Medical Malpractice Insurer CRICO Challenges "EMR Complacency" - Or Do They?

In my Feb. 28, 2014 post "Malpractice Claims Analysis Confirms Risks in EHRs" (http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2014/02/patient-safety-quality-healthcare.html) I pointed out that the annual medical malpractice claims related to health IT received by the insurer for the Harvard medical community, one of the world's best users of health IT, represented a significant percentage of the annual med mal claims in the state of Massachusetts.  Many involved serious injury.I also pointed out that the claims themselves represent only a small fraction of total incidents of med mal-related harms (including due to IT), due to the economic realities of med malpractice litigation.In the press release reproduced below, CRICO writes of poor integration and "design deficiencies" - bad health IT - and that "there has been no apparent leader in this field making a concerted effort to design the next generation of EMRs with the physician in mind", and that they hear "significant frustration from physicians related to their experience with EMRs."  However, CRICO does not write of the reasons why these issues are as prevalent as they are.Their claim appears to be, in essence, that these problems will be solved through dialog and "conversation" - in other words, appeals to corporate altruism.Why this industry receives special accommodation even from those who have to pay for their mistakes is beyond me: CRICO Challenges EMR Complacency http://www.rmf.harvard.edu/EMR February 6, ...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: bad health IT CRICO David Ting MD Harvard healthcare IT risk Luke Sato MD Source Type: blogs