EHR systems can affect patient safety, workflows, and user satisfaction depending on how they are designed. Good EHR systems will always present a complete medication list to physicians rather than automatically removing expired medications. Top EHR vendors do not allow automatic removal of medications from patient lists unless done by physicians themselves. Truly integrated and intuitive EHR systems built around patient safety provide physicians with necessary options, while web-based EHRs on a single platform can help reduce costs and improve safety. Not all EHR systems offer beneficial features, and some waste time and money.

1. EHR design matters
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2. EHRs
• Some EHR vendors’ products are affecting patient
safety, workflows and user satisfaction
• One of the most important factors affecting patient
safety is medication list
• A good EHR system would give you complete
medication list every time it is required
• It will not automatically remove a medication from
the list upon expiry
• This assists physicians as it ensures they have all the
knowledge before suggesting new medications for
the patient

3. EHRs
• In EHRs that are not patient-centric, the medication
will automatically disappear from the list when the
prescribed duration elapses
• These EHR vendors will proudly show off this
drawback as a beneficial feature for physicians,
claiming it saves time and hassle
• Most top EHR vendors will not allow their product to
take any medication off the list unless the physicians
do it themselves
• In real life, patients are irregular with their
medications and might not be able to finish the
required dosage on time

4. EHRs
• Health information management systems which are
truly integrated, intuitive and built around patient
safety will always present physicians with the options
they need
• Web-based EHRs built on a single platform are the
ones that truly help care providers in reducing costs
and improve patient safety
• Not all EHRs are offering these features and some of
them are really a waste of time and money but the
ones which stand out are built after years and years
of physician input and innovation

5. Read more on blog.curemd.com
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• http://blog.curemd.com/ehr-design-matters/