threatening allergic reaction when the physician orders a CT scan with IV contrast. (Bártlová et al., 2015)
Another common danger is inaccurate medication lists. Consider anticoagulants, for example. These are important and potentially life-saving medications that can prevent strokes or heart attacks. But if a caregiver is unaware that a patient is taking anticoagulants, they may prescribe another, seemingly unrelated medication (antibiotics for treatment of a minor infection, for example) that could interact with the anticoagulant therapy and cause life-threatening hemorrhaging. (Sean, 2016)
The availability of an accurate past medical history is another crucial piece of a patient medical record. When a physician evaluates a patient’s signs …show more content…
Patients may have multiple duplicate charts throughout a healthcare organization due to simple typographical errors, name misspellings, inaccurate birthdates, language barriers, misinterpretations, misunderstandings, and communication errors between hospital staff, patients, outside caregivers, and family members. And remember, sometimes patients may be confused and unable to provide accurate information due to delirium, shock, dementia, psychosis, intoxication, or drug overdoses or they may even intentionally give inaccurate information for purposes of …show more content…
For example, if a doctor doesn’t know a patient has had a test in the past, he or she may order another CT scan, exposing the patient to unnecessary radiation, risk, and costs for both the patient and the healthcare system. Excessive and duplicate studies are a major problem in the practice of medicine, and without accurate patient identification, it is difficult to properly assess exactly who has had which studies and who needs a new test. Hospitals spend large amounts of money per year in human resources and information technology to sift through patient records after the fact and try to merge duplicate charts and separate out overlay charts. Furthermore, intentional patient misidentification (fraud) and unintentional incorrect patient identifiers lead to major financial losses for hospitals and the healthcare system as a whole, in part due to patient harm, liability and adverse events, inefficiencies in billing, and insurance claims denials. (Bártlová et al., 2015 and Sean,
Another common danger is inaccurate medication lists. Consider anticoagulants, for example. These are important and potentially life-saving medications that can prevent strokes or heart attacks. But if a caregiver is unaware that a patient is taking anticoagulants, they may prescribe another, seemingly unrelated medication (antibiotics for treatment of a minor infection, for example) that could interact with the anticoagulant therapy and cause life-threatening hemorrhaging. (Sean, 2016)
The availability of an accurate past medical history is another crucial piece of a patient medical record. When a physician evaluates a patient’s signs …show more content…
Patients may have multiple duplicate charts throughout a healthcare organization due to simple typographical errors, name misspellings, inaccurate birthdates, language barriers, misinterpretations, misunderstandings, and communication errors between hospital staff, patients, outside caregivers, and family members. And remember, sometimes patients may be confused and unable to provide accurate information due to delirium, shock, dementia, psychosis, intoxication, or drug overdoses or they may even intentionally give inaccurate information for purposes of …show more content…
For example, if a doctor doesn’t know a patient has had a test in the past, he or she may order another CT scan, exposing the patient to unnecessary radiation, risk, and costs for both the patient and the healthcare system. Excessive and duplicate studies are a major problem in the practice of medicine, and without accurate patient identification, it is difficult to properly assess exactly who has had which studies and who needs a new test. Hospitals spend large amounts of money per year in human resources and information technology to sift through patient records after the fact and try to merge duplicate charts and separate out overlay charts. Furthermore, intentional patient misidentification (fraud) and unintentional incorrect patient identifiers lead to major financial losses for hospitals and the healthcare system as a whole, in part due to patient harm, liability and adverse events, inefficiencies in billing, and insurance claims denials. (Bártlová et al., 2015 and Sean,