A recent RAND report discussing various innovations within the healthcare industry points out that while electronic health records have been shown to improve patient care they are also a new source of medical errors.
The extent of the issue has not been able to be quantified, as EHR vendors rarely share information about glitches or other problems with regulatory bodies. Because "gag clauses" in vendor contracts consider data on potential safety issues proprietary information, the Food and Drug Administration or other body is unable to monitor the situation or offer solutions.
Despite the lack of hard data, the RAND report asserts EHR-related medical errors are on the rise. RAND's findings are supported by recent literature as well as a report from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which found "numerous" patient safety incidents stemmed from EHRs in 2013.
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