Background and ObjectiveElectronic health records (EHRs) have become ubiquitous in medicine and continue to grow in informational content. Little has been documented regarding patient safety from the resultant information overload. The objective of this literature review is to better understand how information overload in EHR affects patient safety.MethodsA literature search was performed using the Transparent Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standards for literature review. PubMed and Web of Science were searched and articles selected that were relevant to EHR information overload based on keywords.ResultsThe literature search yielded 28 articles meeting the criteria for the study. Information overload was found to increase physician cognitive load and error rates in clinical simulations. Overabundance of clinically irrelevant information, poor data display, and excessive alerting were consistently identified as issues that may lead to information overload.ConclusionsInformation overload in EHRs may result in higher error rates and negatively impact patient safety. Further studies are necessary to define the role of EHR in adverse patient safety events and to determine methods to mitigate these errors. Changes focused on the usability of EHR should be considered with the end user (physician) in mind. Federal agencies have a role to play in encouraging faster adoption of improved EHR interfaces.
Background and Objective: Electronic health records (EHR) have become ubiquitous in medicine and continue to grow in informational content. Little has been documented regarding patient safety from the resultant information overload. The objective of this literature review is to better understand how information overload in EHR affects patient safety.Methods: A literature search was performed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) standards for literature review. PubMed and Web of Science were searched and articles selected that were relevant to EHR information overload based upon keywords. Results: The literature search yielded 31 articles meeting criteria for the study. Information overload was found to increase physician cognitive load and error rates in clinical simulations. Overabundance of clinically irrelevant information, poor data display, and excessive alerting were consistently identified as issues that may lead to information overload. An addition, information overload increased the risk of physician burnout due to clerical burden leading to significantly higher rates of medical error. Conclusion: Information overload in EHR may result in higher error rates and negatively impact patient safety. Further studies are necessary to define the EHR role in adverse patient safety events and to determine methods to mitigate these errors.
Fat-containing masses are the most common solid, soft tissue masses encountered by radiologists and clinicians in everyday practice. The vast majority of these are benign. The imaging appearance of many fat-containing masses is frequently characteristic enough to suggest a specific diagnosis such as lipoma. However, there is a spectrum of benign and malignant fat-containing tumors with overlapping features. It is important to differentiate simple lipomas from well-differentiated liposarcomas due to differences in treatment, prognosis, and long-term follow-up. As molecular markers are increasingly being used for definitive characterization of tumors, we discuss their role and histopathologic characteristics of fat-containing soft tissue masses.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.