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Mission
Advisory Board
Staff

Mission
To ensure that no patient is harmed by the use of an electronic health record (EHR).

Operating Assumptions

Patient safety is fundamental to healthcare quality. Despite recent efforts to improve safety, American healthcare still does not deliver acceptable patient safety.
To achieve significant improvements in patient safety, healthcare organizations need to transform the ways they provide care—including their policies and care processes.
The potential of electronic health record systems (EHRs – see definition) to support organizational change and improve patient safety has been demonstrated by the experience of many large, integrated healthcare systems and is supported by limited efficacy studies. However, overall safety benefits of EHRs have not yet been systematically studied.
The potential of EHRs to contribute to safety flaws (See definition.) has been documented in several published reports, but has not been systematically studied.
Most healthcare organizations are just beginning to become aware of the potential of EHRs to contribute to safety flaws. Organizations who are aware have little stimulus or mechanism for sharing their knowledge and may face legal and regulatory constraints.
Implementation of an EHR that will support improved patient safety is a stringent test of any healthcare organization’s capabilities. (See definition.) This is especially true of smaller organizations.
There is increasing financial and regulatory pressure for all healthcare organizations to implement EHRs.
EHR-safety knowledge, skills, and tools are immature and disaggregated.
All of these factors call for concerted action to organize and share what is known about using EHRs to increase patient safety and to create new pragmatic methods and theoretical understanding.

Definitions
EHR – an electronic health-information management system comprised of all the electronic information systems used for patient care, along with their interconnections.

Safety flaw - Any attribute of an EHR (including the interactions among its components and between the EHR and other systems of care) that increases the likelihood of patient harm

Organizational capabilities – An organization’s competencies in robust enough form to optimize EHR safety:

Commitment to care-process transformation
Commitment to patient safety (policies and practices)
Organizational change (leadership, integration and internal accountability)
Incentives for clinicians and managers to use EHRs effectively
Continuous improvement
Needs assessment, process re-design and project management
Adapting technologies to individual, care-team, and organizational needs (ergonomics)
Trained, experienced IT and informatics staff

Patient harm – Impairment of the physical, emotional, or psychological function or structure of the body or resulting pain.

Safety – Absence of harm (to patients and caregivers)

;

Patient safety is fundamental to healthcare quality. Despite recent efforts to improve safety, American healthcare still does not deliver acceptable patient safety.

To achieve significant improvements in patient safety, healthcare organizations need to transform the ways they provide care—including their policies and care processes.

The potential of EHRs to contribute to safety flaws (See definition.) has been documented in several published reports, but has not been systematically studied.

Most healthcare organizations are just beginning to become aware of the potential of EHRs to contribute to safety flaws. Organizations who are aware have little stimulus or mechanism for sharing their knowledge and may face legal and regulatory constraints.

Implementation of an EHR that will support improved patient safety is a stringent test of any healthcare organization’s capabilities. (See definition.) This is especially true of smaller organizations.

There is increasing financial and regulatory pressure for all healthcare organizations to implement EHRs.

EHR-safety knowledge, skills, and tools are immature and disaggregated.

All of these factors call for concerted action to organize and share what is known about using EHRs to increase patient safety and to create new pragmatic methods and theoretical understanding.

Commitment to care-process transformation

Commitment to patient safety (policies and practices)

Organizational change (leadership, integration and internal accountability)

Incentives for clinicians and managers to use EHRs effectively

Continuous improvement

Needs assessment, process re-design and project management

Adapting technologies to individual, care-team, and organizational needs (ergonomics)

Trained, experienced IT and informatics staff

Patient harm – Impairment of the physical, emotional, or psychological function or structure of the body or resulting pain. Safety – Absence of harm (to patients and caregivers)

Patient harm – Impairment of the physical, emotional, or psychological function or structure of the body or resulting pain.

Safety – Absence of harm (to patients and caregivers)