Hybrid workflows — or workflows where a mixture of electronic health records and papers are used for clinical documentation — can contribute to medical errors, according to research published by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, an independent state agency.
For the report, researchers examined 85 cases selected from a prior data set of 3,099 EHR-related incident reports.
According to the report, the use of hybrid workflows led to miscommunication among caregivers. This, in turn, led to medication errors, such as omissions of doses and extra doses.
To avoid these errors, the agency suggested that healthcare organizations focus on a complete transition from paper records to EHRs rather than lingering in the hybrid stage.
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For the report, researchers examined 85 cases selected from a prior data set of 3,099 EHR-related incident reports.
According to the report, the use of hybrid workflows led to miscommunication among caregivers. This, in turn, led to medication errors, such as omissions of doses and extra doses.
To avoid these errors, the agency suggested that healthcare organizations focus on a complete transition from paper records to EHRs rather than lingering in the hybrid stage.
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