More Study Needed for EHR Safety

Dr. David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology, said last week that an advisory committee investigating reports of adverse events and patient injuries from the use of electronic health records submitted their report to him about three weeks ago. The message: We need to study it more.

During his speech at the Health Information Technology conference in Boston last week, Blumenthal said the government and the private sector should "make sure we proceed thoughtfully and carefully" with EHRs. But, as ComputerWorld reported, he added:

There was no question that the introduction of electronic health systems improve patient safety. The issue was how do we introduce those systems in ways that are as safe as possible.