A Medical Device Recall of an EHR-like Product

The recent recall (links below) for McKesson’s Anesthesia Care system raises interesting questions about potential information system failure modes as well as what system/software functions cross the imaginary line between unregulated EHRs and regulated medical devices. First the facts. The FDA announced McKesson’s voluntary recall of its Anesthesia Care system in several on-line (here, here and here)  postings. This trio of postings is interesting because the first links only to the second, the second does not link to either of the other two. The third also does not link to the other two, and was not part of any of the announcements, but it is the most complete. The statement of the reason for the recall is that, “There was an occurrence where the patient case data did not match the patient data when the case was recalled in the anesthesia care record (ACR) in that it included data from another case.” It was further noted that, “Use of this affected product may cause serious adverse health consequences, including death.”  In the third link the FDA identifies the product as, “…a computer based system which collects, processes, and records data both through manual entry and from monitors which themselves are attached to patients, such as in the operating room environment. The system provides clinical decision support by communicating potential Adverse Drug Event alerts proactively during the pre-anesthesia evaluation and at the point-of-care...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tags: Healthcare IT Standards & Regulatory EMR regulation FDA recall Source Type: blogs