Boston Patients Exposed To Virus Due To Lack Of EHR Training

Thirteen dialysis patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC) were exposed to hepatitis B earlier this year when two nurses from an outside dialysis contractor failed to receive access to the hospital’s EHR system, which would have let them know that an infected patient had used equipment that was then shared with the victims.  BMC “failed to ensure” that the nurses went through an orientation for the EHR software and that they were given read-only access to critical records before being allowed to care for patients.

BMC contracts with a private company called DaVita to run its dialysis unit, and the two nurses involved with the error were not hospital employees.  [...]