Medical eRisk Considerations for Online Communication
The eRisk Guidelines for Online Communication” were originally created by professional liability carriers and medical societies to provide guidance for clinicians regarding their use of information technology (websites, email, etc.) with patients.
The iHealth Alliance – the nonprofit governance board of the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR) Network, which includes representation from liability carriers and medical societies – has agreed to oversee these eRisk guidelines and shepherd their distribution to professional liability carriers, medical societies, government agencies and other partners.
They have been renamed Medical eRisk Considerations for Online Communication and updated to include a new section on electronic health records (EHRs) and social media risks. My co-editors, Drs. Ed Fotsch and Christine Coté of the PDR Network, and I led the editing efforts.
A copy of the updated Medical eRisk Considerations for Online Communication is available online at www.thedoctors.com/erisk.
Electronic Health Record Event Reporting System
An Electronic Health Record (EHR) Event Reporting System has been developed by the iHealth Alliance in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the PDR Network.
The reporting system, which can be found at www.EHRevent.org, was created in response to recognition by the health care industry, liability carriers and the government that there is no national system for reporting issues related to EHR use at a time when the adoption of these electronic systems by doctors and hospitals is exploding.
Using a standardized online form, EHRevent.org will collect information from physicians and other health care providers who work with EHRs, and it will create reports that medical societies, professional liability carriers and the FDA can use to help educate providers as to possible challenges with these electronic systems.
EHRevent.org was modeled after other national reporting systems, including the system used in aviation. Issues can include those related to software problems, inadequate user training, security breaches and near misses.
Reports will be kept confidential through PDR’s designation as a patient safety organization (PSO). Only participating organizations will be able to access the reports, which will be used to better understand challenges with EHR adoption and improve EHR and patient safety.
Data collected by EHRevent.org will also be used by the FDA to help evaluate issues related to EHRs and their use. EHRevent.org will be governed by the iHealth Alliance, with network operations provided by the PDR Network.
In a recent press release, Dr. Nancy Dickey, chair of the iHealth Alliance and former American Medical Association president, explained, “As with any new system, there is a learning curve for the software vendors and for the doctors who use these systems. EHRevent.org will help us all get smarter about EHRs together, and thereby improve patient safety.”
And as an iHealth Alliance board member, I added, “EHRs can play a major role in advancing the practice of good medicine, but there are often unanticipated consequences when new technologies are adopted, and it is important to collect and disseminate EHR user experience.”
Know the label: FDA-approved electronic drug label updates and free CME
Clinically relevant changes to existing prescription labels affect more than 25 percent of drugs yearly. Those changes are important to protecting your practice and to patient safety.
Nationally, nearly 30 percent of medical malpractice suits involve pharmaceuticals, and the FDA-approved labeling is often the standard to which physicians are held in these suits. Physicians can now stay up-to-date with FDA prescribing information through a new online partnership with the FDA, the PDR and The Doctors Company.
The new PDR Network updates physicians on all of the changes electronically, and allows them, immediately after review, to earn continuing medical education (CME) credits at no charge.
The service is delivered to health care providers via the PDR Network website, liability carriers such as The Doctors Company (provider of the CME credits) and EHR systems.
To register, visit www.pdr.net/cme/cme.aspx.
mobilePDR®
The PDR Network recently announced the launch of mobilePDR, the free mobile version of the PDR that is available to prescribers. Compatible with all major mobile platforms, mobilePDR is the digital extension of the PDR, the most widely used physician and prescriber drug information resource used by nearly all doctors’ offices, clinics, hospitals and health care settings nationwide.
mobilePDR includes:
- FDA-approved full drug labeling
- Concise point-of-care information
- Weekly drug updates
All members of The Doctors Company who are M.D.s, D.O.s and N.P.s or P.A.s in full-time patient practice are eligible for a free copy of mobile PDR, which is accessible at www.pdr.net.
Dr. David B. Troxel is the medical director for the Board of Governors of The Doctors Company.
The Doctors Company is relentlessly committed to advancing, protecting and rewarding the practice of good medicine. With the addition of Advocate, MD, we have grown in numbers, talent and perspective, and have solidified our position as the nation’s largest medical malpractice insurer, with 71,000 members and an A rating from both A.M. Best Company and Fitch Ratings. For more information, call 800-686-2734, or visit www.thedoctors.com.
