Promoting Patient Safety Through Effective Health Information Technology Risk Management.
This report evaluates the implementation of a quality improvement initiative designed to characterize, track, and mitigate adverse events related to health information technology (IT). Investigators sought to determine challenges to engaging in identifying and addressing safety risks related to health IT in 11 health care organizations, and this publication outlines experiences and lessons learned from participating institutions. The authors call for greater awareness of safety risks related to health IT, better cooperation between risk management and health IT departments, identification of safety measures for health IT, incentives for health IT developers and vendors to improve health IT safety, and increased investment in risk management, health IT, and safety in ambulatory settings. The recommendations in this report serve as a blueprint for future practice and policy efforts to augment safety in the era of electronic health records.