Author, publisher: Genevra Pittman, Reuters health

Title of material: Electronic records tied to fewer malpractice claims

Date published: June 2, 2!"2 #"$%
&ull website: &irst article: http:''www%reuters%com'article'2!"2'!'2'us(records(
malpractice(id)*+RE,-P"E.2!"2!2
Genevra Pittman is a /edical Journalist at Reuters 0ealth% *he has written numerous
health and medical articles for established news companies such as: Reuters 0ealth and
The +oston Globe, showin1 her e2tensive 3nowled1e in the medical field% Also, her articles
are fre4uentl5 reproduced b5 established news media such as 6ahoo news, +enton
&oundation etc%
1
, which su11ests the reliabilit5 of her articles are entrusted b5 these
cooperations and is li3el5 to be reliable%
This article was published b5 Reuters 0ealth, under 7ournalism compan5 Thomson
Reuters, and is dedicated to providin1 dail5 brea3in1 news covera1e of the 1lobal
pharmaceutical, medical and consumer health sectors since 2!"!% Thomson Reuters has
won numerous awards in the 7ournalism field
2
since their establishment in ",-", as
reco1nition for their wor3% The5 are world renamed for their e2pertise and it is li3el5 that an
article published b5 such a well established compan5 is reliable% Also, Reuters have
resources and would have underta3en utmost efforts to ensure the accurac5 and reliabilit5
of the article%
Althou1h this article is based on the )* conte2t, this article is relevant to the *in1apore
conte2t as the medical facilities in developed countries are similar and comparable% 8n
1 Worldnews.com , DoctorsLounge, NewzChannel, BioPortfolio TopNewsToda.org
! Top "onors in the !#1! Best of the National Law $ournal ,National Press Clu%
&ward ,'nline (edia &wards !#1! ,)th &nnual We%% &wards
addition, this article was published ver5 recentl5 on June 2, 2!"2, ma3in1 it relevant and
current to the present conte2t%
The first article asserts that doctors who use medical records are less li3el5 to 1et sued
than doctors who use traditional paper records #para1raph "$ as usin1 electronic health
records #E0Rs$ can lessen mista3es made throu1h the use of technolo15 #para1raph ,$%
Also, the chances of doctors losin1 the patients9 medical records, which ma5 cause
problems in future dia1nosis of illnesses, is at minimum% This prompted me to create an
online database to allow doctors to store E0Rs% .ith this database, patients can access
their medical records on the platform with passwords to chec3 their prescriptions and
chec3up dates, as well as the effects of their prescriptions to better understand their
conditions% .ith this s5stem, the transfer of data from one doctor to another when the
patient is switchin1 doctors will be 1reatl5 facilitated% &urthermore, to ma3e this s5stem
more secure, the platform will be setup and protected b5 1overnment health a1encies
which have the responsibilit5 and resources to improve medical facilities in sin1apore%
Also, advanced s5stems can be installed on to the database platform to scan the E0Rs to
ensure that dru1s prescribed do not interact adversel5% .hen a doctor 3e5s in a new
prescription on to the patient9s record, a medicine scanner will warn the doctors if new
dru1 will affect earlier prescriptions, avoidin1 possible mista3es in prescription% This will be
e2tremel5 useful in ma3in1 up for miscommunications when the patient switches doctors%
8n addition, the article also mentions that the E0Rs ma5 be used in court as a means to
monitor the doctors9 actions#para1raph "-$% This shows that written records are more clear
and reliable
*
as the5 can not be altered when reproduced b5 humans, unli3e verbal
instructions, which minimi:es an5 distortion in its meanin1% This lead me to propose that
* (edical records +anne,!- from (edical Protection .ociet +(P.- .ingapore
doctors 1ive written health reports containin1 dia1nosis and instructions # which the5 do
not in the present
;
$to patients to reduce misunderstandin1 in instructions% Also, since
patients can better understand their conditions throu1h detailed reports instead of verbal
instructions which the5 ma5 for1et or seem less si1nificant with the passin1 of time, the5
will reali:e more of the si1nificance and necessit5 in ta3in1 their medication on time and
listen to the doctor9s instructions on livin1 habits% This will reduce the medical non(
adherence on the patients< part%
-=! words
/ (edical records +anne,!- from (edical Protection .ociet +(P.- .ingapore