ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS - Huffington Post Investigative Fund

FDA, Obama Digital Medical Records Team at Odds over Safety Oversight

Fred Schulte — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:07:28 +0000

Previously Undisclosed Hospital Mixup Underscores Challenges on Road to Reform

Computers at a major Midwest hospital chain went awry on June 29, posting some doctors’ orders to the wrong medical charts in a few cases and possibly putting patients in harm’s way.

The digital records system “would switch to another patient record without the user directing it to do so,” said Stephen Shivinsky, vice-president for corporate communications at Trinity Health System. Trinity operates 46 hospitals, most in Michigan, Iowa and Ohio. Read more »

Medication Mix-ups? Missing Lab Results? Send Us Your Health IT Tips, Stories

Emma Schwartz — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:12:45 +0000

Federal Advisers Recommend Stronger Oversight of Patient Safety, Health Information Technology

Update: Safety Hazards in Electronic Health Records Should Be Reported, Panel Says

Emma Schwartz — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:46:29 +0000

There’s been some movement on the question of what the government should do to make sure electronic health records are safe.

In a conference call meeting Friday, a government advisory panel signaled for the first time that they would support creating a national database and reporting system of patient safety hazards and problems stemming from electronic health records.

“What we’re really saying is we want to make it easy for providers to report unsafe conditions,” said Paul Egerman, co-chair of the panel. Read more »

FDA Asks Hospitals to Report Safety Glitches in Digital Health Systems

Fred Schulte — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:24:23 +0000

In Letter to 350 Health Centers, Agency Signals Growing Concern

Concern over safety risks posed by health information technology has led the Food and Drug Administration to step up scrutiny of the products, including digital medical records systems on which the government plans to spend billions of dollars in coming years.

The FDA last month asked a network of 350 hospitals it set up across the country to report data on potential hazards from a range of computer-assisted medical devices, according to an agency document obtained by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund. Read more »

Stimulus To Push Electronic Health Records Could Widen 'Digital Divide'

Fred Schulte — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:43:39 +0000

Federal Plan May Leave Behind Small Hospitals and Rural Doctors

A year after Congress agreed to spend billions of dollars to encourage a national switch to electronic health records, many doctors and hospitals have grown skeptical of the pace and details of the plan. Read more »

Experts: Safety Oversight Needed as Patient Records Go Digital

Fred Schulte — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:41:28 +0000

Though electronic health records may greatly improve medical care in the future, the technology poses a host of safety concerns that demand attention to protect patients from harm, witnesses told a government panel meeting in Washington on Thursday.

Safety issues are surfacing as the government tees up a plan to spend billions of dollars in stimulus money to help doctors and hospitals adopt the systems. Digitizing medicine is a high priority in the Obama administration’s campaign to reform health care.
Read more »

FDA Considers Regulating Safety of Electronic Health Systems

Fred Schulte — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:03:05 +0000

Reports of Patient Harm Include Six Deaths in Two Years

Concerned about potential safety risks in health information technology, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may be moving closer to regulating the systems for the first time.

In the past two years, the agency has received reports of six patient deaths and several dozen injuries linked to malfunctions in the systems, Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in testimony prepared for a government hearing on Thursday. Read more »

Shopping for Health Software, Some Doctors Get Buyer’s Remorse

Emma Schwartz — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:55:00 +0000

Volatile Industry Prompts Calls for Oversight of Firms’ Financial Strength

Robert Cameron wasn’t much of a technology buff, but the orthopedic surgeon knew he wanted to get rid of all the paper in his nine-physician practice in Pensacola, Fla. So he bought an electronic medical records system from a California-based company called Acermed. Read more »

Switch to Electronic Health Records Could Miss Federal Targets

Fred Schulte — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:04:40 +0000

Cut in Stimulus Spending Suggests Early Estimates Too Optimistic

Federal health officials said Wednesday they have cut billions of dollars from the projected cost of a program to push doctors and hospitals to use electronic medical records, suggesting their previous estimates overstated the number of health care providers likely to adopt the technology.

The goal to create a digital health record for every American in the next five years was first set under President George W. Bush. The project picked up steam in the Obama administration, which regards it as vital to controlling soaring health care costs. Read more »