Technology

Lawyers Smell Blood in EMR – Computerworld

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

One recent lawsuit involved a patient who suffered permanent kidney damage when he was given an antibiotic to treat what was thought to be an infection resulting in elevated creatinine levels. The patient was also suffering a uric kidney stone, which precludes the use of the antibiotic. Because of the complexity of the EHR, none of the attending physicians noticed the kidney stone.

Detracting from the EMR’s validity was the fact that a date related to a previous intravenous drip was repeated over and over on all 3,000 pages of the record.

While his physicians claimed they’d documented his care properly, the EMR was so complex and filled with repetitive data, the judge found it in inadmissible. “When an electronic medical record is printed out, the amount of repetitive data in it is ridiculous,” Klein said. “Attorneys are having conferences on how to attack EMRs.

“All these cases were from top vendors. We’re talking about well-established ones used at Kaiser [Permanente], at the VA… and academic institutions,” Klein continued. “These are not rare cases. These are common things.”

“We’ve seen 92-year-old women getting diagnosed as crack addicts because of drop down menus.”

via Lawyers smell blood in electronic medical records | Computerworld.

In my daily work I see more f**k ups in electronic medical records than I’ve seen my entire career.  Et tu?

Kids Ignored When Caregivers Are Hung Up With Phones

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Using a mobile device during meals in fast-food restaurants made caregivers less attentive to the small children they were with, researchers reported.

During a non-participation, observational study, caregivers who were absorbed with typing and swiping on mobile devices during meals at fast-food restaurants spent less time paying attention to the child or children (ages 0 to 10) in their care and often reacted harshly to misbehavior or bids for attention, according to Jenny S. Radesky, MD, of Boston Medical Center, and colleagues.

 

In the case of one absorbed caregiver, the child’s bid for attention was met with a kick under the table. With another, the child was trying to pull the caregiver’s face away from the screen, and the caregiver physically pushed the child’s hands away from her face.

via Kids Ignored When Caregivers Are Hung Up With Phones.

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”

OK, put the phone down and keep your hands where I can see them.  Now turn the damn thing off and pay some attention to your kids.

Or you can just kick them.