Do Health Technology Safety Issues Vary by Vendor?

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Device Safety
• Software Engineering

Background:

• Health informatics research has identified various technology-induced errors and safety issues.
• Existing literature effectively categorizes different types of technology-induced errors.
• Limited research has focused on common safety issues and outcomes across vendors for specific technologies like EHRs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the relative similarities and differences in safety issues across specific software and medical device types.
• To inform the development of standardized solutions for managing technology-induced errors.
• To investigate common safety issues and outcomes across vendors for electronic health records (EHRs).

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of safety issue data.
• Literature review of health informatics research on technology-induced errors.
• Vendor-specific data examination for electronic health records (EHRs).

Main Results:

• Identified common safety issues within the same software categories.
• Demonstrated variability in safety issues across different types of software and medical devices.
• Highlighted specific commonalities in safety concerns related to electronic health records (EHRs).

Conclusions:

• Some safety issues are consistently found across similar software types, such as EHRs.
• There is a clear need for standardized approaches to mitigate technology-induced errors in healthcare.
• Further research can lead to improved safety and reliability of health technologies.