Two Ways EHR Data Quality Affects A Provider’s Care

One of the driving forces behind widespread electronic health record (EHR) adoption has been the mission to improve safety. When physicians have easy, consistent access to a patient’s pertinent current and historical medical data, they are much better equipped to provide the highest quality care. Yet, as noted in a recent Informatics for Health and Social Care study, while, overall, clinical staff noted that EHR use reduced medication errors and improved clinical documentation, they expressed concerns that issues with data quality, due to entry errors or technical problems, could negate those improvements.