Excessive E-Communication Can Overwhelm Doctors

Many hospitals use electronic medical records to increase efficiency and reduce errors. However, the new systems may be overloading doctors with nonessential communications, cutting into the time they need to handle real and pressing patient safety issues.

That is the finding of a recent survey of doctors. Many of those surveyed reported missing important information like patient test results because they were too busy handling less urgent information being transmitted on their screens.

The survey included 2,600 doctors, and of these, more than a third reported that they had missed important patient information because of distractions from electronic communication.

An electronic medical record system increases the speed and efficiency with which people in a hospital can communicate with each other. It unfortunately also increases the amount of unnecessary or non-vital information that is transmitted to doctors.

The electronic systems in many hospitals can send alerts to doctors who may find it difficult to sift through unnecessary messages. As many as 87 percent of the doctors in the survey said they received far too many alerts, with the average doctor reporting 63 alerts in a day. As many as 67 percent reported that they received more alerts than they can handle.

The Seattle surgical error lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC believe these problems can be solved. Doctors and electronic record system providers can collaborate to reduce unnecessary communication that is generated by the systems.

The Seattle medical malpractice lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC represent victims of medical negligence by doctors, nurses, technicians and other medical personnel across Seattle.