Identifying Electronic Health Record Usability And Safety Challenges In Pediatric Settings

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Patient Safety
• Pediatric Care

Background:

• Pediatric patients face unique risks with electronic health records (EHRs), especially concerning medication safety.
• Existing knowledge on specific EHR usability issues contributing to pediatric medication errors is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify specific usability challenges within EHRs that contribute to medication errors in pediatric care.
• To analyze the frequency and nature of these errors and their potential impact on patient harm.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 9,000 patient safety reports from 2012-2017 across three healthcare institutions.
• Categorization of reports to identify EHR-related usability issues and medication events.
• Assessment of potential patient harm associated with identified errors.

Main Results:

• 36% of analyzed reports indicated a usability issue contributing to a medication event.
• 18.8% of these usability-related events had the potential to cause patient harm.
• Common usability challenges included poor system feedback and visual display issues.
• Improper dosing was the most frequent type of medication error observed.
• Similar patterns of usability challenges and medication errors were consistent across all three institutions.

Conclusions:

• EHR usability significantly affects medication safety in pediatric populations.
• System feedback and visual display are critical areas for EHR improvement in pediatric settings.
• Targeted interventions focusing on these usability aspects can mitigate medication errors and enhance child patient safety.