Electronic health record systems may present a significant risk to the health and safety of pediatric patients, especially when it comes to the administering of medications.
That’s the finding of a new study published in the journal Health Affairs based on the analysis of pediatric patient safety event reports, gathered from three healthcare systems, related to EHRs and medication.
Of 9,000 analyzed pediatric reports, 36 percent described a medication error that was related to EHR usability, and in 18.8 percent of cases, the error reached the patient—many of which might have resulted in harm—with the most common type of medication error being an overdose or underdose.
