Key to Safety Features in the Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have posed a new challenge for hospital registration, EMS and hospital staff. Getting the patient into the electronic health record, accurately and immediately poses logistical challenges as well as potential conflict when there is a perception of delayed care. In today’s emergency registration environment - the arriving patient is met with questions- related to demographics- as well as gathering the reason for visit. Patients, their families, EMS and hospital staff struggle with this process.

The goal of this training is to heighten awareness of the critical function of ED registration to get patient demographic information quickly and accurately while allowing the care teams the ability to care of the patient.

Handing off patient care and patient information is a critical point during a patient’s entry into an Emergency Department. Presenting a standard process for data hand-off from EMS to Emergency Department registration is key to safe and timely patient care by reducing medical errors and unnecessary delays in patient care. The Public Information & Education Resource (PIER) committee under the Metropolitan Boston Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Council (MA EMS Region IV) has created the following patient safety initiative.

Many studies have shown the collection of this important patient data is often incomplete and inaccurate leading to medical errors. Reasons cited are the process of collecting this information, which often involves writing patient demographics on a glove or scrap of paper, and then arriving to a busy emergency department with competing questions coming from different directions.

Ensuring patient safety, and timely care, requires ED and EMS coordination with hospital registration staff. The patient’s safety relies on EMS, the patient and the patient’s family to provide accurate information to hospital registration staff. Correctly spelled Name, the patient’s DOB and phone number are typically enough to correctly register the patient. In some occasions patients, may have similar names and may require additional information.

This project is focused on the quick registration process - not full registration.

 

Key to Safety Features in the Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Register the Correct Patient

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Download a copy of our quick registration form. 

The MBEMSC and the PIER Committee advise all EMS providers to collaborate with the registration staff for the best process at your site for quickly registering patients. Our goal is to work with ED registration staff and EMS providers to create an awareness. We also welcome feedback, and look forward to collaborating with everyone to make the initative as successful as possible.