By Ken Congdon
![]()
Health IT has been getting some bad ink again lately. Most notably, a “flaw” in the Epic EHR in use at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas was initially blamed for the failure of clinicians to immediately hospitalize the first U.S. Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. According to an initial statement by Texas Health Resources, the intake nurse had documented Duncan’s recent stay in Africa in the EHR, but this critical travel information was not designed to automatically appear in the physician’s workflow. As a result, the ER physicians never saw this important detail and never considered it as part of their diagnosis. Duncan was initially sent home with antibiotics, only to return to the ER a few days later in much worse condition. As we all know, he ultimately died from Ebola.
![]()
Health IT has been getting some bad ink again lately. Most notably, a “flaw” in the Epic EHR in use at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas was initially blamed for the failure of clinicians to immediately hospitalize the first U.S. Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. According to an initial statement by Texas Health Resources, the intake nurse had documented Duncan’s recent stay in Africa in the EHR, but this critical travel information was not designed to automatically appear in the physician’s workflow. As a result, the ER physicians never saw this important detail and never considered it as part of their diagnosis. Duncan was initially sent home with antibiotics, only to return to the ER a few days later in much worse condition. As we all know, he ultimately died from Ebola.
The next day, Texas Health Resources mysteriously tweaked its story in a second statement, saying that Duncan’s travel history was not only documented, but available to the full care team at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Some insiders believe the provider was strong-armed by Epic to change its tune. Others believe the health system was trying to use the EHR as a scapegoat for procedural errors by the hospital and its staff. At any rate, this event has brought nationwide attention to the often tumultuous relationship between clinicians and technology.
Whether technology played a part in Duncan’s Ebola misdiagnosis may still be in question, but what can no longer be ignored is the fact that health IT has to get better.
Whether technology played a part in Duncan’s Ebola misdiagnosis may still be in question, but what can no longer be ignored is the fact that health IT has to get better. Moreover, how healthcare providers leverage and incorporate IT into their day-to-day processes needs to improve — dramatically. For example, the most common complaint from physicians regarding EHR technology is that it slows them down. It impedes their workflow and hinders their interactions with patients. Is the nature and design of EHR technology itself to blame for this unfavorable side effect? In part. There is no question that EHR manufacturers need to do a better job to ensure their products minimize the amount of manual data entry required by physicians. That being said, the technology itself is not entirely at fault. Providers need to optimize their own internal processes to make best use of the technology at hand. Technology is just a tool. It’s not a magic bullet.
The healthcare industry is still far behind others in terms of its use and experience with IT. A lot of the solutions in use are still in their infancy and largely foreign to providers. Health IT will continue to evolve, and as such, the value of the technology will continue to improve. As is true in most scenarios, a few key visionaries will lead the healthcare industry down this path of IT realization and optimization. From our standpoint, this brand of health IT leader was worthy of special distinction, and that’s where we came up with the idea for the Health IT Change Agent cover feature for this issue. Please take the time to review the individuals and organizations recognized on the following pages. Their drive, passion, and accomplishments to date should give us all confidence that health IT is getting better every day.
Health IT has been getting some bad ink again lately. Most notably, a “flaw” in the Epic EHR in use at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas was initially blamed for the failure of clinicians to immediately hospitalize the first U.S. Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. According to an initial statement by Texas Health Resources, the intake nurse had documented Duncan’s recent stay in Africa in the EHR, but this critical travel information was not designed to automatically appear in the physician’s workflow. As a result, the ER physicians never saw this important detail and never considered it as part of their diagnosis. Duncan was initially sent home with antibiotics, only to return to the ER a few days later in much worse condition. As we all know, he ultimately died from Ebola.
Health IT has been getting some bad ink again lately. Most notably, a “flaw” in the Epic EHR in use at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas was initially blamed for the failure of clinicians to immediately hospitalize the first U.S. Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. According to an initial statement by Texas Health Resources, the intake nurse had documented Duncan’s recent stay in Africa in the EHR, but this critical travel information was not designed to automatically appear in the physician’s workflow. As a result, the ER physicians never saw this important detail and never considered it as part of their diagnosis. Duncan was initially sent home with antibiotics, only to return to the ER a few days later in much worse condition. As we all know, he ultimately died from Ebola.
