Technology has made an incredible impact on healthcare with breakthroughs that include 3D printing of medical devices or even biological materials, robotic-assisted surgeries, remote health tracking, and more. However, a critical but often neglected use of technology in healthcare is in communication. Traditional ways of communicating can often create communication gaps that ultimately hurt outcomes. There are so many small gaps that when they add up, they can potentially hinder your practice from running efficiently.
Is Your Electronic Health Record a Malpractice Risk?
A plan to introduce electronic health records (EHRs) across the country was started in 2004 by President George W. Bush to “avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs, and improve care.” The main reason for the EHR adoption was to avoid medical errors which is a huge reason for medical malpractice claims, but in actuality the number of medical liability claims has actually risen with the EHR as a contributing factor. A research report by The Doctors Company in 2017 showed that the number of EHR-related claims grew from only 2 claims between 2007 – 2010 to 92 claims between 2014-2016.
