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According to national data, more than 80 percent of all physicians and 90 percent of all hospitals use electronic health records (EHR) to keep track of patient history. These records are supposed to minimize the risk of mistakes on patients’ records, thereby keeping them safe. But one major study revealed that the number of EHR-related medical malpractice lawsuits are on the rise. The following is an overview of that study. If you or someone you love has been injured because of medical negligence, contact Rasmussen & Miner to meet with a doctor malpractice lawyer in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Study
The study was conducted by the Doctor’s Company, which is a physician-owned medical malpractice insurer. The study analyzed 66 HER-related malpractice claims that were filed during a 30-month period. In the new study, 58 percent of the claims were caused by user factors. Examples of these errors include data entry errors, copying and pasting progress notes, and alert fatigue. Each Salt Lake City UT doctor malpractice lawyer from our firm is aware of many of these errors in the malpractice cases we have handled at our firm.
Another 50 percent of claims were caused by system failures, such as issues with the design or technology used or a lack of integration of EHR systems in hospitals.
The majority of events took place in the patient’s room, compared with other events that happened in emergency rooms, doctor’s offices, ambulatory/day surgery centers, and labor and delivery.
When these results were compared with an earlier study that used EHR-related claims filed between 2007 and June 2014, the areas of medicine which showed an increase in claims were emergency medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and orthopedics. The most common claims were diagnosis-related, which increased by 32 percent. The earlier study’s diagnosis-related claims were 27 percent.
The study also highlighted some of the cases to show how dangerous these errors can be. In one case, the hospital patient was suffering from the weakness of his extremities caused by cervical vascular malformation. For four days in a row, the attending physician entered identical progress notes on the patient’s chart, noting no change in the patient’s condition. This despite documentation made by nurses and physical therapists of the patient’s worsening neurological condition.
On the fifth day, a physical therapist spoke with the physician about the patient’s deteriorating motor strength. The physician ordered a new neurosurgical consult, but he again entered the same progress notes. The patient did undergo surgery, but it was too late. The result was the patient is now a quadriplegic. During the malpractice lawsuit, experts testified that the physician’s notes were all identical because he had copied and pasted each entry, instead of entering new notes about the patient’s deteriorating condition.
Contact a Salt Lake City UT Doctor Malpractice Attorney Today
Utah injury law allows victims to pursue financial compensation for the losses they have suffered due to the actions of medical staff. Each medical malpractice lawyer Salt Lake City UT trusts from our firm understands the overwhelming stress these types of mistakes can have on families and work diligently to obtain financial compensation because of the harm victims suffered when medical staff failed to provide the necessary medical treatment.
The legal team at Rasmussen & Miner has successfully represented many clients and their families who suffered serious injury or illness because of the negligence or carelessness of a doctor or other medical staff. Call our office to schedule a free case evaluation with a dedicated doctor malpractice lawyer Salt Lake City UT clients recommend and to find out how we can help.