Patient Safety Issues From Information Overload in Electronic Medical Records
Electronic health records (EHRs) are in use in various countries and gaining more and more popularity in part, because of the patient safety. Nonetheless, the ones who use it on daily basis, namely physicians, have a major complaint- the irrelevant and excessive patient information in each medical chart. This effect comprehension and may lead to potential errors. Systematic review published in the Journal of Patient Safety aimed to evaluate the connection between EHR information and patient safety. Authors included 29 articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were able to conclude that EHR information overload negatively impacts patient safety. The solutions to improve this situation include customizable electronic chart, shortened clinical notes and reduced alerting. Such product usability may minimize cognitive load on physicians and ultimately improve patient safety.