals with the aim to mitigate diagnostic error using health technology.
Supporting patient safety has been a long-time focus for our foundation. The partnership with the ECRI Institute is another example of our commitment to improving the experience and outcomes of patient care. Read more about our work in patient safety here.
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