We recently came across this story from a CBS affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth about 20-year-old Colton Read, who serves in the Ninth Intelligence Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. He entered the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento to have his gall bladder removed and ended up with his legs amputated. The surgeon accidentally cut Read's aortic artery during surgery, causing Read to lose so much blood that his legs had to be removed.
A long-time federal information technology executive familiar with health systems told Nextgov that cases like this illustrates why we need electronic health records. He wrote to us:
A doctor "practices" an art form. Some are good at it and others are not as good. The biggest thing that can be done is the electronic medical record. Until we can create and search a national database on outcomes and identify failed hospitals, doctors, drug interactions etc. this will continue.
COMMENTS
Based on this preliminary research, there is strong evidence that EMRs are not just good for physicians and patients, they are good for the system too.
Touchworks 11/20/09 06:57 am ET
This true; with electronic medical records we can also track a doctors and hospitals' performance. This would greatly keep tabs on malpractice.
International Travel Medical Insurance 11/03/09 11:45 pm ET
Re: A1C Colton Read, Beale AFB
From "Airman fights for job after surgery mishap" - http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/07/airforce_colton_read_072709af/
"In the 9th (Intelligence) Squadron, Read analyzed the full-motion video fed back from MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers flying over Iraq and Afghanistan."
Just a thought: Colton Read is an intelligence analyst at Beale AFB. If military physical evaluation boards rated deployability and employability separately, Mr. Read would receive 100% VA compensation and keep his "day job" as a civilian employee of the Air Force.
Basil White 07/28/09 09:52 am ET
WHYTHIS is absolutely right - electronic medical records would not have any impact on this situation. Don't know who the "long-time federal information technology executive" is, but they don't seem to have a complete grasp of the situation. Outcomes, drug interactions, failed hospitals and doctors, etc. are already been tracked - and have been for years without electronic medical records. There are some issues with getting complete and accurate information on these items, but they won't be solved simply by automating the patient record. The chances are very good that the surgeon performing this procedure was in training - i.e., a resident or even an intern - and there are no records on that individual's performance anyway. There would be nothing in an electronic medical record that would have prevented this from happening, and there is nothing in an electronic medical record that will prevent this from happening again. This is a quality assurance, risk management and credentialling issue - not an electronic medical record issue. Electronic medical records are necessary for many reasons - but not this one.
HIM Professional 07/24/09 02:47 pm ET
The story of Colton Read's medical tragady and the need for electronic medical records are two mutually exclusive stories and does not lend themselves to supporting one another.
WhyThis 07/24/09 10:54 am ET
The story is shocking and sad. However, this is the first time I've seen a story that relates EMRs with identifying hospitals and doctors for success rates. A larger component of EMRS is to improve patient outcomes by having all of the patient's vital health information immediately available, rather than siloed at various doctor's offices. Also, interoperability so that they can be shared with patients or the information can be added to a patient-created PHR, such as HealthVault or Google Health, would be ideal. However, leading with fails may cause many doctors to be resistant to the idea.
lw 07/23/09 02:12 pm ET