EHRs linked to errors, harm, AMA says

A new AMA report on patient safety in ambulatory care finds that safety problems are widespread but that little is known about which problems cause the most harm. Among the uncertainties cited by the AMA researchers is the contribution of electronic health records (EHRs) to patient safety. The report cites studies indicating that EHRs encourage providers to "copy and paste" clinical data and that they support "automatic behavior" rather than careful reasoning and analysis.