Complaints about Electronic Medical Records Increase

...For decades, electronic patient records systems have been heralded as a potential game-changer for the health care industry, leading to improved patient health outcomes, fewer duplicate tests and, eventually, savings for the health care industry. While most clinicians and academics still believe the promise is there, the systems are coming under increased scrutiny from doctors, nurses and some on Capitol Hill who say the technology is poorly regulated, often unproven and occasionally unreliable...

Last month, the nation’‍s largest union of registered nurses sent a letter to the FDA asking for broader and more stringent oversight of electronic records systems and of computerized physician-order entry systems, which allow clinicians to log treatment instructions for patients. The National Nurses United, as part of its broader campaign highlighting the potential dangers of “unproven medical technology,” says FDA officials should test electronic medical records as rigorously as they might a new drug or an artificial hip implant...

But health IT vendors are against mandatory reporting, or any other system that would run afoul of the confidentiality clauses that are built into contracts with hospitals and clinics. Public, mandatory confessions of errors might also discourage such reporting, since the clinician who admits the error could be punished by his or her employer...