How Does EHR Reduce Medical Errors

As a medical aesthetic provider, you pour your heart into caring for your patients. But despite your best efforts, medical errors can still occur - from prescription mix-ups to misdiagnosis of underlying conditions. 

These preventable mistakes don't just harm your patients, they also can erode your reputation and lead to expensive legal issues.

What if you could rely on more than just vigilance to safeguard your patients? At Calysta EMR, we believe leveraging technology is key to avoiding many common medical errors. Our fully integrated electronic health record (EHR) system provides various safety checks and prompts right at the point of care to help you make the right decisions.

How do EHRs help prevent medical errors?

EHRs like Calysta provide several features specifically designed to address these common sources of errors and enhance patient safety:

• Digital prescription writing and in-built checks for dosing, allergies and interactions helps avoid adverse drug events which cause over 100,000 deaths annually.
• Clinical decision support provides patient-specific prompts, warnings, and reminders to aid diagnostic accuracy and prevent complications.
• Clear documentation and seamless access to patient history across care settings prevents critical information from being overlooked.
• Automated alerts, checklists, and care pathway adherence alerts allow more reliable and evidence-based treatment.
• Tracking functionalities help quickly identify errors and fraud, enabling continuous quality improvement.

What are the major causes of medical errors?

Medical errors arise due to multiple reasons - from system flaws to simple human oversights. According to researchers, the most common causes of preventable medical mistakes are:

• Misdiagnosis due to cognitive biases or lack of complete patient information. Diagnostic errors account for around 10% of patient harm.
• Prescribing or dispensing the wrong drug, wrong dose, or erroneous delivery method leading to adverse drug events. One study found that medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people each year in the United States alone.
• Illegible handwriting of prescriptions or progress notes leading to misinterpretation of treatment plans.
• Critical abnormalities or warning signs being missed due to data scattered across siloed systems and paper records.
• Ineffective care coordination, especially during transitions between care settings when patient data does not smoothly flow across all stakeholders.
• Failure to carry out evidence-based best practices consistently across the care team.

How does EHR data help avoid misdiagnosis or testing errors?

Diagnostic errors are estimated to affect 12 million Americans every year. EHRs allow access to complete patient information to help providers avoid misdiagnosis and not overlook critical findings.

Having all of a patient's health information in one place leads to more informed diagnosis. Consolidated problem lists, allergy data, medication history, and lab results give providers a comprehensive view not possible with paper records. 

Relevant data from previous similar cases also helps guide the diagnostic process. Built-in reference materials on symptoms, medications, and care guidelines assist physicians in real time at the point of care. This consolidated and intuitive information empowers providers to make accurate diagnoses.

What role does EHR play in reducing communication gaps in care coordination?

Fragmented communication during care transitions or handoffs is responsible for many breakdowns in the continuity of care. EHRs can help close these dangerous gaps. 

Secure messaging integrated with the EHR allows direct communication between doctors, specialists, pharmacists and other stakeholders, avoiding telephone tag. Discharge summaries, referral letters, care plans and other documents being passed digitally also reduces miscommunication risks.

Updated medication lists reduce likelihood of adverse self-medication post-discharge. According to one study, availability of discharge summaries at first post-discharge visits significantly increased after EHR implementation.

Preventing Patient Harm: How EHRs like Calysta Reduce Medical Errors

From diagnosis to treatment and medication management, our EHR allows you to provide safer, more reliable care every step of the way. Let's look at some of the ways our all-in-one platform helps enhance patient safety:

Seamless Access to Patient History

Consolidated patient records across networks ensures critical information is not overlooked, helping prevent misdiagnosis.

Medication Safety Features

E-prescribing, allergy alerts and dosing prompts significantly reduce chances of adverse drug events.

Evidence-based Treatment Protocols

Built-in care pathways, order sets and checklists standardize treatment and avoid oversights.

Clinical Decision Support

Patient-specific reminders, warnings and test recommendations enhance diagnostic accuracy.

We are dedicated to continually optimizing our platform to proactively address both existing and emerging causes of medical errors. Our customers benefit from being part of an engaged community that collaboratively improves the product.

You chose aesthetics to help patients look and feel their best. Now let technology help you confidently provide the safest care possible. From small clinics to large multi-site practices, Calysta EMR has plans to fit your needs and budget. Sign up today for a personalized demo to see how our EHR solution will make your practice safer.