Electronic Records Mitigate Against Malpractice

John Pulley | NextGov | June 29, 2012

Electronic health records appear to significantly reduce the risk of malpractice claims, according to a study published this month in JAMA’S Archives of Internal Medicine.
 In a study of 189 Massachusetts physicians in 2005 and 2007, the researchers found the rate of claims filed against physicians using EHRs was just one-sixth the rate of those not using EHRs.

“While this study includes only a small number of post-EHR claims, it suggests that implementation of EHRs may reduce malpractice claims and, at the least, appears not to increase claims as providers adapt to using EHRs,” the authors concluded. “The reduction in claims seen in this study among physicians who adopted EHRs lends support to the push for widespread implementation of health information technology.”...