News: 1 in 5 patients experience a medical error, EHR and documentation partly to blame

According to a new national study, one in five adults have personally experienced a medical error, Fierce Healthcare reported.

The report, conducted by the IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago, surveyed 2,536 adults nationwide and found that 21% have personally experienced a medical error and 31% knew someone who had experienced a medical error.

Though the highest percentage (one in four respondents) attributed the medical error to their healthcare provider spending too much time on the computer and in digital records, there were a number of other contributing factors:

• Patient was unable to see or review his or her own medical records (22%)
• Healthcare providers were not aware of the medical care the patient received elsewhere (17%)
• Healthcare provider did not spend enough time with the patient (15%)
• Medical records were incorrect or out of date (12%)
• Healthcare providers failing to wash hands or wear masks (7%)

CDI professionals, of course, won’t be surprised that four out of the six reasons listed above have to do with clinical documentation in some way. It may be a surprise to some, however, that only two of the reasons directly relate to quality of patient care and safety.

With a direct influence over the quality of the clinical documentation, CDI professionals are uniquely positioned to influence at least a couple of the patient safety risks identified by the study. An inaccurate record, at least for 27% of the survey respondents, leads to patient safety risks.

Editor’s note: To read Fierce Healthcare’s coverage of the survey, click here. To read about the EHR time constraints placed on physicians, click here. To read tips on how to improve patient safety through EHRs, click here.