EHRs More Frequently Factor Into Medical Malpractice Claims, Study Finds

The pace of electronic health record (EHR)-related medical malpractice claims has tripled from 2010 to 2018, according to a recent analysis from The Doctors Company, a physician-owned medical malpractice insurance company.

The company uncovered that the frequency of these claims tripled, growing from just seven cases in 2010 to an average of 22.5 cases per year in 2017 and 2018. While EHRs are not often the primary cause of claims—they typically are described as “contributing” factors—and the frequency of claims with an EHR factor continues to be low (1.1 percent of all claims closed since 2010), as EHRs approach near-universal adoption, they may become a more prevalent source of risk, researchers noted.

As such, the study aims to shed light on potential risks they may pose in care delivery, as well as the top factors that contributed to the claims. The study showed that EHR-related claims were caused by either system technology and design issues or by user-related issues, such as EHR failures; lack of or failure of an EHR alert or alarm; fragmented record; insufficient scope/area for documentation in the EHR; failure/lack of electronic routing of data; lack of integration/incompatible systems; and failure to ensure information security.