Medical errors cause more than 250,000 deaths annually, a problem that can be addressed by leveraging modern technologies to coordinate care efforts and ensure stakeholders all have the data they need to keep patients healthy. Simple data management errors can lead to mistakes that put patients at risk.
The healthcare sector has long dealt with disparate data management and distribution across industry segments and distinct care provider environments. As a result, different records management procedures are often in place within hospital networks, let alone between differentorganizations. Throw in a continued dependence on paper records in some settings and entrenched silos within care environmentsand you are left with a confusing data climate for clinical staff to navigate.
The widespread move to electronic medical record systems (EMRs) has proven to be a step in the right direction when it comes to improving data quality in the healthcare industry. However, this has only been the beginning. Many EMRsdo not integrate with others, and plenty ofhospital networks are still working to integrate relevant patient data across the various data management systems they use. Even getting a digital image of a test result to a physician in another department can be a problem, especially when regulatory guidelines must be taken into account.
All of these factors create an environment in which healthcare companies need tools to consolidate, standardize and automate data sharing across departments. Rules-based systems can maintain compliance for organizations, giving them the combination of control and flexibility they need to wrangle data and prevent errors.
Want to learn how? Check out the infographic below to get more details on why data plays such a major role in medical errors and learn what you can do to nip the problem in the bud.
For even more information read the Stop the Silent Killer: How the Right Medical Tech can Eliminate Medical Errors eBook.
