Although most EHR systems provide graphical tools for presenting information, many do not meet evidence-based criteria for improving lab data comprehension.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that EHRs from eight different systems did not meet criteria established by experts and researchers. One EHR met 10 out of the 11 criteria, but three only met five of the 11. One criterion, the EHR having a graph with y-axis labels that display both the name of the measured variable and the units of measure, was absent from every EHR studied.
One EHR system graphed results in reverse chronological order. Another plotted data at unequally spaced points in time using equally-spaced data points, skewing the final result. These errors could have negative effects on patient safety, the researchers wrote.
The research team, led by Dean F. Sittig, PhD, of the University of Texas School of Biomedical Information, expressed concern about the recent Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumers' Health Act that would exempt regulation of EHRs from the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The intent of the act was to limit the Food and Drug Administration's oversight over EHRs, which is concerning considering significant potential for confusion among clinicians over how EHRs display laboratory data in graphs, they wrote.
"Our study also underscores the need to inform frontline providers, who might depend on graphs in their day-to-day clinical decision-making, to be careful to review the basic components of their EHRs' graphs to ensure they understand exactly what each data point represents," the researchers wrote.