In today's hospitals, the use of electronic medical records has greatly enhanced the speed and efficiency of medical care, but electronic records do have some intrinsic risk. While medical errors have been reduced by the healthcare industry, data leaks and poor human-computer interactions are still a problem relating to electronic medical records.

Medical malpractice is a serious risk when medication errors or a failure to detect a life-threatening condition occurs in electronic records. This is why the government should be required to report patient deaths and injuries that are related to poor implementation of electronic records, states a panel of experts from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

The federal government is spending $27.4 billion over six years to encourage the medical industry to convert to electronic medical records in order to improve patient safety. Unfortunately, reporting of potential problems with electronic health records has been difficult, which undermines potential safety gains.

Most vendors do not exchange safety information with their providers, so reports of potential problems have been limited. However, industry leaders such as Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society do support the creation of an optimal reporting tool to collect and analyze potential problems related to the use of health information technology.

The IOM states that the US Department of Health and Human Services should have a plan in place within 12 months that will minimize the risks related to electronic medical records. If progress has not been made, the institute states that the Food and Drug Administration should step in and regulate the use of electronic medical records.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, "Safety risks tied to electronic health records need scrutiny" Nov. 13, 2011