As an attorney in the field of medical malpractice, I am exposed daily to electronic medical records (EMR). Although EMR offers laudible benefits, such as legibility and easy electronic transmission of records from one medical provider to another, it can also cause serious and potentially life threatening inaccuracies to be recorded due to the configuration of the software which provides for default entries.
For example, in a recent case involving a delay in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, I received a copy of the EMR from my client’s optometrist which stated that she had no systemic diseases and described in great detail a normal and healthy retina. My client insisted to me that she never would have denied that she was diabetic and her retina surgeon told me that there is no possibility that the description of the retina was accurate.
