Electronic health records (EHRs) give you and your practice access to patients’ information quickly, easily, and – perhaps most importantly – safely.
But that only works if your EHR is implemented and optimized for patient safety.
For example, does your practice have a system for backing up patient records in case all or part of your EHR is unavailable? Or are you certain that patient information is recorded accurately – even for patients with the same name or who live in the same household?
To help your practice safely use your EHR, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released SAFER Guides.
Each of the guides, which were co-authored by Houston internist Hardeep Singh, MD, contains 10 to 25 recommendations for mitigating or minimizing EHR-related safety hazards. Topics include:
- High-priority practices, such as determining which safety measures to address first;
- Organizational responsibilities;
- Contingency planning;
- System configuration;
- System interfaces;
- Patient identification;
- Computerized provider order entry with decision support;
- Test results reporting and follow-up; and
- Clinician communication.
Check out each SAFER Guide, with interactive references and supporting materials, online, or review the entire ONC Health IT Playbook to learn how all team members can work together to make health information technology work for the practice.
For further questions on health information technology, contact the TMA HIT Helpline at (800) 880-5720 or by email.
Last Updated On
March 13, 2018
Originally Published On
March 13, 2018