Experts say electronic health record data present new challenges for health care organizations because such information can be used as legal representation of patients’ health conditions and treatment, InformationWeek reports.
Health IT stakeholders discussed concerns associated with the use of EHR data in legal settings this week at an American Health Information Management Association summit in Chicago.
EHRs in Court
Stacey Cischke — an attorney who teaches at Loyola University Chicago — said that an increasing number of courts are saying that metadata and “access to the inner workings of the EHR system” can be relevant and discoverable in judicial proceedings.
Adam Greene — a partner in the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine — said there are “all sorts of liability fears” that come with EHR use, including the concern that EHR access logs could be used in malpractice suits. HIPAA rules require those who handle EHR data to log access to information that is personally identifiable.
Cischke added that physicians and nurses sometimes can be “overwhelmed” by time or economic constraints, which could lead to incomplete information in an EHR. However, unlike paper-based records, EHRs generally do not allow alterations after a physician signs off on the record of a patient visit.
Cischke recommended that health care providers work to identify potential lawsuits and promote consistency in how they produce reports and react to legal action. She said internal and external counsel and staff should learn about how EHR systems work (Versel, InformationWeek, 8/17).
