According to an article in the MercuryNews.com, an incident occured that could have let to a patient receiving a potentially fatal dose of heart medication as recommended by the facility’s EMR (electronic health record).  Luckily a nurse familiar with the patient’s condition recognized the error and administered the correct dose of Digoxin.  Apparently this was one of many incidents in the month old program.

The cost of this system?  45 million dollars…

The EPIC system integrates the county health system records with that of the detention medical records. The system led to 142 nursing complaints in July alone.

With the rush to achieve meaningful use and advance EHR/EMR adoption, it’s critically important to acknowledge the value in having trained professional staff.  The software that is used is a tool, not a replacement for healthcare practitioners. It becomes glaring clear when after spending $45 million dollars there are an unprecedented amount of complaints regarding patient safety.

EPIC is arguably one of the largest EMR vendors, so it seems size nor money is any guarantee of patient safety.  It’s still buyer beware.

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