Improving Patient Safety through Health IT

Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care, a report commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), reaffirms years of studies dating back to the seminal IOM reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm that underscored the tremendous potential of health IT to improve patient care and safety. While the IOM report today recognizes the early safety successes of EHRs, including how computerized drug prescribing has significantly reduced the number of patients receiving incorrect medications, it also highlights how some of the complexities associated with EHRs have introduced new risks into the system. The report also highlights the importance of health IT to continuously improving health care quality and safety by rapidly and reliably flagging potential patient safety risks and preventing adverse events in the clinical setting.