Lane 3

Will EMR Give Us Tort Reform?

Currently a doctor may be exposed to a malpractice suit if he overlooks something in a patient’s file and the individual suffers because of it. Now imagine that the doctor is hooked up to a national electronic medical records (EMR) database which includes all of that patient’s records – from all the doctors he has ever seen. Is the current doctor going to be held liable for missing a key piece of information held in the volumes of past doctor notations?

Ahhh, the law of unintended consequences. Is this an avenue for tort reform? Here’s to Hope…