All Content

Speech recognition software is a potential strategy to reduce documentation burden and burnout. This study compared the accuracy handwritten nursing notes versus online and offline speech recognition software. Findings indicate that the speech recognition software was accurate but created more errors than handwritten notes.

Patient portals allow patients and their caregivers to read clinical notes, view test results, and communicate with their provider, with the goal of improving patient safety. This scoping review found limited evidence of improved patient safety with the use of patient portals. Additionally, the authors found multiple naming conventions, such as patient portal, personal health record, and personal medical record.

Patient exposure to allergens healthcare settings, such as latex or certain medications, can lead to adverse outcomes. Based on data from an incident reporting system, researchers in this study developed a system for classifying allergy-related safety events. Classification categories include: (1) incomplete or inaccurate EHR documentation, (2) human factors, such as overridden allergy alerts, (3) alert limitation or malfunction, (4) data exchange and interoperability failures, and (5) issues with EHR system default options. This classification system can be used to support improvements at the individual, team, and systems levels. 

Transitions from one electronic health record (EHR) system to another can increase the risk of patient safety events. Using the principles of requisite imagination, this article outlines six recommendations for safe EHR transitions through proactive approaches, process improvement and support for healthcare workers.

Electronic health record (EHR) workarounds arise when users bypass safety features to increase efficiency. This scoping review aimed to validate, refine, and enrich the Sociotechnical EHR Workaround Analysis (SEWA) framework. Multidisciplinary teams (e.g. leadership, providers, EHR developers) can now use the refined SEWA framework to identify, analyze and resolve unsafe workarounds, leading to improved quality and efficiency of care.

Most patients can now access their provider visit notes via online portals and many have reported mistakes such as diagnostic errors or missed allergies. This study asked patients who may be “at-risk” for diagnostic error about perceived concerns in their visit notes. Patients were more likely to report having concerns if they did not trust their provider and did not have a good feeling about the visit. Soliciting patient concerns may be one way to improve transparency regarding diagnostic errors and trust in providers.

Failure to follow up on abnormal diagnostic test results can cause delays in patients receiving appropriate care. This hospital used an artificial intelligence natural language processing system to identify radiology reports requiring follow-up. The system triggered automated notifications to the patient and ordering provider, and tracked follow-ups to completion. System development, deployment and next steps are detailed.

Implementation of electronic health records (EHR) has shown both patient safety benefits and unanticipated challenges. Researchers interviewed patient safety officers, nurses, physicians, and other clinicians who use EHR to assess their perspectives on its impact on patient safety. Most clinicians reported both benefits and challenges, but views varied by role (e.g., nurses found EHR documentation efficient, while physicians found it time-consuming).

Conducting a complete medication reconciliation in the emergency department may be difficult or even impossible if the patient is unable to speak for themselves. In these instances, clinicians must rely solely on electronic records of medication prescriptions, which do not always reflect the medications being taken. This analysis of prescriptions entered into the Danish Shared Medication Record (SMR) and patient reports of medications taken showed 81% of patients had at least one discrepancy, the most common of which was discontinued medications still showing in the SMR.

Knowing a patient’s individual risk factors for developing cancer can assist patients and providers in deciding when to screen for cancers and can prevent both overtreatment and delays in care. This study compared patient-reported family history of cancer in the electronic health record (EHR) and family history collected using a focused questionnaire. Results showed inconsistencies between the two, especially for patients with more complicated family histories.

Adverse event reporting and tracking are essential components to safety improvement. This letter to the editor summarizes the barriers to accurate adverse event tracking in anesthesiology, including fear of blame or lack of education regarding the importance of identifying reportable events, and the role of Anesthesia Information Management Systems for improving incident reporting and tracking.

The 21st Century Cures Act mandates that most health care organizations provide patients access to their health record upon request. Using survey data collected just prior to implementation of the Cures Act, researchers found approximately 6.5% of patients requested changes to errors identified in their health records. Patients who reported frequent visits to their online portal and patients who reported entering data into the portal had greater odds of requesting a correction.

Failure to communicate abnormal test results to patients can lead to significant health complications and medical malpractice claims. This study aimed to increase patient engagement in asking their provider about previously obtained diagnostic test results. Reminders to follow up with their provider about test results were sent to the patient via the after-visit summary and patient portal. Patients receiving reminders were up to 20 times more likely to ask their providers about their test results, compared to patients who did not receive reminders.

The OpenNotes concept is positioned  to increase patient engagement in their care through error correction and communication enhancement. This commentary highlights concerns associated with privacy involving certain conditions and patient groups that participate in open notes programs. The authors provide recommendations to ensure safety while enabling effective information sharing with all patient populations.

System and clinician behaviors affect the reliability of the diagnostic process. This article shares five strategies to enhance individual clinician diagnostic practices which include seeking feedback, building learning into daily work, considering bias, enabling critical thinking, and teaming.

Data that is collected for clinical care and then reused to improve quality of patient care is referred to as secondary use of data (SUD). This review identified enablers and barriers to successful use of SUD to improve medication safety. The authors developed an integrated framework to describe the processes, mechanisms, and barriers for SUD.