Need for Immediate Action to Eliminate Gag Clauses in EHR Contracts

I have blogged frequently about the gag clauses that have been a standard part of EHR contracts for decades (see, for example:Physician& Nurse Involvement in EHR Design; Patient Safety and EHR Gag Clauses;Gag Clauses in EHR Contracts Documented; Concerns Raised about Patient Safety;Legislation Introduced in Senate to Address Gag Orders in EHR Contracts). Hospital personnel encountering EHR issues that can compromise patient safety are restricted by such clauses from discussing them with anyone other than their EHR vendor. Compare this with drug adverse effects which by law must be reported to the FDA as well as to the relevant pharmaceutical company.One additional aspect of these gag clauses is that EHR computer screens are deemed proprietary and thus cannot be shared without vendor permission. This topic was the subject of a recent article (see:Electronic Health Record'Gag Clauses' May Soon Come Off) and below is an excerpt from it:The federal government's Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology is proposing a new set of rules, based on changes required by Congress in a big 2016 law.Among 700-plus pages of other things, the proposal would ban"gag clauses.""The proposed rule says that there is a growing recognition that prohibiting or restricting communication about health IT software doesn't promote safety," says Dr. Andrew Gettinger, the office's chief clinical officer."We're seekin...

Source: Lab Soft News - April 3, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Blood banking Electronic Health Record (EHR) Food and Drug Administration Healthcare Information Technology Medicolegal Issues Pathology Informatics Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs