Electronic Records Mitigate Against Malpractice

Electronic health records appear to significantly reduce the risk of malpractice claims, according to a study published this month in JAMA’S Archives of Internal Medicine.
 
In a study of 189 Massachusetts physicians in 2005 and 2007, the researchers found the rate of claims filed against physicians using EHRs was just one-sixth the rate of those not using EHRs. 
 
“While this study includes only a small number of post-EHR claims, it suggests that implementation of EHRs may reduce malpractice claims and, at the least, appears not to increase claims as providers adapt to using EHRs,” the authors concluded. “The reduction in claims seen in this study among physicians who adopted EHRs lends support to the push for widespread implementation of health information technology.”
 
The researchers speculated that the ability to properly document diagnoses and treatment in EHRs may be a factor in doctors successfully defending themselves against malpractice claims, and in reducing the risk of errors.
 
They also said “unmeasured factors” could play a role in the apparent six-fold reduction in malpractice claims. “For example, physicians who were early adopters of EHRs may exhibit practice patterns that make them less likely to have malpractice claims, independent of EHR adoption; these early adopters contribute a disproportionate amount of time in our analyses, favoring an effect of EHRs on reducing malpractice claims.”
 
The study was conducted by Dr. Mariah A. Quinn, Allyson M. Kats, Ken Kleinman, Dr. David W. Bates and Dr. Steven R. Simon of the VA Boston Healthcare System and Brigham and Women's Hospital.