Previous studies have shown just a small fraction of physicians voluntarily submit reports on adverse events to the FDA. The EMR’s automated system made sure the adverse event was reported, a study in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety found.
For example, when a physician recorded discontinuing a medication because a patient experienced an adverse event, the electronic patient record system generated an alert, asked the physician whether the side effect was serious and submitted a report to regulators.
About one in five of the automated reports involved serious side effects, such as hospitalizations, researchers at Massachusetts General and Brigham & Women’s hospitals in Boston said.
Read the Wall Street Journal report on EMRs.
Read more coverage on EMRs and adverse events:
– Improving Medication Reconciliation With EMRs: Insight from John Klimek of NCPDP
– How Hospitals Can Benefit From EHR Implementation: Q&A With Alan Portela, President of CliniComp
– 5 Ways Hospitals Will Change Over the Next 10 Years
