A recent study published in JAMA found that 50% of all patient notes in electronic medical records comprise text copied from previous notes. This is a manifestation of the problem of “bloat” in patient notes, which has long been a concern for doctors. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has launched a project to reduce patient documentation by 25% by 2025, and is calling on providers and health systems, health IT vendors, and policy and advocacy groups to join the effort. One of the reasons for the prevalence of duplicates is that doctors often copy text from previous notes to avoid having to look back through the record, but this can lead to inconsistencies in data, which can interfere with automated analysis and lead to incorrect treatment.
Read more about “note bloat” and how Cumberland Heights is leveraging technology, including the EMR, to reduce documentation woes.
Access the full article here. (8 minute read)
