While progress has been made in the realm of patient safety over the past two decades, medical harm remains a leading cause of death worldwide, making it a public health concern. As many as 250,000 to 400,000 US deaths annually are blamed on errors or preventable harm, and an estimated 40% of patients experience mostly preventable harm in ambulatory and primary care settings.

Embracing this year’s Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 9-15) theme, Moving the Needle, allows healthcare-related organizations – including EHR and other health IT developers – to focus on continuous improvement and ensure that patient safety becomes part of standard practice.

“Physicians are always working to provide effective care while minimizing risk. The same is true when EHR systems are being built; software developers want to create systems that empower users without inadvertently introducing patient safety concerns. Patient safety can never be an afterthought. It must be considered with everything we do,” says Michael Blackman (Greenway Health), MD, Chair of the EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup.

“Physicians are always working to provide effective care while minimizing risk. The same is true when EHR systems are being built; software developers want to create systems that empower users without inadvertently introducing patient safety concerns. Patient safety can never be an afterthought. It must be considered with everything we do.”

The EHR Association Prioritizes Patient Safety

Patient safety is an EHR Association priority and the core focus of our Patient Safety Workgroup, which convenes member companies and other stakeholders to advance the safe use of EHRs. It is also central to the work of our 11 other Workgroups and Task Forces. 

“The EHR Association actively works to support all EHR vendors’ consideration of patient safety and provides a forum to help address these issues on an industry-wide basis. As technology advances, we will continue evaluating and advising on safety concerns while leveraging new tools that can support improved clinical outcomes.”

As a best practice, safety must be considered from the earliest stages of the development and regulatory process, including all aspects of EHR use. Software developers’ patient safety commitments aim to ensure patients get the best possible care and deliver a clinician experience free from undue burden. Achieving this requires collaboration to share experiences related to patient safety and the reduction of errors. 

“The EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup presents our members with the opportunity to collectively work together to center patient safety at the forefront of important industry initiatives, including AI, interoperability, consent, and sensitive data management.”

“The EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup presents our members with the opportunity to collectively work together to center patient safety at the forefront of important industry initiatives, including AI, interoperability, consent, and sensitive data management,” says Marijo Carnino (MEDITECH), Vice Chair, EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup. 

To that end, the Patient Safety Workgroup actively monitors, contributes to, and engages with federal agencies, patient safety organizations, trade associations, professional societies, liability carriers, academics, and other stakeholders to promote a culture of safety in health IT and a non-punitive national learning system. It is also committed to: 

• Product design, development, and deployment in support of patient safety, basing our work on recognized standards and guidelines. 
• Participation with clients, Patient Safety Organizations, and other recognized bodies in reporting, reviewing, and analyzing health IT-related patient safety events. 
• Sharing best practices for safe development, deployment, implementation, maintenance, and use of our products and services.
• Notifying clients and offering solutions when a software issue is identified that could materially affect patient safety. 
• Recognizing the value of user participation in discussions about patient safety in appropriate venues. 

Patient Safety Requires Ongoing Attention

Patient Safety is a multi-stakeholder effort that requires commitment from all corners. Providers, patients, healthcare organizations, human factors and usability experts, technology and security experts, and policymakers bring unique perspectives on ensuring patient safety in an evolving, complex, data-rich system. 

Says Carnino, “While we each can contribute individually to moving the needle, collaborating and sharing our expertise allows us to multiply those advancements.”