Fewer Malpractice Payouts Linked To Electronic Health Records
Posted by
Chrissie ColeFebruary 04, 2009 11:55 AMTags:
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A new report, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests electronic health records (EHRs) reduce the amount of malpractice payouts.
Researchers found that of the doctors who used EHRs, 6.1 percent had a history of malpractice settlement history compared with 10.8 percent of doctors still relying on paper.
For the study, researchers surveyed participating doctors and examined settlement data from the Massachusetts state medical board. 379 of the 1,140 respondents had a history of one or more malpractice payouts during the preceding ten years.
Consistency of EHR use also had an inverse relationship with malpractice settlements: 5.7% of those physicians who used their systems most had payouts compared with 12.1% of the doctors who used their systems least. However, in analyses that controlled for sex, race, year of medical school graduation, specialty, and practice size, the relationship was no longer statistically significant.
While the results are inconclusive, doctors with EHRs appear less likely to have paid malpractice claims, conclude the study authors.
If the further research confirms the findings, it could result in lower premiums for doctors who use EHRS and in government subsidies to help finance HER adoption.