Gone are the days when you would go to the doctors and medical personal would write notes into your chart, which was usually a large manila folder with pages and pages of notes and test results. Today when you visit your doctor, there is typically a laptop or some kind of computer in the examining room where a nurse or doctor will enter in the same information that used to be written by hand. This system is supposed to be safer and more efficient. However, many in the medical field are beginning to question the safety of this system.

Electronic medical records (EMR) are supposed to provide a centralized location for all of a patient’s information and medical history, enabling all of the medical professionals who may be treating the patient to access the information quickly and easily. However, several recent studies have concluded that these records may be causing more harm to the patient than good.

One of the biggest issues uncovered is that doctors are spending so much time filling out the required areas of the online forms and studying the information that the quality and quantity of time actually spent on the patient is suffering. One study determined that doctors are now spending one-third of the time looking at the computer screen and reading the information online. Previously, doctors used to spend about 9 percent of their time with a patient and reading his or her medical chart, with the rest of the time engaging with the patient.

Another study revealed that the average time a doctor now spends talking to a patient is only eight minutes, because they are spending the rest of the time with the patient filling out the online forms. This is also causing physicians to “cut corners” and rushing through patient interviews, often omitting important questions.

Other studies have found that EMRs may lead to preventable errors, such as medication errors, as well as a decrease in the efficiency of the medical staff and facility. There is also a higher risk of incorrect billing to insurance companies, which can drive up healthcare cost.

If you have suffered permanent disabilities or illness due to a diagnostic error, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to discuss your legal options.

When people hear the term “black box” they generally think of the device that is used in airplane disasters which crash investigators retrieve in order to help determine what caused a plane to crash. A black box consists of a cockpit recorder and flight data recorder. However, one Toronto surgeon believes that operating rooms should also have their own black boxes.

Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, who works at St. Michael’s Hospital, has come up with a prototype black box and he has been utilizing it for all of his laparoscopic surgeries. In laparoscopic surgeries, doctors use small video cameras and surgical tools that are placed inside the body. They are considered “minimally invasive” compared to traditional surgeries. Dr. Grantcharov’s goal is to help minimize medical mistakes from occurring in laparoscopic surgeries. Several mistakes that may occur include perforations to the blood vessels, intestines or bowels.

The black box that Grancharov uses records all the conversations taking place in the operating room during surgery, as well as records the footage from the video camera. It also keeps track of decibel and temperature and records an entire view of the operating room.

Currently, when something goes wrong with a patient’s surgery, most hospitals have morbidity and mortality meetings which try to determine what happened based on the limited information they may available. But with the black box method, everything that occurred in the operating room can be viewed, much the same way professional athletes watch footage of games to see where certain plays worked and where they did not work.

Each one of Grancharov’s surgeries are watched by a peer review committee. He performs approximately six surgeries per week. “We define error as very, very minor deviation from the perfect course,” Grantcharov says. “People believe that surgeons are perfect and never make mistakes, and that’s not true, as long as there are humans there will always be mistakes. We have to be more transparent about our business.”

If you have had laparoscopic surgery that resulted in serious surgical errors or complications due to your doctor’s negligence, please contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to discuss any compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss.